Hello all. I'm a senior in high school and am currently trying to develop an individual research project for my Advanced Placement (dual-credit) Biology class. I love native fish and fishkeeping, and have been exposed to the wonderful fishes the continent has to offer over my years as an avid recreational angler. I need ideas for my project which is due to be presented in May, so I have a good amount of time for research. I would like to do something with the fish tank I've set up in the classroom (a 29 gallon) if possible, and I have a 125 gallon and could possibly obtain others for replications (and thus more accuracy) of the experiment. Unfortunately, I have no idea what to experiment with or study. I don't want to be cliche; I want to study something that has meaning and could develop into useful research on a larger scale. Nonetheless, it all starts here. Please, what could I do for my project? I'm open to anything.
I have pondered the ideas of testing the effects of invasive species on natives, but legality issues make that very difficult. I've also gotten suggestions to test thermo pollution on native fish, but that doesn't seem exciting to study for as long as I have. I would love to study some neat species that I am able to get my hands on, but I need some basis to work off of. Please help. Thank you in advance for any and all suggestions.
Help; school biology research
Started by
Guest_aaron7353_*
, Sep 23 2013 11:36 PM
22 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_Skipjack_*
Guest_Skipjack_*
-
- Guests
Posted 23 September 2013 - 11:52 PM
This is really interesting. I will think about it, and if I come up with anything worthwhile I will let you know. I am sure others more creative than myself will join in as well.
#3
Guest_centrarchid_*
Guest_centrarchid_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 06:19 AM
I am not one of the creative ones but have seen some things that do not appear to be reported in the literature at all.
Get some sheets of plastic representing different colors. Place them in tank according to procedure you develop. See if color impacts distribution of fish. See if fish change in other ways. Mine do and some behaviors are very important in a culture setting.
Something very similar could be run with early instar crayfish that does not require all the permissions required by your animal use committee.
Digital camera mounted above tank will be your friend. Consistent and uniform lighting will be your biggest challenges. I would start trying to figure that out soon.
Get some sheets of plastic representing different colors. Place them in tank according to procedure you develop. See if color impacts distribution of fish. See if fish change in other ways. Mine do and some behaviors are very important in a culture setting.
Something very similar could be run with early instar crayfish that does not require all the permissions required by your animal use committee.
Digital camera mounted above tank will be your friend. Consistent and uniform lighting will be your biggest challenges. I would start trying to figure that out soon.
Edited by centrarchid, 24 September 2013 - 06:23 AM.
#4
Guest_EricaLyons_*
Guest_EricaLyons_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 07:55 AM
Make sure to have a negative and a positive control in your experimental design. Something for which it should never happen, and it should always happen. You've got to have controls to compare to your experimental group.
#5
Guest_centrarchid_*
Guest_centrarchid_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 09:18 AM
Experimentation without use of controls is possible but you must be particular about how experiments are designed and carried out. The replication part must not be overlooked. I judge science fair projects every year and they are all over the place with respect to design. When it comes to behavior of animals, everything gets really hairy since not enough control is realized with respect to controlling variables not being explored.
What species of aquatic organism are of interest and have you been ruminating on a phenomenon to explore?
What species of aquatic organism are of interest and have you been ruminating on a phenomenon to explore?
#6
Michael Wolfe
-
- Board of Directors
-
- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 24 September 2013 - 09:26 AM
Do you need to work in a tank? Or could you do something in the field? We talked here one time about doing a presence or quantity type study of a specific habitat or two.
Find a local stream and go out every couple of weeks and see which fish are present. In what quantities. And in what color or condition. You could do some pre research to know what to expect and learn the fishes in your area. Then maybe go out every other week. And gather field data. Maybe even photographing fish in various stages of breeding color.
Not sure about your weather but you could mabe get some good data now. Or in the spring for a few months.
Find a local stream and go out every couple of weeks and see which fish are present. In what quantities. And in what color or condition. You could do some pre research to know what to expect and learn the fishes in your area. Then maybe go out every other week. And gather field data. Maybe even photographing fish in various stages of breeding color.
Not sure about your weather but you could mabe get some good data now. Or in the spring for a few months.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#7
Guest_centrarchid_*
Guest_centrarchid_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 10:47 AM
Another possibility could be hybrid between tank and natural environment were 5-gallon buckets or gallon jars could be stocked or prepared for natural colonization of aquatic invertebrates. You can then observe the communities as they change or that subsequently develop. The containers / experimental units can be perturbed by something like light exposure, nutrients or simply their connectivity to the atmosphere.
