Invasive Plant Blog

Scientific Name: Alternanthera philoxeroides
Common Name: Alligator Weed
Description: An aquatic weed with a white flower growing on it.
Reproduction: Through seeds and broken plants
Problems Caused: can reduce the flow of water, prevent the penetration of light and prevent the oxygenation of the water
Prevention: Unleash the Alligator Weed Flea Beetle to wreck havoc on the Alligator weeeds.

Scientific Name: Hydrilla verticillata
Common Name: Hydrilla
Description: Plant with upward sloped leaves that grows up to 1 inch a day
Reproduction: Spreads through tubers, turions, stolons, and fragments
Problems Caused: Shades out desirable native vegetation, impedes navigation of boats
Prevention: Herbicide

Scientific Name: Myriophyllum spicatum
Common Name: Eurasian Watermilfoil
Description: submerged aquatic plant, and grows in still or slow-moving water.
Reproduction: Spreads by seeds, fragments and stolens
Problems Caused: can create dense mats that interfere with recreational activity
Prevention: use of the water veneer moth to eat the plant

Scientific Name: Eichhornia crassipes
Common Name: Water Hyacinth
Description: Weed with a purple flower
Reproduction: Reproduces by daughter plants and forms thousands of seeds
Problems Caused: Uptakes nutrients in the water and releases H ions which acidify the water
Prevention: aquatic weed harvester, herbicides and insects

Scientific Name: Pistia stratiotes
Common Name: Water Lettuce
Description: looks like lettuce but grows on water
Reproduction: Reproduces through daughter plants
Problems Caused: Forms large mats that can affect habitat and impede navigation
Prevention: South American Weevil and the Thailand Moth

Scientific Name: Slavinia molesta
Common Name: Salvinia
Description: Root hairs on the leaves resemble “egg beaters” structure.
Reproduction: Forms dense mats, spreading rapidly by buds
Problems Caused: Reduces oxygen exchange and negatively effects water quality and habitat
Prevention: Herbicides

Scientific Name: Lythrum salicaria
Common Name: Purple Loosestrife
Description: looks like a purple blubeonnet that grows in water
Reproduction: fruit containing seeds
Problems Caused: Replaces native vegetation
Prevention: beetles

Amphibians

Toads and Frogs may look very similar, however, they are different in many ways. One way the frog and toad are different is their skin. Toads have very bumpy and dry skin while frogs have smooth and oily skin.

Another difference between frogs and toads is the fact that frogs hop everywhere and toads walk. Amphibians are considered to be a good indicator of health in an ecosystem because the ecosystem must be healthy in order for the amphibious population to remain high. There has been a decease in the population of amphibians because of the changes in the ozone which allow more UV rays through which harm amphibian's skin. To prevent this, we must try to cut down on the many ways we are destroying the ozone layer.

Pond Assessment

Step 1: Observation

                   Look for an algae bloom, foam/oil, and dead things

Step 2: Take water sample

                   Look at the types of algae/insects to see if the pond water is polluted or not

Step 3: Water quality testing

                   Test water's ammonia, nitrate, temp/, conductivity, nitrite and oxygen levels

Step 4: Chemical Panel

                   Use a chemical panel to run any further tests on the water

                   

Pond and River Video

1. 1/3 of earths freshwater is in the amazon/
2. 22 species of crocodiles exist.
3. Anacondas can get as heavy as a car and 3x the length.
4.King Fisher babies eat 18 fish a day.
5.All swans in Britain belong to the Queen.
6.All toads return to their place of birth to reproduce.
7.3 million people die from mosquitoes in Africa alone.
8.Hippos are the largest river mammal.
9.Beavers only mammal besides humans to interfere with rivers.
10.Big-headed turtles can climb water falls.

Lentic System

Lake

Pond

Playa Lake

Swamp

Marsh

Bog

Resivior

Observations

A good observation is an observation that is very detailed and that explains a situation in such a way that you would not have had to have been there to understand what happened. After observing my fish for 5 minutes i have observed that he is extremely shy. For the entire 5 minutes i was watching, my fish hid under his tree stump. Observation is an important pert of scientific inquiry because it tells the people reading your paper exactly what happened and how it happened.

