extreme makeover: tank edition by: mary willingham & katie smith

19
Extreme Makeover: Tank Edition By: Mary Willingham & Katie Smith

Upload: beryl-barber

Post on 24-Dec-2015

227 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Extreme Makeover: Tank Edition

By: Mary Willingham & Katie Smith

Soft Corals Soft bodies made up of a large number of polyps

connected by fleshy tissue.

Lack the limestone skeleton and do not produce calcium carbonate

Some contain zooxanthellae and appear brown in color

Thrive in depths varying between 15-95 feet

Does the amount of force and direction of the power head’s current effect the movement pattern of the soft corals?

HypothesisOriginal Hypothesis: The

increasing and decreasing of the current from the power heads directly effects the movement of the soft corals. The stronger the current, the further the soft coral will move.

How we got started?Repositioned the power heads to have the

current directed onto the Xenia.

Traced the Xenia on the glass. (See Wiki)

Set up a bi-weekly schedule to measure the movement of the Xenia.

Then we hit a bump in the road.

5 Questions1. How is the growth of algae effected by the currents of

the power heads?

2. How do soft corals adapt based on the different currents of the power heads?

3. What is the difference of algae growth in corners versus high flow areas?

4. When the current of the power heads are directed straight on the Xenia and Nepthea do the corals change positions faster?

5. When the power heads are not directed straight toward the Xenia and Nepthea will they move?

Data

This was the starting position of the Xenia before it was killed off by the charcoal bag

Data

This was the tank after the coral had died and had been removed from the tank

Dead CoralUnfortunately after we added a new charcoal

bag all of the Xenia in our tank died off. (See Wiki)

"Along with the removing of unwanted organic and inorganic chemicals, activated carbon also removes essential trace elements vital to the health of marine livestock. The amounts removed are of unknown quantity and significance, but nonetheless a precautionary approach towards offsetting them by performing regular water changes is recommended" (Adam Jenkins).

Re-Model IdeasThe death of the Xenia in our tank has caused us

to think of new project ideas such as:

Buy new Xenia and continue with the same project concept

Re-design our tank by moving corals around, trading corals, and scrubbing rocks for new organisms to grow.

The Make-overCleaned live rock

Mucus net

Built a bridge/reconstructed the live rock.

Built a Nephthea corner

Introduced new corals, purple sea fan, Button coral and Frogspawn coral. Before:

After:

Adapting New Organisms Shrimp

Turbo snails

Sea Fan

Button Coral

Frogspawn

Button CoralFamily: Zoanthidae

There are multiple individual polyps attached to a piece of live rock or coral rubble.

They are very easy to

maintain in the reef

aquarium

Frogspawn Coral Family: Caryophylliidae

Needs Space to grow because it is a very dominate coral. Tentacles can reach up to 6 inches

Native to the indo-pacific

Color varies between

Green, blue, brown

Sea FanPhylum: Cnidaria

A colony can be several feet high and across but only a few inches thick.

Usually colorfulPurple (ours)RedYellow

Nephthea While cleaning the live rock we decided to

isolate the Nephthea to the bottom corner of the tankAllowed for more room to grow and thrive

Relies heavily on the products of their zooxanthellae

Fast growing coral

ConclusionWith the new tank set up we observed that the

fish have been more active when compared to the daily checks of the tank before the re-model.

The added corals have adapted well and we predict that they will continue to thrive in the next several months.

Greater flow from power heads with the new design of the tank

Bibliography1- "Aquarium Filter and Fish Tank Filtration." Tropical Fish,

Aquarium Fish, Care for Saltwater and Freshwater Fish,

Aquarium Setup. Web. 19. Oct. 2011.

2- Davis, Ernst M., and E.F Gloyna. "The Role of Algae." JSTOR.

JSTOR, 8 Nov. 1969. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

3- Jenkins, Adam. "Activated Carbon." Wetwebmedia, Aquarium, Pond, Marine and Freshwater Fish,

Reef Tanks, and Aquatics Information. Web. 01 Dec. 2011.

Bibliography4. Kuhlmann, Deltrich H.H. "The Sensitivity of Coral Reefs to

enviormental Pollution." JSTOR. JSTOR, 1 Nov. 1988.

Web. 17 Oct. 2011.

5. Logan, Lara. "Pulsating Xenia." Home Page. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.

6. Viola, Roberto, and Pi Nyvall. "The Unique Features in Red

Algae. "JSTOR. JSTOR. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

Bibliography7- "Water Movement; Placement of Powerheads." The Reef Tank.

Web.18 Oct. 2011

8. McFadden, Catherine S. "Contributions of Sexual and Asexual Reproduction to Population Structure in the Clonal Soft Coral.”