This is the last time.

[SourAngelfish]

I keep making threads asking for recommendations for my science fair project. I apologize if you are seeing this for like the third time. I think I’ve decided to do something with inverts as they develop and react quickly and are allowed within the rules of the project. I was thinking of doing something along the lines of, Does[variable] affect invertebrates health? I would use maybe something like a chocolate chip star and a sally lght foot crab and set up 3 5 gallons. I just need recommendations on which variables you have had any questions or concerns about that I could potentially use in my project. (ex. phosphate, foods, other stuff) Recommendations on inverts I should use are welcome as well. Sorry for making so many threads on this.

 

[Krzydmnd]

Sounds like quite an undertaking because of the 'control' factor. You'll have to set up an ideal tank and then a variable tank, and hope that the species you choose will actually behave the same way in each environment for some amount of time before you actually introduce the variable to begin to see behavior differences.

You could try subtle things like temperature and salinity and see if it affects eating or resting habits, but I can't see many people recommending trying anything that will detrimentally affect the health of the animal.

At any rate, science for the win! I hope you come up with something and share with the forum!

 

[Dancingmad]

Generally I'm concerned about tinkering with parameters that could kill the critters you're going to use.

What I would do is get some peppermint shrimp (they're cheap and can be aqua/marine cultured + they are hardy). You could get a few 5G tanks or even goldfish bowls w/ bubble filters and they'll be super - then your experiment could be "Does the calcium level in the water effect how often peppermint shrimp molt".

Control variables are rough - I see a lot of measuring in your future regardless of what/how you do your reefing science project. I hope you like droppers .

 

[SourAngelfish]

I was thinking of trying to set up two 5 gallons and dropping the salinity in one, raising it in another, and keeping it flat in the another one. I do not wish to kill the animals, so I plan on removing them if they get too unhealthy levels.

 

[SourAngelfish]

It would be useful as it is often argued as to what salinity a tank should be kept at

 

[Dancingmad]

It would be useful as it is often argued as to what salinity a tank should be kept at

I think problem with that is most of our salt mixes are formulated to give us trace elements (and important ones like alk/cal/mg). If you mix to different salinity you're also going to have different levels of those other elements and your controls are out the door from the very beginning.

Example from red sea pro salt:

 

[SourAngelfish]

I think problem with that is most of our salt mixes are formulated to give us trace elements (and important ones like alk/cal/mg). If you mix to different salinity you're also going to have different levels of those other elements and your controls are out the door from the very beginning.

Example from red sea pro salt:

I could easily add them too my changing variables I assume. I guess I wouldn’t be able to prove that it’s the salinity causing it though. What if they started the same and I took out pre-established water and replaced it with fresh.

 

[SourAngelfish]

And aren’t those minerals considered part of the salt content?

 

[Dancingmad]

Yeah, that could work too. I think my suggestion requires a little less effort and will probably be just as impressive to the science fair judges . Mix all your salt to the same salinity and a different amount of calcium drops to the tank weekly. Noticing a molt is easy as pie to measure too - either it happens or it doesn't. "Health" or "activity" can be hard to measure!

And aren’t those minerals considered part of the salt content?

Nope, that's why you need to shake your sack of salt if you think its super old. Some settling occurs (why I think some people post on here about XYZ salt mix not giving the exact parameters as advertised).

 

[SourAngelfish]

Thanks.

 

[SourAngelfish]

The one problem with the shrimp molting is that there isn’t much of a real world application. One thing that goes toward are grade is “How does this effect the scientific community”. Is there a benefit to shrimp shedding more often?

 

[SourAngelfish]

I have to get these projects approved so I just wrote a big list of these ideas and submitted them. They all have to do with aquariums, so hopefully I don’t have to retype the whole thing lol

 

[SourAngelfish]

Also, will the shrimp molt often enough to allow data too be formed. I only have 2 months and one week to cycle and then start. What’s the fastest method of cycling a tank?

 

[Dancingmad]

The one problem with the shrimp molting is that there isn’t much of a real world application. One thing that goes toward are grade is “How does this effect the scientific community”. Is there a benefit to shrimp shedding more often?

When an invert molts it gets bigger. Who doesn't want bigger shrimp faster?

I know I like some big ol' shrimp on the grill wrapped in bacon and stuffed w/ jalapeno n' cheese - puny little shrimp wont cut it for that recipe .

 

[Dancingmad]

Also, will the shrimp molt often enough to allow data too be formed. I only have 2 months and one week to cycle.

Yeah, that could be a problem. 2 months isn't a lot of time.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Yeah, that could be a problem. 2 months isn't a lot of time.

I work at an lfs, I could probably “borrow” a pre-established system and split it up.

 

[samnaz]

Another concern would be that the shrimps don't molt often enough. Depends how long you have to conduct experiments. Personally though I can't condone a project that puts a creature in an unhealthy and possibly deadly environment... but that's just me! You mention you plan to remove the inverts once salinity reaches an unhealthy level. Do you feel confident you know the exact level they can survive? Seems risky to me. I haven't seen your other threads so I don't know the whole thing.

I think it a great project would be comparing algal growth or coral growth, between different tanks each with different temperature, salinity, ph, etc. I bet you'd get an A+ on the "how does this apply to real world scientific community" portion.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Yea I plan on combining all of these in some sort of way. Maybe something like which parameters are the most efficient, instead of safe. That way it won’t harm the animals, but instead show growth rates in different situations that are considered healthy.

 

[Dancingmad]

Another concern would be that the shrimps don't molt often enough. Depends how long you have to conduct experiments. Personally though I can't condone a project that puts a creature in an unhealthy and possibly deadly environment... but that's just me! You mention you plan to remove the inverts once salinity reaches an unhealthy level. Do you feel confident you know the exact level they can survive? Seems risky to me. I haven't seen your other threads so I don't know the whole thing.

I think it a great project would be comparing algal growth or coral growth, between different tanks each with different temperature, salinity, ph, etc. I bet you'd get an A+ on the "how does this apply to real world scientific community" portion.

I agree. I bet some Halimeda would grow enough to measure(height). Or mass (grams) of chaeto. Macros are sweet and wouldn't put any critters at risk.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

Also, will the shrimp molt often enough to allow data too be formed. I only have 2 months and one week to cycle and then start. What’s the fastest method of cycling a tank?

Turbostart + enough ammonium chloride to reach 2ppm Ammonia levels. You'll have a cycled tank in 5 days(assuming you have a medium such as dry rock or marine pure). What is your budget for this project?