Tell me why you selected to do this type of Terrariums. What do you expect to learn by doing this experiment?

ENSC 101 Lab

No CO2 No Filter Aquarium

This lab will utilize Aquariums as a model way to study the effects of ecosystem variations.

Objectives

1. Students will learn the proper way to create a No CO2 No Filter Aquarium.

2. Students will observe and record the effects of physicochemical parameter variations on the overall health of the Aquarium.

3. Students will analyze their results and extrapolate their analysis to the effects of environmental changes in a real world ecosystem.

Materials

1. 2 Wide Mouth Glass Jars or Fishbowls. Any commercial Fish tank will work, but if you are purchasing a tank, you will not need to purchase filter or air pump systems.

2. Aquarium Gravel and Sand (the kind you find in the pet shops or similar from your yard or hardware store)

3. Soil (either potting soil or silt obtained directly from a local pond). If using commercial garden soil, make sure you sieve it to take out wood chips and other pieces that might make your water brown for a long time.

4. Aquatic fresh water plants (if you can’t find them in your local pond you can buy them at a pet store or on line)

5. Small water snails, miniature shrimp and small freshwater fish (You don’t have to buy them if you go look for them in nature)

6. Clear plastic sheet

7. Sharpie

8. Ruler

9. Stick Sponge or brush to help with cleaning.

10. A desk lamp with an LED light bulb.

Background

A freshwater-planted aquarium is a unique and natural aquatic ecosystem you can create for your home. Planted or natural aquariums contain specially selected aquatic plants and fish to closely replicate beautiful underwater environments found in nature. Gardeners, teachers, and experienced aquarists alike are discovering the many benefits of these beautiful aquariums.

 

Because of the complementary relationship between fish and plants, an established natural aquarium is usually easier to maintain than other aquarium setups. Fish provide carbon dioxide and nutrients for healthy plant growth. In turn, aquatic plants provide supplementary biological filtration and oxygen to create a clean, healthy environment for fish.

 

 

 

Site selection

 

Start by selecting the site you will use as a model for your Aquarium. Pick a site you have access to, with small plants suitable for your container. A natural pond works better than a drainage pond or ditch, but even a manmade pond will work. Around Elizabeth City, not all the water is fresh. Some of the ponds will have tidal water that is higher in salt, or if you are near the Dismal swamp, the water might be higher in tannins that make the water more alkaline.

If you decide to do an Aquarium, mimicking an ecosystem that you do not have access to you will need to research the site and purchase plants and fish to complete your project. For example, if you want to recreate the ecosystem in Lake Tanganyika in Africa, you will need plants and fish typical from that site, and you would need to have an adequate way to maintain the necessary temperature. Here is a link that could help you do that, but I do not recommend this for the class. Stick with recreating a local pond or lake.

https://www.aqueon.com/articles/designing-an-african-rift-lake-cichlid-aquarium

When selecting your site, consider the most important factors to the study; such as amount of light, type of water, climate, plants, type of fish and other animals, and temperature. Think about how you would reproduce these factors in your Aquarium. For example, which factors are most important for your plant growth? Which animals will work better? Consider their temperature and pH range of tolerance. How much light is enough?

Tank selection

I recommend that you use glass rather than Plastic, but if you have young children in the household you might want to go with plastic, because kids will be curious and you want to avoid a glass container breaking. The most important thing is that your container should have a wide mouth, clear sides, should hold at least 1 gallon (5 litters) of water, and should be strong enough to hold water properly. This is not a project you can do using soda bottles.

You can find plastic and glass fish bowls for sale in Amazon as well as in many stores for as low as $5, or you can find clear glass flower vases in many Dollar or Discount stores.

Water selection

The water for your tanks is a critical aspect for the success of your experiment. You can use tap water if you leave it for a few days to de-chlorinate, but I would suggest you buy a couple of gallons of SPRING WATER at the store. Make sure it is spring water and not filtered water.

However, if you are using a local pond as your source, I recommend you get some water from there. You can bring some of the water home and keep it for a few days, but do not store the water for a long time as it will have bacteria and other microbes and it will get stale. If you decide to use water from the pond you are recreating, you will have to go back there to get water whenever you need to do a water change.

Soil selection

You can use any soil mixture, or soil from your garden. Just make sure it does not have perlite or other components that might float. Sieve your soil using a kitchen colander or a screen mesh to separate the soil from wood chips or any other larger particles.

You can also use soil or silt from the pond you are using as inspiration.

Finally, you can use Aquasoil or other commercially available soils made specifically for aquariums, but that is not required.

