Aquarium Biology Science Experiments

[Sol]

Hello all!
I'm currently in a biology class and have the opportunity to conduct an independent research project or experiment for an assignment, it does NOT have to be complicated or extremely in depth.

It can be on any biology related topic, so I'd love to do an experiment involving something aquarium fish/aquatic plant related. I thought it might be fun to see what kind of ideas for experiments some of you might have – I'm currently brainstorming and am allowed to ask for ideas, so hit me with your best shots!

Examples: What is the best form of ammonia/waste to use to cycle an aquarium? Does the temperature of the water affect the basking frequency of aquatic turtles? How does gravel depth affect the growth of [some plant]?

Basically, a question where I can isolate a variable and gauge the animal's/plant's response to changes in that variable. And also preferably something that won't take more than a month or two to gather data.

Open to anything, let's see what you all got!

Edited January 18, 2021 by Sol

[FrozenFins]

This is something that I want to do myself, you will probably need a microscope. But heres my thought:

-How long does benefcial bacteria take to die? For example: when the bacteria is out of water it dies in "x" amount of time. Without  a source of amonia it will take "x" amount of time.

I know @Daniel likes his science and biology I'm sure he will have LOTS to say on this.

Best of luck on your assingment!

[Daniel]

12 minutes ago, James Black said:

I know @Daniel likes his science and biology I'm sure he will have LOTS to say on this.

Even @Daniel has to sleep sometimes. If I think of anything overnight, I will post in the morning. 🙂

[KaitieG]

My favorite biology project ever was testing to see where on drinking fountains had the most bacteria and what cleaners worked best (result--the buttons are BY FAR the dirtiest and don't drink out of the drinking fountains near the cafeteria!).  If I wanted to aquarium-ize that experiment, I'd think about maybe swabbing and figuring out where most bacteria grow in a tank--are all surfaces colonized evenly?  Do plants affect it?  Substrate type?  Filter?  Lights?

[Nick L]

If you have 2 seperate tanks to use you could run one with led lights and one with t5 bulbs or put one inside and one in sunlight and see how that affects a plants growth

[Kirsten]

Yeah, I second testing to see how aquarium plants process ammonia and aid in the establishment of a biofilter.

I'd set up identical 5 or 10-gallon tanks (or plastic tote bins), then get some inexpensive plants that are easy to compare (maybe windlov ferns or java moss that can be weighed out?). Some get x amount of living plant material, some get 2x, some get 4x, and one gets none as a control. Pour in the same amount of (dechlorinated) water and add a (small, measured) amount of ammonia. Get out a test kit and see how long it takes each tank to process. Repeat regularly to see how they progress over time.

[FrozenFins]

1 hour ago, KaitieG said:

My favorite biology project ever was testing to see where on drinking fountains had the most bacteria and what cleaners worked best (result--the buttons are BY FAR the dirtiest and don't drink out of the drinking fountains near the cafeteria!).  If I wanted to aquarium-ize that experiment, I'd think about maybe swabbing and figuring out where most bacteria grow in a tank--are all surfaces colonized evenly?  Do plants affect it?  Substrate type?  Filter?  Lights?

I second that, that sounds really cool

[Hobbit]

In college we did a really fun and also really simple one: Are goldfish able to find live food faster in a planted environment or a bare environment?

All you need is one tank, a tank divider, two goldfish, a fake plant, and some daphnia. (Brine shrimp would work well too.) Or you could have one goldfish and take the plant in and out of the tank depending on which experiment you’re running.

We had a whole class doing it so we got a sample size of more than one, but you could just repeat the experiment over several days to get a greater sample size as well.

We counted the daphnia before we added them into the tank, and then counted how many the goldfish ate over a certain period of time.

I’m sure you could think of some other fun environments to test past just “bare” and “not bare!”

[O13SC3N3]

4 hours ago, James Black said:

This is something that I want to do myself, you will probably need a microscope. But heres my thought:

-How long does benefcial bacteria take to die? For example: when the bacteria is out of water it dies in "x" amount of time. Without  a source of amonia it will take "x" amount of time.

I know @Daniel likes his science and biology I'm sure he will have LOTS to say on this.

Best of luck on your assingment!

Add how long bacteria lives with out oxygen ie, in canister filters etc. 

This be really cool tbh 💯

[FishyJames]

I always wondered if running a light at 100% for 4 hours is the same as running a light at 50% for 8 hours.  I would like to know if there is a difference in plant and algae growth.  

[Platosdog]

An easy one but also one I have wondered about, ammonia clearance rates. You can use small aquariums and reuse them, plus this should only take a day or two. What clears ammonia quickest? Plants only, cycled sponge filter, air stone, activated carbon filter? Take a pre measured amount of ammonia dump it into the control aquarium and measure the ppm. Then in the test aquariums dump same amount and measure ppm every hour or so until it is gone. You can then keep using the same tanks and see if a sponge filter and plants work better than activated carbon filter with an air stone and so on.

[Sol]

4 hours ago, Kirsten said:

I'd set up identical 5 or 10-gallon tanks (or plastic tote bins), then get some inexpensive plants that are easy to compare (maybe windlov ferns or java moss that can be weighed out?). Some get x amount of living plant material, some get 2x, some get 4x, and one gets none as a control. Pour in the same amount of (dechlorinated) water and add a (small, measured) amount of ammonia. Get out a test kit and see how long it takes each tank to process. Repeat regularly to see how they progress over time.

This one sound really interesting! I think the idea of getting plants that weigh approximately the same is great way to reduce the variables there.

 

[Sol]

2 hours ago, Hobbit said:

In college we did a really fun and also really simple one: Are goldfish able to find live food faster in a planted environment or a bare environment?

Heck yes to fun and simple!! Maybe I could do something similar with my turtle... although he can be a little dumb...so my hypothesis will be an easy one to make 😂 but the results would be interesting all the same! Plus I could probably make a video out of it...hmmmm 

[Sol]

54 minutes ago, FishyJames said:

I always wondered if running a light at 100% for 4 hours is the same as running a light at 50% for 8 hours.  I would like to know if there is a difference in plant and algae growth.  

The age old "you can cook it for 5 minutes at 350° or 5 seconds at 3500°" 😛

But I actually do like this one and would be curious to see the effects. The shorter photoperiod might affect the fish too... (although if it were an experiment we probably wouldn't have fish to avoid that variable affecting growth. haha!)

[Maggie]

You could try an experiment on methods of cycling a tank: fishless using ammonia (one with and one without plants) versus a light fish load (with and without plants). In lieu of plants (or to change/add variables), you could include tanks with different pH, hardness, temperature, daily light, etc. Whatever you do, I hope you'll share the results here!

[KoolFish97]

I am a biologist (ecologist actually) and I have done some recent growth experiments on Hornwort.  (Fast growing so is easy to do in experiments) but it was for a specific reason.

To keep it simple but interesting maybe see if you can get a fast growing plant that is grown out of water and work out the conditions they more quickly convert to aquatic form. Like maybe a sword plant for example. Could simply use any Glass vessel. Same room (for temperature concistency) buy 3 of them do one in artificial light one in natural light and one with no light. (No light would be control) (repeating it with 3 times for each would be a reliable experiment but if not the end of the world if it's not as imperative) 

See which is better at conversion. Nothing mind blowing I know but a simple and interesting experiment none the less!

I'd even be open to helping you design the experiment if you needed any help!

 For example hypothesis:  natural sunlight would provide the most beneficial lighting level to convert emergent growth to aquatic growth.

even if thats wrong that's the fun of science! 

again more than happy to help if you need it. 

[Sol]

10 hours ago, KoolFish97 said:

I am a biologist (ecologist actually) and I have done some recent growth experiments on Hornwort.  (Fast growing so is easy to do in experiments) but it was for a specific reason.

To keep it simple but interesting maybe see if you can get a fast growing plant that is grown out of water and work out the conditions they more quickly convert to aquatic form. Like maybe a sword plant for example. Could simply use any Glass vessel. Same room (for temperature concistency) buy 3 of them do one in artificial light one in natural light and one with no light. (No light would be control) (repeating it with 3 times for each would be a reliable experiment but if not the end of the world if it's not as imperative) 

See which is better at conversion. Nothing mind blowing I know but a simple and interesting experiment none the less!

I'd even be open to helping you design the experiment if you needed any help!

