may 24th

May 23rd

Over time i have realized that our ecosystem can gather and collect bacteria in a matter of weeks very easily. The algae on the tank glass on the side started out little and then after a while it became bigger. I also noticed that sometimes the fish can have different attitudes and act differently then they have the day before. Its almost like they might have 'clicks'. Some day they would be swimming at the top of the tank and then others they would all be grouped up in one of the corners or they even all would sometimes swim at the bottom with a few stragglers swimming at the top. The plants i also noticed over time had grow and filled up the aquarium a lot more then it was in the beginning. I remember at first the ship that is in the back of the tank was really noticeable and was in plain view. Now the front aquatic plants are covering it for being in the view just by looking straight on.

May 22nd

During this project i learned that there is a lot more work into owning an aquarium then i thought. Many things i learned by experience start off with the water quality checks. I had no idea that there were things you had to test for in an aquarium in order to keep the fish alive. The ammonia and nitrate test were something i didn't understand at first but after a while i understood the process and what it was for. I also understood the process of changing the water and having to use the cyphon. In the water change i also realized after several times of doing water changes and not seeing the nitrate go down that sometimes it is needed to pick up the rocks because the food and fish waste can get under there and never get clean. I also realized that when doing a water change in a big tank to make sure that the water level for the filter at the bottom is filled up also to a certain line so the tank is not running dry. Next year i think the students that get assigned the bigger tanks should be allowed more time to clean out the tank because i found that this year with all the amount of work that the tanks needs to be done we didn't have enough time to change the water as much as we needed to.

may 21st

Our aquarium has remained constant through out our project. At the beggining the nitrate and ammonia was high but we fixed by changing the water. Our water quality was really good for a while because we were given more time to take care of our tank while everyone was setting up. As we continued the project we became busier and class and werent able to do as many water changes so the nitrate levels were starting to rise so we tried to do more water changes.Our fishes behavior also changed i could tell, kind of like humans. Some days they would be really energetic and other days they would be more mellow and linger around the bottom of the tank. The shrimp always lingered at the bottom and always seemed to mind there own business.

May 20th

An invasive plant is a plant that is not native to area it lives in now. Usually is from another country and creates problems in the area it was accidently introduced to. An Emergent plant that was introuduced in texas is Alligator weed. Its orgin was South America and its problem for us is that it is aggresive and mat forming. It also impedes navigationa and displaces native vegitation. Its stems are thick and green and has a white flower bud at the stop of the stem.


A free floating invasive plant is Giant Salvania which also orginitated from South America. The most common description for this weed is that it looks like lettuce. Hinting from the nickname "plant from hell" Giant salvania creates a lot of problems. It reduces the oxygen level, negatively affects water quality and habitat and they are impossible to remove from the pond.


Hydrilla is a completely submersed weed that is tall and can grow under 1% light. They can also double overnight and can grown more than an inch a day. They aalso shades out desirable native vegetation and impade naviagtion.

May 17th

Water quality has been a big part of our aquarium project this semester. When we first started i had no idea what water quality test involved or what procedures to do. Then my teachers explained the steps about the nitrate and amonnia tests. Then told us to do the basics which include temperature. At the beggining the test results were horrible so we realized we had to change the water so the nitrate level would go down. Then after the water was changed the water quality continued to get better. Until after a while the nitrate level went back up and there was another need for a water changed. I realized that haveing a big tank takes a lot of water changes and a lot of work.

May 16th

In my aquarium the test results for water quality have remained constant for the past few weeks. The results have been pretty decent although our nitrate level could do better.  Our ammonia level stayed at 0 and the temperature also remained the same at 25 degree celcius and 78 degree farenheit. The fish in our tank are also doing really well. Most of the time the fish will be swimming at the top and space out. Then other days the fish will all be swimming towards the bottom of the tank. Sometimes it will look like the fish have groups because the same fish will hangout together.