Start layering by mixing some gravel and sand with a bit of soil. Over that initial mixture, you can use a layer of pure soil. If you do not like the look of soil as your top layer, you can do a third shallow layer of gravel or sand.

You can also add a piece of wood, root or river stones to help you make it pretty. But keep in mind that both aquariums should be as similar as possible.

Plant selection

If you are using a local pond as your inspiration site, you can get plants from there. Make sure to avoid plants that are large, or that appear to have a lot of growth outside the water. Clean your plants well by washing them gently with spring water or with some of the water you collected from the pond. Be gentle with the roots. Plant larger plants towards the back and shorter plants near the front.

You can also use commercial plants bought on-line or from your pet store. I will supply you with some links that might help you if you are using commercial plants.

Light Source

For a small desktop tank, you can use any desktop lamp with an LED bulb at least 4w in strength. If you keep your tanks separate, each tank should have its own light.

 

The closer your Aquarium resembles the actual site you are investigating, the better the data you will get and the better the analysis that will come from it.

After identifying and analyzing your selected site, plan your closed terrarium using the following table.

Proposed site
Conditions	Original Site	My Aquarium
Water Type
Temperature
Sunlight
Soil or Silt
Plants
Animals

 

 

 

 

Setting Up the Aquarium – Stage 1

Each Student should set up 2 Aquariums. You should make them in identical tanks and you should try to make them as similar as possible in terms of the plants and elements you include. One of the Aquariums will remain unchanged and will be your control, the other will receive variations on stage 3 and it will be your experiment. On stage 4 you will observe and record data from your Aquarium and you will compare your control to your experiment terrarium.

Prepare the Container

1. Spread some newspaper or plastic sheet over your workspace.

2. Mix the sand, soil and gravel and pour into the bottom of the container. You will need a layer 1 inch deep, depending on the size of the tank.

3. Add a layer of wet soil to the container. This layer will need to be about 1 to 2 inches deep over the gravel.

Insert the Plants

4. Prepare your plants. If you bought plants, start by removing them from their plastic pots, and gently shaking some of the soil from their roots. Remove only enough soil to allow each plant to fit through the mouth of the bottle. If you collected the plants make sure you followed the instructions.

6. Decide how you would like to arrange your plants. The smallest should go towards the front, and the largest (or those that will eventually grow to become the tallest) should be planted in the back.

7. Insert the smallest plants first. Make a hole in the soil down to the level of the gravel, and wide enough to accommodate the roots of the plant. Drop the plant into the jar, and nudge the plant into the space, roots first. Push a little soil up around the plant stem to cover the roots. Gently pack the soil around the roots and stem of the plant.

8. Insert the remaining plants, as above. Leave space between them.

NOTE: Plants, particularly those you get from a local pond will take some time to adjust and grow. At the start they might brown or loose leaves. Give them some time. Unless something went wrong, they will adjust and thrive soon.

Add Water and Decorations

9. At this point, the soil should be wet. Use a paper towel to buffer the plants and soil from the addition of the water. This step will help prevent your water becoming cloudy for too long. Gently add the water until about 1 inch of the top of the tank. Remove the paper towel.

NOTE: It is natural for the water to be cloudy at this step. Let the aquarium settle for a day or two.

10. You should not add fish or shrimp immediately. Wait at least a couple of weeks before you do so, to allow the plants, the algae and the bacteria to acclimate.

 

Is This Working? Proper maintenance of a Closed Terrarium – Stages 1 and 2

If everything has been done carefully, very little care and maintenance is required to keep your plants growing and the Aquarium healthy.

1. Keep the aquarium properly lighted. Avoid big fluctuations in temperature. If you keep your aquarium in a space where the heat is off for a long period of time, perhaps you should look for a different spot.

2. Watch for algal growth in the sides of the Aquarium. You can use a soft brush or sponge on a stick to clean the sides. Once you introduce fish, snails or shrimp, they will take care of this problem.

3. Make sure your water level is maintained. You might want to top your aquarium with spring water or water from your pond as often as you need.

4. Watch the plants over the next week or two for signs of decay. If the plants appear to be browning or loosing leaves, give them some time to acclimate. However, you should remove any plant that is completely dead.

Note: Not all Aquariums work out the first time. It is possible that problems could occur which kill your plants or fish. If this happens, discuss your options with the professor.

 

Testing and documenting your Aquarium.

1. Using a sharpie, make a grid of I inch squares on a piece of plastic. A mica plastic cover for a report folder or a plastic document sleeve works fine.