#8
Guest_Orangespotted_*
Guest_Orangespotted_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 10:51 AM
Hi! I was just in the course you are describing last year, and one of my projects ended up being the fecundity of different strains of guppies, and their likelihood of eating their offspring. That wasn't too hard and was fun to do, even though it was about guppies rather than native fishes. As for native fishes, I like the color idea that Centrarchid came up with, the invert one would be interesting as well. One of the ones I considered doing was actually kind of similar; I was going to set up "stands" of different species of native plants in the tank and see which ones several natives preferred. I ended up deciding against it since I didn't want to find a way to add food to the tank without teaching the fish to sit in one spot and beg for it, but I'll bet if you used free-swimming live foods like Daphnia or sprinkled the food evenly over the surface of the tank you'd be fine. Best of luck to you, it sounds fun!
#9
Guest_aaron7353_*
Guest_aaron7353_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 01:48 PM
All wonderful ideas, thank you. As for species that interest me, I love sunfish, and I have some banded sunfish (enneacathus obesus) as well as orange spotted sunfish that would work in a small setup like a 29 gallon. I also love darters and sculpin, and I'd be interested in a setup for them, and I can get my hands on them pretty easy.
In regards to Michael's question, I don't have to work in a tank. I was only hoping to do so for ease of study and because I will always take the opportunity to set up another tank. I am pretty interested in the idea of monitoring how fish colors change depending on seasons and whatever other factors may be present. My only concern is what to do during the winter months.
More ideas are greatly welcomed, and I'd love to hear more about each project suggestion so far. Again, thanks a million everyone.
In regards to Michael's question, I don't have to work in a tank. I was only hoping to do so for ease of study and because I will always take the opportunity to set up another tank. I am pretty interested in the idea of monitoring how fish colors change depending on seasons and whatever other factors may be present. My only concern is what to do during the winter months.
More ideas are greatly welcomed, and I'd love to hear more about each project suggestion so far. Again, thanks a million everyone.
#10
Guest_aaron7353_*
Guest_aaron7353_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 02:03 PM
I just thought of something I may be able to do. I could choose a species of native fish (I'm thinking mottled sculpin, cottus bairdi) to try to breed and test the success or if it even occurs based on various conditions. These conditions could range from tank size, presence of tankmates, temperature, current, almost anything really. Replications could be done in different tanks and settings as to further test these factors. My main concerns here are: I'm on a high school student's budget so equipment will be hard to obtain, I am not sure how to sex sculpins much less establish a breeding pair, I don't know anything about sculpin breeding habits and or conditions.
#11
Guest_aaron7353_*
Guest_aaron7353_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 02:09 PM
Also, if the breeding falls through and I don't have any successful setups, I could determine effects of the various factors on fish coloration. This idea is also pretty interesting because I could test it on a variety of species at the same time. However, I only see a true control group (one for real comparison) as being an observed wild group in its natural habitat. The problem there is that the species I might study are not easy to find in my area or are not in my area, and it is possible that if I travel somewhere to examine them by some stretch, they may be in breeding colors while mine may not. I suppose that could be an analysis of collected data though.
#12
Guest_centrarchid_*
Guest_centrarchid_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 03:41 PM
Limited budget will make breeding of sculpin very difficult. I have chiller units and computer controlled lights yet breeding those winter loving critters would be very tough because of limited knowledge about conditioning.
Keep it simple if breeding is an objective towards your goal. Use an established species with respect to its being cultured by someone else. I would try to get some tank raised advanced juveniles of a smaller easy to produce species. Otherwise purchase hatchery reared juveniles before the hatcheries shut down for winter which is not far off.
Pumpkinseed and longear (regardless of source) are very easy to breed and rear. Many here can provide insight on how to do it and we have it down to the quick and dirty if trying to do it on the cheap. Fathead minnows are easy as well.
If I were doing it I would prefer working with banded sunfish Enneacanthus obesus. You can find at least one article in American Currents describing it and I think you could do exactly the way I did bantam sunfish Lepomis (should be Enneacanthus) symmetricus which is also buried in the same publication.
