nanoman123
10-26-2005, 07:42 PM
This weekend, I shall start my science fair expierment. Well, here it is:
Biology Research Project Matt Rawls, per.5 honors Bio
A. Do the chemicals added into tap water affect the growth of hair algae, versus reverse osmosis deionized water (pure water)?.
B. If "tap" chemicals are added to the water, then the algae's growth rate will increase.
C. The main problem here is hair algae. This project was constructed to help aquarists, like myself. Many people are always fighting over this topic, saying that if you have an algae problem then its because of tap water, and you MUST spend 300 dollars or more on a RO/DI purifier. Though, others say that that's nonsense and tap water is fine. Well, I'm going to be the first to put it to test. Hair algae is very very bad for a fish tank. First of all, it sucks up lots of oxygen, and blocks light from other algaes, and corals. Second, it grows EXTREMELY fast, and looks very gross. It's like an unstoppable virus. Personally, I think that the tap water will cause the hair algae to grow more rapidly. My goal for this project is to bust the myth of this situation, and another little benefit I get from this is hair algae to feed my mexican turbo snails, they are running low on growth to chow down on in my fish tank.
First of all, I shall aquire a 10 gallon (US) tank. Second, I shall take it to home depot and have them place a sheet of glass in the very center of the tank, and use silicon glue to set it in. Ill take it home, and fill one half with tap water, the other half with RO/DI water. 1 cup of Instant Ocean Salt will be added for each US gallon of water, to both sides. In the side with the tap water, 1 TBSP of Ammo-Lock 2 will be added, to remove all chlorine. Both halves will be dosed daily with 1 milligram of Coralife Two-Part liquid calcium Component A, and B, to maintain calcium levels, alkalinity levels, and pH levels, at their desired levels. The expierment will not be started until the Ammonia of each side is at 0ppm, along with the Nitrite, and Nitrate. The pH of each side must be between 8.2 and 8.4, and the Salt level must be between 1.022 and 1.026. The aquarium will be lighted with a thirty-two watt PowerCompact flourescent bulb. When water evaporates, I will add top-offs (water with no salt, because when water evaporates, salt doesn't). A water change of one gallon per week will be performed on each side of the tank. Meaning, one gallon of water will be taken out of each side, and a fresh gallon of water with all the added chemicals will be added shortly after. I will do one repeated trial sometime in December. Algae is an underwater plant, and just because I have to list an alternative (I already have hair algae), then my alternative will be Cyano (a red type of algae that grows in a sheet like form).
D. Bibliography- All information for this project was, and will be provided by the 5000 helpful hobbyists at www.coralforum.com
Hopefully many people will benefit from my results.
Good day to you all,
~Matt~
Biology Research Project Matt Rawls, per.5 honors Bio
A. Do the chemicals added into tap water affect the growth of hair algae, versus reverse osmosis deionized water (pure water)?.
B. If "tap" chemicals are added to the water, then the algae's growth rate will increase.
C. The main problem here is hair algae. This project was constructed to help aquarists, like myself. Many people are always fighting over this topic, saying that if you have an algae problem then its because of tap water, and you MUST spend 300 dollars or more on a RO/DI purifier. Though, others say that that's nonsense and tap water is fine. Well, I'm going to be the first to put it to test. Hair algae is very very bad for a fish tank. First of all, it sucks up lots of oxygen, and blocks light from other algaes, and corals. Second, it grows EXTREMELY fast, and looks very gross. It's like an unstoppable virus. Personally, I think that the tap water will cause the hair algae to grow more rapidly. My goal for this project is to bust the myth of this situation, and another little benefit I get from this is hair algae to feed my mexican turbo snails, they are running low on growth to chow down on in my fish tank.
First of all, I shall aquire a 10 gallon (US) tank. Second, I shall take it to home depot and have them place a sheet of glass in the very center of the tank, and use silicon glue to set it in. Ill take it home, and fill one half with tap water, the other half with RO/DI water. 1 cup of Instant Ocean Salt will be added for each US gallon of water, to both sides. In the side with the tap water, 1 TBSP of Ammo-Lock 2 will be added, to remove all chlorine. Both halves will be dosed daily with 1 milligram of Coralife Two-Part liquid calcium Component A, and B, to maintain calcium levels, alkalinity levels, and pH levels, at their desired levels. The expierment will not be started until the Ammonia of each side is at 0ppm, along with the Nitrite, and Nitrate. The pH of each side must be between 8.2 and 8.4, and the Salt level must be between 1.022 and 1.026. The aquarium will be lighted with a thirty-two watt PowerCompact flourescent bulb. When water evaporates, I will add top-offs (water with no salt, because when water evaporates, salt doesn't). A water change of one gallon per week will be performed on each side of the tank. Meaning, one gallon of water will be taken out of each side, and a fresh gallon of water with all the added chemicals will be added shortly after. I will do one repeated trial sometime in December. Algae is an underwater plant, and just because I have to list an alternative (I already have hair algae), then my alternative will be Cyano (a red type of algae that grows in a sheet like form).
D. Bibliography- All information for this project was, and will be provided by the 5000 helpful hobbyists at www.coralforum.com
Hopefully many people will benefit from my results.
Good day to you all,
~Matt~