2. Once your Aquarium is stable and ready (within a one or two weeks of starting), place the plastic grid on the side of the tank and take a photo using your phone or a camera. You will do this for every week until your Aquarium project is complete. Also take top views, but make sure you always do it from the same angle. You might want to make a small mark in the jar in order to remember the side you took the pictures from.

3. Use the picture to count the number of squares in the grid where you can observe plants growing. The more squares you mark as having plant growth, the more growth you have (or less if they are dying).

4. You can also make other calculations, such as number of animals, etc.

5. You should also monitor room temperature and water temperature on your Aquarium. If you do not have a room thermometer, you can download one to your phone free. You can use a cheap aquarium or kitchen thermometer to get the temperature of the water

6. Record your observation of other physical components, such as water clarity, height of plants, or any other thing that could give you a tangible measurement of the health of the ecosystem you have built in your terrarium.

Introducing Variables – Stage 3

Once you have obtained your initial measurements and your Aquarium is stable, we can start introducing variables. Students should have two similar Aquariums. One of these we will call the control, and we will continue monitoring the Aqurarium without altering any of the conditions. The other, will be altered, and compared to the control.

Choose one of the following Possible Variables to alter in your terrarium.

Temperature – What will happen if one of your Aquariums is kept inside the freezer for one night? What if the terrarium is kept for one night in the oven at 100 degrees? NOTE the oven will only work if you have glass jars, don’t try it with plastic jars!!!!

pH – What if you added lemon juice (Acidic Conditions) or with baking soda (Alkaline conditions) to your aquarium? Note if you pick one of these use two spoonful of either lemon juice or Baking Soda powder dissolved in the water.

Fertilizer – What your Aquarium was treated with fertilizer? You can use a few grains of commercial houseplant fertilizer such as osmocote.

Sunlight – What if your Aquarium was kept in a dark cupboard with no light for 7 days?

Biodiversity – What if a different plant or animal was introduced?

 

· Start by selecting the site you will use as a model for your terrarium. Pick a site you have access to, with small plants suitable for your Jar, such as mosses and ferns. If you decide to do a terrarium mimicking an ecosystem that you do not have access too, you will need to perhaps purchase plants and materials to complete your project. For example, if you want to create a dry desert, you will need sand and cactus, or succulent plants, and you would need to have an adequate way to maintain the necessary temperature.

Common houseplants can be used in a terrarium, many of which can be cultured from cuttings. Look around: there may be many potted plants from which cuttings or slips may be taken. Ferns, spider plants, and ivy are common and work well in a terrarium setting. Houseplants suitable for a closed terrarium are available at the best prices direct from local growers. Call local greenhouses and ask for recently started young plants. Or start your own from seeds. Consult with your local grower for the best available varieties.

When selecting your site, consider the most important factors to the study; such as sun, water, climate, dominant vegetation, light, soil moisture and temperature. Think about how would you reproduce these factors in your closed terrarium. For example, in a moss and fern terrarium, which factors are most important to mosses and ferns? Which might limit their growth by its absence? Consider what the moss systems range of tolerance might be for the various factors. How much light can the moss or fern tolerate? What temperatures will it tolerate?

The closer your closed terrarium resembles the actual site you are investigating, the better the data you will get and the better the analysis that will come from it.

After identifying and analyzing your selected site, plan your closed terrarium using the following table. Once you complete the Table, submit it using the provided link.

 

You want to understand this table better??

Here is an example of a Terrarium Site Selection Table. I was able to get a lot of information by just searching google. You can use some of it if your site is in Elizabeth City, or you can find information that will work for your location. If you are buying your plants you can easily find the scientific name for your plants from the label. Then do a search to see if the grow in NC, or where do you normally find them in nature.

Proposed site	Yard in Elizabeth City
Conditions	Original Site	My Terrarium
Soil Type	Loamy, sandy	Loamy, sandy – I will use soil taken for the original site.
Temperature	36 degrees F Average Temperature in Elizabeth City  February 57/36 F, March 63/40 F, April 72/48 F	The room where I will keep the terrariums is kept at  70 degrees F
Sunlight	Full sun, Elizabeth City has an average of 98.39 hours of sunshine per month.	Full sun (in a south facing window)
Water/Humidity	Wet. In Elizabeth City it rains an average of 116 days/year with an average rainfall of 47.7 in/year. Annual percentage of humidity is 72%.	Wet. The terrariums will be kept humid without condensation in the walls of the jar
Salinity	N/A	N/A
Vegetation	Deciduous trees, grasses, ferns, mosses, other unidentified plants	Grasses, ferns, mosses, other unidentified plants taken from the original site.
Insects or animals?	Insects, worms, arthropods, birds	None except for those that could come with the soil.

 

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