 For example hypothesis:  natural sunlight would provide the most beneficial lighting level to convert emergent growth to aquatic growth.

even if thats wrong that's the fun of science! 

again more than happy to help if you need it. 

I may have to take you up on that! This week I'll be deciding what project to do, so I'll let you know!

[TheDukeAnumber1]

IMO an experiment with a snail colony would be a good for a month or two experiment. Isolate a variable like food, substrate, or water additives ect. Then you can measure their shells before and after for growth rates and number of snails and eggs for reproduction rates. If you have or can get a bunch of "pest" snails you'll have plenty of data points to worth with for charts ect and snails grow and breed fast enough for it to be measurable in one or two months.

I wouldn't do plants IMO, run into any issues and you might not have much to work with at the end in such a short time frame.

Edited January 18, 2021 by TheDukeAnumber1

[KoolFish97]

More than happy to assist with any experiment you chose. Always want to inspire science! 

I would agree with @TheDuke about the plant issues that it can be difficult if you only use a single plant per tank. but I will say with experience animals can be incredibly difficult if they run into any issues also. It's part of the problem with any experiment!

However science experiments aren't just about the "answer" sometimes the real exciting stuff is the problems/developments that happen. 

Let's say you natural light one died? You can write multiple reasons and do a tonne of research! Was it a natural variable? Genetic? Did algae out compete? Did it grow more roots rather then leaves? Even though it's less growth is it "healthier?"

Not to mention this is why you repeat an experiment 3 times or more times to give you an "Average" (mean) of a population sample (obviously more is better but 3 is more than sufficient for what you need) so if one test they die but the other 2 times it works its okay! You still have an average and you get to try to explain why it happened you don't have to have the right answer just show you understand there is reasons it did happen!

I will say one thing about animal research (which I have undertaken and have assisted others on it) 

The old circus/TV adage of "don't work with children OR animals" is very true it can be even more complicated to get results on animals as their is a lot of little variables and sometimes animals will do much the opposite you intend. Or possess another variable you can't control. 

But that should not discourage you! Always do an experiment that excites and interests you! You'll always put more effort into it and enjoy it more

Just when you write up about it definantly make sure to address any of the issues you face (flora or fauna) and possible reasons why. Presenting plausible and realistic reasons as to why something didn't go as intended is exactly what science is built on! 

Don't forget though (it may or may not matter) but it's not just good to have a few samples per "experiment" but also to repeat that whole experiment 3 times. This helps mitigate the "control error" of an experiment.

For example if you have snails in 3 seperate tanks and you finish up with one tank doing well for population and another 2 did bad. How can you clearly say it wasn't something in the fish tank silicone of those 2 tanks that's caused the problem or a spray that fell in, or that you didn't clean it properly before use etc etc? (You can't!) Therefore if you randomise the tanks another 2 times and the same happens each time you can say with certainty the tank had no effect and it was the treatment! 

Sorry if this was a large message science does excite me! 

[TheDukeAnumber1]

@KoolFish97

What are your thoughts on testing brine shrimp? Fast hatching, growth, and easy to hatch out a large population. Plus a good excuse to get the ziss hatchery :)

[KoolFish97]

They would be an excellent test subject as long as the variable wasn't to difficult to measure/control. (That can be said for any experiment!)

For example if you tried to do individuals hatching rates that might be a difficult challenge if you tried to count them (though not impossible just a bit more complex)

It would come down to what variable you wanted to test. Temperature? Salinity? What about light? (One in 24 hour light, one in 12 he and one in no light then repeated 3 times) then what "measure" would you use. Maybe it would be amount of hatched eggs in dry weight? Skim them off the surface and dry them through a sieve and you could see a relationship with the largest volume of hatched eggs being the "best" hatch rate. 

About the things to test and ways to measure it the slightly adjusted adage goes "there is lots of ways to feed a fish 😅"

It would all come down in short to what you wanted to test and how readily you could "quantitfy" or objectively qualify the data. 

But brine shrimp are often used for experimental work due to the things you mentioned! 

[Sol]

On 1/17/2021 at 7:34 PM, Kirsten said:

I'd set up identical 5 or 10-gallon tanks (or plastic tote bins), then get some inexpensive plants that are easy to compare (maybe windlov ferns or java moss that can be weighed out?). Some get x amount of living plant material, some get 2x, some get 4x, and one gets none as a control. Pour in the same amount of (dechlorinated) water and add a (small, measured) amount of ammonia. Get out a test kit and see how long it takes each tank to process. Repeat regularly to see how they progress over time.