Some fish like darters collected during or immediately prior to breeding season could be done as well to produce tank spawns if time allows.
If breeding a finfish fails, you will have narrow window in spring to acquire berried female crayfish if interested in running trials with those.
Keep it simple if breeding is an objective towards your goal. Use an established species with respect to its being cultured by someone else. I would try to get some tank raised advanced juveniles of a smaller easy to produce species. Otherwise purchase hatchery reared juveniles before the hatcheries shut down for winter which is not far off.
Pumpkinseed and longear (regardless of source) are very easy to breed and rear. Many here can provide insight on how to do it and we have it down to the quick and dirty if trying to do it on the cheap. Fathead minnows are easy as well.
If I were doing it I would prefer working with banded sunfish Enneacanthus obesus. You can find at least one article in American Currents describing it and I think you could do exactly the way I did bantam sunfish Lepomis (should be Enneacanthus) symmetricus which is also buried in the same publication.
Some fish like darters collected during or immediately prior to breeding season could be done as well to produce tank spawns if time allows.
If breeding a finfish fails, you will have narrow window in spring to acquire berried female crayfish if interested in running trials with those.
#13
Michael Wolfe
-
- Board of Directors
-
- North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage
Posted 24 September 2013 - 05:11 PM
In regards to Michael's question, I don't have to work in a tank. I was only hoping to do so for ease of study and because I will always take the opportunity to set up another tank. I am pretty interested in the idea of monitoring how fish colors change depending on seasons and whatever other factors may be present. My only concern is what to do during the winter months.
Not sure how harsh your winters are up there, but you would be surprised at fish abundance during cooler weather... depending on habitat... this could even be part of your study... and field work could be less expensive than maintaining a tank... you get a seine, build a phototank and then it is all just your time and camera (maybe you have or can borrow one) to get some digital pictures. And your control could be part of your experiment... sort of an in-test control group... I cant remember the right term...
Say some thing like you go out to a stream near your house every two weeks and sample the same locations... one that is a riffle... one that is a run... one that is a pool... one that is a weedy area. You seine the same way everytime... same number of passes etc.(there are some articles on stuff like that). You document the fish that you see every time. Maybe you even photograph certain ones like darters and shiners (that we all know will show some seasonable color change... sculpins change color more based on environment I think than season). Maybe you also take a water parameter like temperature and depth or whatever. Then you can compare your samples from season to season... chart the numbers of fish you caught over time... where do the fish go when it is cold? or hot? or where are the colorful fish, and when? I dont think you need really hard questions as many people (maybe even teachers) do not know that much about breeding colors in fish. Sounds like a good excuse to go to the stream every other week and get wet/dirty... and if you gather data while you are doing it you can analyze that data... its science.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#14
Guest_centrarchid_*
Guest_centrarchid_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 06:18 PM
Staying with the stream, sculpin and color technics, see how color changes quickly color changes with season. For fun right now, collect a sculpin and place it first on a white background, photograph it, then repeat on black background. Duration of wait will be very few minutes.
#15
Guest_fundulus_*
Guest_fundulus_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 06:26 PM
Most North American fishes are living at the upper end of their thermal tolerance, especially in the South. Cold weather doesn't bother them as much as we usually think, the good news is that dissolved oxygen levels go up dramatically in cold water.
#16
Guest_aaron7353_*
Guest_aaron7353_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 10:08 PM
Does anyone know regional reps or members in the quad city area that could help me locate some good streams? I'm unaware of any with darters or anything close to my pretty much urban area. The fish I would be able to obtain are through Jonah's aquarium unless I find streams. I am planning to go talk to the fish and wildlife officials close to me to see if there is field work I could help them with. In the best case scenario, I could aid them in their research while developing my own branch off experiments for my school project. This way, I help them obtain their data and provide more replications, and they put me on the fish and projects. It would be amazing if they could allow me to keep some of the species they're studying in captivity for some sort of experiments. I feel like in regards to tank experiments, I'm left with studying the changes in colors based on various things. Is there anything in this regard that I could vary. Centrarchid gave the suggestion of background. Is there different things I could do with structure or tank setups (ie. current, lighting) to test variances? Keep these awesome suggestions coming. I'm very excited for this project. I hope that along the way and in May I can share my research and findings with everyone here and that it will have been pretty commendable work.
