little_fish
Moderator
So my local reefing club is doing their annual science fair! I am entering this year and I am super duper excited about it!
Project: Test the effect of varied diet of food when compared to a diet of just brine shrimp, which is commonly sold at LFS as the sole food source for saltwater fish.
Experiment setup:
1. one 14 gal tank, divided into four sections by egg crating covered with fine bird netting. A solid barrier between the two sides will be inserted down the center at feeding times.
2. Live rock and hermits crabs with an assortment of snails will serve as the CUC. Macro algae may also be used.
3. Water changes will be performed as needed, keeping nitrate level below 20 ppm
4. Amount of flow to be determined, but aimed at a turned over of 25x per hour.
5. Lighting will be stock tank hood
6. Tank will be heated with standard heater with the temperature to be maintained at 78 +/- 1 degF
Experiment Subjects:
Eight clowns from the same hatching and kept in the same environment will be chosen for the experiment. They will be selected at an age that should experience rapid growth. Two in each compartment
Method:
The clowns will (hopefully) be feed twice a day. One set of clown will only be fed brine shrimp the other will be feed Elite's (a local fish store) mixed food blend. They will be allowed to eat as much as they wish and then the leftovers will be removed 15 minutes later.
Once a week the clowns will be removed and weighed. If its possible they will also be measured and their color assed. Weekly photographs will also be taken. The scale is a jeweler's scale that measure to 0.1 grams.
To account for different genetics, relationships between the pairs, etc the percent change in body weight will be calculate and that will be used to compare the two groups.
% change = (new weight - old weight) / old weight
If there is a clear difference in growth, after a time, the groups will have their food source switched.
I would love to hear other people's ideas and questions. The prize is a pretty big deal (to me at least), its a trip to the MANCA 2012 and a chance to meet with some the big dudes in the industry. I would really like to be one of those experts someday, so I really hope I win!
The clowns were acquired to today and they have until Thursday to adjust to the tank and the feeding style. On Thursday the first official weigh in will occur. These guys are so cute, not even an inch long! They were all hatched and raised just up the road from me in Denver. They are the very distant siblings to clowns I have in my tank right now.
This is the tank setup:
Project: Test the effect of varied diet of food when compared to a diet of just brine shrimp, which is commonly sold at LFS as the sole food source for saltwater fish.
Experiment setup:
1. one 14 gal tank, divided into four sections by egg crating covered with fine bird netting. A solid barrier between the two sides will be inserted down the center at feeding times.
2. Live rock and hermits crabs with an assortment of snails will serve as the CUC. Macro algae may also be used.
3. Water changes will be performed as needed, keeping nitrate level below 20 ppm
4. Amount of flow to be determined, but aimed at a turned over of 25x per hour.
5. Lighting will be stock tank hood
6. Tank will be heated with standard heater with the temperature to be maintained at 78 +/- 1 degF
Experiment Subjects:
Eight clowns from the same hatching and kept in the same environment will be chosen for the experiment. They will be selected at an age that should experience rapid growth. Two in each compartment
Method:
The clowns will (hopefully) be feed twice a day. One set of clown will only be fed brine shrimp the other will be feed Elite's (a local fish store) mixed food blend. They will be allowed to eat as much as they wish and then the leftovers will be removed 15 minutes later.
Once a week the clowns will be removed and weighed. If its possible they will also be measured and their color assed. Weekly photographs will also be taken. The scale is a jeweler's scale that measure to 0.1 grams.
To account for different genetics, relationships between the pairs, etc the percent change in body weight will be calculate and that will be used to compare the two groups.
% change = (new weight - old weight) / old weight
If there is a clear difference in growth, after a time, the groups will have their food source switched.
I would love to hear other people's ideas and questions. The prize is a pretty big deal (to me at least), its a trip to the MANCA 2012 and a chance to meet with some the big dudes in the industry. I would really like to be one of those experts someday, so I really hope I win!
The clowns were acquired to today and they have until Thursday to adjust to the tank and the feeding style. On Thursday the first official weigh in will occur. These guys are so cute, not even an inch long! They were all hatched and raised just up the road from me in Denver. They are the very distant siblings to clowns I have in my tank right now.
This is the tank setup:
