Observations 5-25-2010

There are also several observations that were made on the last day of testing:

• The fish began to turn black, we do not exactly know why the fish is.
• Also the fish has some kind of growth on the fish's nose, just above the mouth.
• The decaying material in the decomposing section is doing well, and falling apart. 
• The spider has been even more productive in its web building, and appears to be doing well.
• The water in the fish area has become a little more murky, but that is to be expected.
• The grass in the top section has grown exponentially, and has even grown down into the decomposing section
• The plant that was in the fish section has been slightly torn apart, as the fish was not fed for a while.

Eco Column Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NJMUWyc86w

Observations 5-18-2010

5-18-2010:
On the first day of two that were made for checking the status of the Eco Columns. Some interesting observations of the first day are:

• The fish did take a while to get used to the small space that it now had to occupy, but that of course is a natural reaction to a scenery change.
• The water remained clear in the fish section of the eco column.
• The grass had not grown just yet.
• The spider has made quite a lot of new webs in the middle section

Survival 5-25-2010

On the morning of My 25th, we all came into the classroom to find that most all of the other fish had died, but ours had survived.

May 25, 2010-Victory

It's been 7 days since we started the project and despite the negative results of some of the water quality tests our fish lives on! one of maybe 5-6 fish. our grass is growing strong and Mr.Chuckles the spider has coated the floor of the decomposition chamber with webbing so he is doing quite the job keeping away the fruit flies. although their does seem to be some grass growing in the decomp chamber... still don't know how that got in their. A sad development though our fish seems to have developed a strange white tumor looking bump on his nose. concerning but he still survives. Another plus, the plants in the aquarium chamber have takin root and seem to be growing anew. IT'S ALIVE!

Procedure

1. Gather materials listed in the materials post
2. Cut the two 2.5 liter bottles into 4 sections.

In the bottom section lay 2 inches of aquarium gravel on the bottom:

1. Place two aquatic plants in the gravel
2. 100 milileters of Aquarium water
3. 2 drops of Aqua Conditioner
4. Fill rest with norman tap water
5. Cut opening to feed the fish.

For the second section:

1. Burn three holds in the section of the the second bottom
2. Place coffee filters in the section with the three holes
3. Place the the decomposing matertials ontop of the coffee filters
4. Place gathered worms and spider in the second section

For the third section:

1. Burn three holes into the cap of the bottle
2. Place several coffee filters into the top
3. Add soil
4. Add Water
5. Place grass seeds under the surface of the oil
6. Water grass seeds

Materials

Materials:

• 2 - 2.5 Liter bottles
• String
• Packing Tape
• Garden Soil
• Grass Seeds
• Coffee Filters
• Decompsong waste
• Aquarium Rocks
• One can of Fish Flakes Fish Feed
• 2 - Aquarium Plants
• 3 - Worms
• 1 - Spider
• 1 - Large Goldfish

Purpose of Project

The purpose of the project is to attempt to build a self sustaining ecosystem that a organism (A fish) can live in.

Introduction

Project Eco Column - Ben R, Alexis B, and Josh B

The purpose of the 3 sectioned Eco Column project is to try and built a self sustaining ecosystem to see if organisms placed in it can survive and sustain themselves. The abiotic factors in in each section is the rocks, they add minerals and also add to the environment's landscape. The biotic factors within the eco column would be in the first section the fish that will be added after the column as well as bacteria that should act as a filter for the fish filth. Our group is attempting to discover if creating an independent ecosystem can surviv on its own. We did not use a hypothesis becuase conditions are the same all the time, but with this experiment the conditions are changing all the time. At the end the decompision lay should be bigger, the grass will hopefully have grown, the fish should be thriving living well.