Density and Temperature

This picture perfectly shows the affect temperature has on density. The red water is colder, thus more dense. Because the Red water is more dense, the hot, clear water on top of it will not mix with it.If the two jars were reversed, the cold water would seep down into the hot water and mix. This helps my understanding of the aquatic ecosystem because knowing  the fact that hot water stays on top helps me understand why fish live in the places they do.

Solute/Solvent

I have learned from my solute/solvent experiment that it is extremely important that salt dissolves in water.If salt were not able to be absorbed in water then the ocean would not be able to support all of the fish that must live in salt water.

What I've Learned about Water Properties

So far, i have learned much about water properties. I have learned that water changes density based on its temperature, that water does not conduct electricity, but the minerals in it do, and that solutions make saltwater fish able to survive.I also learned that turbidity is how clear the water is. This will help me on my aquarium because i now know how water acts better than i did when i started.My aquarium models a real ecosystem because it supports fish and has all the things it needs in order to sustain life.

White Clouds

Common Name: White Cloud
Scientific Name: Tanichthys albonubes
Preferred Habitat: Lightly planted environments
Reproduction: May eat their young
No special needs

I chose this fish because I think it will be fun to try to breed fish.In order to house this type of fish i need to put plants in my aquarium.

North Texas Water Issue

Zebra Mussels are an issue for North Texas. Zebra Mussels are incredibly invasive and smother other plants and animals trying to survive. The way to stop zebra mussels is by cleaning your boat when you leave the water and cleaning the water in general.

Aquarium Project Blog

I. Purpose: To monitor an aquatic ecosystem over time through observations and data collection.
II. Materials:

• aquarium
• gravel
• bubbler
• filter
• water
• de-chlorinator
• bacteria supplement
• fish food
• sifter
• under water structures
• measuring cup
• plants
• paper towels
• scrub brush
• sink
• rocks
• light source
• name tag
• marker
• fish

III. Procedure:

1. Pick Tank
2. Put name on tank
3. Remove water from tank
4. Remove gravel from tank
5. sift gravel
6. scrub tank
7. put gravel back into tank
8. place rocks and structures back into tank
9. fill tank with water
10. if water is turbid, re-sift gravel
11. place bubbler into water
12. clean filter
13. put filter into water
14. put dechlorinator into water
15. put bacteria supplement into water
16. wait 48 hours
17. buy fish
18. place fish into aquarium
19. regularly feed fish
20. clean tank when dirty

IV. Data:

A. Qualitative(observation)

1. My fish, Dancing Fin, is very shy.

2. Dancing Fin is still shy, hides behind tree trunk when approached.

3. Dancing Fin seems less shy. He is swimming around more.

4. Dancing Fin does not shy away when tank is approached.

5. Dancing Fin stares at himself in the side of the tank for many minutes at a time.
6. My fish is in love with his reflection.
7. Keith, our new minnow, has become good friends with Dancing Fin.
8. Keith and Dancing fin seem to be going through a rough patch, Keith moved out and now lives on the other side of the tank.
10. Dancing Fin and Keith have settled things and Dancing Fin is now allowing Keith into his log stump.
11. A new minnow appeared out of nowhere. He has been named Major Tom.
12. Major Tom and Keith are great friends who swim around with each other all day. I think Dancing Fin is jealous.
13. I have come to the conclusion that it would have been a good idea to buy at least two swordtails instead of just one.
14. Keith and Major Tom have started to pick on Dancing Fin and have successfully kicked him out of his stump.
15. Dancing Fin showed the minnows who's boss and has retaken the log as his own.
16. Keith has realized the folly of his actions and now acknowledges Dancing Fin as the alpha male of the aquarium.

17. When being fed, the minnows now wait for Dancing fin to eat his fill until they get any food.
18. Major Tom is highly erratic and swims super fast all around the tank. He's a mad man.
19. With the crippling spiral into insanity of Major Tom, Keith and Dancing Fin have become best friends again. Keith acts like nothing happened but we all know. He isn't fooling anyone.
20. Dancing Fin likes to sit under the filter because he's a daredevil who likes to live on the wild side of life.

B. Quantitative(Water Quality)

Aquacheck: 0 Chlorine

                   0 Chlorine Free

                   250 ppm hardness

                   120 Alkilinity

                   8.4 pH

Ammonia levels at beginning: 1.00ppm( No Fish)

                                             0.25ppm(Fish)

                                             0.00ppm(After adding bacteria)

                                             0.00ppm

Nitrite Levels: 0.00ppm

                      0.00ppm

V. Conclusion Questions

1. The parameters for ammonia are for it to be at .25 ppm or else you cannot get a fish because it will die.
 The parameters for nitrite are 0ppm. If it is at .75ppm it can cause stress to the fish.
The parameters for nitrate are below 200ppm. Nitrate is the least harmful nitrogen to fish.
The parameters for the temperature are between 72-80 degrees Fahrenheit because that is the most comfortable temperature range for fish.
The parameters fore pH are 6-8. If it is higher or lower the fish cannot survive.
All the water my fish will be in is conductive due to the minerals inside of the water.
Dissolved oxygen parameters are that there needs to be enough oxygen in the tank for the fish to survive. To keep the dissolved oxygen high we put bubblers in the water.
Water hardness affects the fish's ability to balance internal fluids with external fluids. Our water is very hard.
Alkalinity indicates the overall amount of pH stabilizing compounds found in the water.With out enough alkalinity, an accurate reading of pH cannot be obtained.
Chlorine is toxic to fish and causes them to die very quickly. It is important to keep an extremely low chlorine count, preferably zero.

2.

The nitrogen cycle is when fish waste lets off ammonia,which is toxic to fish. Then nitrosanomus turns the ammonia into nitrite, which is slightly less toxic to fish. Next, Nitrospyra turns nitrite into nitrate which is not very harmful to fish.The nitrogen cycle applies to the sustainability of my aquarium because if it did not function properly, the ammonia levels in the aquarium would get too high and kill the fish.


3. Over time, my water quality has drastically improved. At the beginning, my ammonia levels were extremely high and prevented me from obtaining a fish.However, after changing the water a couple times and adding dechlorinator and bacteria, my water finally reached 0ppm ammonia and allowed me to get a fish. Even with good ammonia levels, my problems did not go away. Since i did not have a filter my tank got dirty pretty fast. After changing the water again, and getting a working filter, my water levels have been stable ever since.
4. The oxygen/carbon-dioxide cycle is important to the aquatic ecosystem because it keeps the oxygen levels in the water high enough to support animal life. The oxygen/carbon-dioxide cycle works by plants using the sun and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen during the day, raising its levels. Then, at night, the oxygen levels fall due to the plants inability to carry out photosynthesis and the fish using all the oxygen as they breathe. The balance is restored the next day though when the sun comes out and the plants can photosynthesize again.

5. I faced many problems when trying to get my aquarium stable. The major problem being that, without a filter, the ammonia content in my tank would get to .25 after a couple of days which would require me to clean the tank. After obtaining a filter, however, my ammonia levels have remained at 0ppm.

6. I learned quite a few educational concepts throughout the course of this project. How sensitive fish are to pH, what dissolved oxygen is and how to get it into water, what chlorine does to fish, how ammonia affects fish and how to assess water quality.

7.The most interesting thing that happened during this project was my fish getting into a fight with one of the minnows. It's all good now though because we broke it up. The worst thing that happened was not having a filter for the longest time because the water got really dirty.The weirdest thing that happened the appearance of a new minnow in my tank. We have no idea how it got there.

8. My favorite part of this project was designing the layout of the aquarium and picking the fish. Before this class I didn't know that you had so many choices of fish to choose from. But now that I've had an aquarium in this class, it makes me want to get one at my house too.

9. Advice I would give to next years students would be to get more than one fish because it makes everything a whole lot more fun. I would also tell them not to get a turtle because those are a lot of work. If i could do anything to make this project better it would be to take out the blog aspect.