#17
Guest_Doug_Dame_*
Guest_Doug_Dame_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 10:56 PM
Does this have to be "an experiment" per se ?
One interesting idea might be to consider micro-fishing to be exploitation of a previously neglected niche in the eco-system of human fishing, and evaluate the potential impact.
Find data from Japan or other places to suggest the potential numbers of micro-fishermen, do a survey to identify probable target species, estimate "annual fishing days" and take by species, estimate impact on sustainability of the species, estimate financial impact of this new variety of eco-tourism given fishing days, equipment and travel, identify areas in the country that might especially benefit, discuss changes in state regulations that might encourage this (presumably) low impact sport, outline possible marketing plans.
Chances are no student has ever before presented a comprehensive fisheries assessment and mgmt plan for micro-fishing as a research project.
One interesting idea might be to consider micro-fishing to be exploitation of a previously neglected niche in the eco-system of human fishing, and evaluate the potential impact.
Find data from Japan or other places to suggest the potential numbers of micro-fishermen, do a survey to identify probable target species, estimate "annual fishing days" and take by species, estimate impact on sustainability of the species, estimate financial impact of this new variety of eco-tourism given fishing days, equipment and travel, identify areas in the country that might especially benefit, discuss changes in state regulations that might encourage this (presumably) low impact sport, outline possible marketing plans.
Chances are no student has ever before presented a comprehensive fisheries assessment and mgmt plan for micro-fishing as a research project.
#18
Guest_Orangespotted_*
Guest_Orangespotted_*
-
- Guests
Posted 24 September 2013 - 11:11 PM
It might be difficult to find work in the winter, especially with having to balance school with it, but definitely get your name in their books. As for Iowa fishes: http://maps.gis.iast...iris/fishatlas/ is the site I use.
#19
Guest_Auban_*
Guest_Auban_*
-
- Guests
Posted 25 September 2013 - 01:41 AM
you could try working with Notostraca.
several years ago, i started playing around with triops longicaudatus and noticed that i got much higher hatch rates from containers that received natural sunlight, as opposed to incandescent light alone. i never did any followup on the observation, but i have often wondered if ultraviolet light played a part.
they are pretty easy to work with, considering that they grow very fast, are large enough to easily observe, and show very obvious responses to environmental conditions. its pretty easy to set up any kind of experiment you want.
you can raise them in small tubs without any special equipment, so they wouldn't cost too much either. you would just have to buy they the eggs.
several years ago, i started playing around with triops longicaudatus and noticed that i got much higher hatch rates from containers that received natural sunlight, as opposed to incandescent light alone. i never did any followup on the observation, but i have often wondered if ultraviolet light played a part.
they are pretty easy to work with, considering that they grow very fast, are large enough to easily observe, and show very obvious responses to environmental conditions. its pretty easy to set up any kind of experiment you want.
you can raise them in small tubs without any special equipment, so they wouldn't cost too much either. you would just have to buy they the eggs.
#20
Guest_centrarchid_*
Guest_centrarchid_*
-
- Guests
Posted 25 September 2013 - 09:17 AM
Does anyone know regional reps or members in the quad city area that could help me locate some good streams? I'm unaware of any with darters or anything close to my pretty much urban area. The fish I would be able to obtain are through Jonah's aquarium unless I find streams. I am planning to go talk to the fish and wildlife officials close to me to see if there is field work I could help them with. In the best case scenario, I could aid them in their research while developing my own branch off experiments for my school project. This way, I help them obtain their data and provide more replications, and they put me on the fish and projects. It would be amazing if they could allow me to keep some of the species they're studying in captivity for some sort of experiments. I feel like in regards to tank experiments, I'm left with studying the changes in colors based on various things. Is there anything in this regard that I could vary. Centrarchid gave the suggestion of background. Is there different things I could do with structure or tank setups (ie. current, lighting) to test variances? Keep these awesome suggestions coming. I'm very excited for this project. I hope that along the way and in May I can share my research and findings with everyone here and that it will have been pretty commendable work.
Substrate particle size and interaction between particles color ratios. Some species, especially those that are bottom-oriented may exhibit impressive abilities to adjust to different backgrounds. It would be cool to know if they are concerned more about bottom they are sitting on or dominant pattern some distance away.
1 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users
NANFA Youtube Channel 