So after weighing my options, I've decided to go with this! I'll probably start a topic in photos/journals to further explore this specific question, and outline and document the process. I think the first decision is to decide what plants and the amount of ammonia dosage. @KoolFish97 I'd love your help if you'd want to be involved!

[KoolFish97]

@Sol absolutely would love to be a part of it and assist in anyway I can. 

For ammonia dosage I would highly suggest seeing if you can find another experiment similar that has doses that they use. Or another way might be to find what the "standard" ammonia concentration are for a brand/s that they recommend for cycling an aquarium. Though not a super awesome way about it, it will be based of a industry standard! 

My advice with plants would be see what is the most cost effective for you where your local too then we could easily chose from that list viable plant decisions. (For example maybe not java as it's a relative slow grower when compared to many other choices, not saying a bad choice just might be viable to chose a cost effective fast growing species). 

You could even slightly adjust the experiment and do the same amount of plants (by mass or individual plants) but do different species to see which is the most "effective" out of what you test. (Maybe even do similar growth styles but different choices like stem plants against eachother etc etc. Or even floating plants against one another) 

But both ways would work well if planned out accordingly!

[Sol]

On 1/22/2021 at 12:20 AM, KoolFish97 said:

 

My advice with plants would be see what is the most cost effective for you where your local too then we could easily chose from that list viable plant decisions. (For example maybe not java as it's a relative slow grower when compared to many other choices, not saying a bad choice just might be viable to chose a cost effective fast growing species). 

You could even slightly adjust the experiment and do the same amount of plants (by mass or individual plants) but do different species to see which is the most "effective" out of what you test. (Maybe even do similar growth styles but different choices like stem plants against eachother etc etc. Or even floating plants against one another) 

I'm thinking I'll end up getting my plants from the coop, since I don't have any LFSs near me...and it'll likely work out to be less for me. Although now that I think about the amount of plants that I need....😅 I'm not sure I thought this through all the way, but all in the name of science, right?

I also realized I need to get moving on this experiment...I have about a month and a week. 😬 These quarters are so short!

So based off of time constraints, what do you think I should go with? I was thinking something faster growing...like val or water sprite? And also, as far as amount? (obviously less would be cheaper, and if I plan to run multiple different tubs with the same amount of plants = more plants needed) (e.g. two bins with 1 plant, two bins with 2 plants – for a total of 6 plants to purchase...or if that doesn't create a significant enough difference to come to a conclusion, perhaps two bins with 2 plants and two bins with 4 plants – for a total of 12.) Opinions? Initially, I was going to go by weight, but that may be too difficult, so I'll just average out if I end up with bigger/smaller plants.

(Or if someone has an excess of plants they'd care to ehm...donate for this experiment, that would be awesome 😂 I could even ship em back to you if you wanted em back. I could be a plant sitter! Just don't mind that they're being experimented on 😂)

Also @KoolFish97 is there a way I can reach you privately so we can further talk about this, if you don't mind? If you're on Instagram, DM would work great (@theturtlegirl)

I'd send you a PM but it doesn't seem to be enabled yet.

[KoolFish97]

So my opinions would be do water sprite or another equally fast growing stem plant. You could easily do water sprite. Fast growing and you can get a single bunch but treat a Stem as a single plant. Therefore 1 plant might make 3-5 "samples" therefore more economic and more samples for spread. 

Weight would be good but it would be absolutely possible to use the water sprite but cut it let's say in pieces 10cm long (random size) and at the end of the time take a measurement of how long they ended up being. 

In all I would probly do something like 1-3 stems against 6-9 so like a single stem in 1 x (2 containers) and 6 stems x (2 containers) and then 2 containers with no stems

The standardised size should be sufficient as your main principle is the ammonia being cycled not the plant growth.

It's just a way you could measure it and make sure your taking a standard approach. 

Of course more than happy for you to contact me privately would love to assist in anyway I can. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a social media hermit/recluse and I don't have Instagram. I'm happy to exchange emails, messenger etc. If that doesn't work more than happy to create a Instagram just to assist!