In terms of changes in out ecosystem I wouldn't say that there was a pattern. Our water quality and activity in our fish were very inconsistent. The only time I saw consistency was near the end of the project. During that time the fish were a lot calmer and our nitrogen and ammonia levels remained low. Before this we would have one day when the turtle was super active and be eating a lot, but the next day he would lay motionless and eat almost nothing. As for plants, none of them really survived, in fact they would always kinda die out.

1. I learned how to check the ammonia and nitrate levels of water.
2. I learned how to fix these levels if they are incorrect, whether it be by adding plants or bacteria.
3. I learned how to make and install a water bed to a tank.
4. I learned how to make a filter out of everyday objects and materials.
5. I learned the steps needed to prepare an aquarium for fish.

If I could change anything about this project I would change the limit on the variety of fish. Maybe not just allow fish and turtles but maybe allow other lizards or crustaceans.

Over the weekend our water levels dropped significantly. What we have done is added water and dechlorinated. We have a water bed over our tank which is now shut off. We shut it off because the plants have started drowning. The down side to this is that all the filth it has been cleaning has now fallen back into our tank. Our nitrate level went up to 20 but the ammonia remains at .1.

An invasive plant is a plant which is not from the U.S. but is brought here and cause a lot of problems.

Alligator weed- They are aggressive plants that for mats that cover the body of water. They impede navigation and displace native vegetation.



Giant salvinia- Free floating aquatic fern. Root has hairs on leaves resemble "egg beaters" structure. They reduce oxygen in water and negatively affect water quality. Once established it is almost impossible to eradicate.



Hydrilla- No seeds. Grows more than 1 inch a day. Submersed perennial aquatic plant. Shades out desirable native vegetation and impedes navigation.

I have learned not to over feed our fish. During one of the first weeks I really over fed our turtle and the water looked disgusting. He was decomposing a lot and added a lot of filth and nitrogen to the tank. One of the problems we had with the tank was trying to keep it clean and clear. It was always either a shade of green or very cloudy. I think something we did well was keeping a healthy living environment for our fish because none of them died due to our water.

Additions have been made to our tank. A water bed is the biggest change which we made. This was added to help clean the tank because recently we have had very filthy water. Our turtle has a very bi-polar personality. One day he'll be swimming around everywhere and eating really fast, but the next he'll lay almost motionless barely eating anything. Our tests are all stable and nothing drastic had happened. We have not lost any fish and i think they will all survive until the end.

If an ecosystem is self-sustaining it means it can survive on it's own. No human interaction is needed for a self-sustained ecosystem to survive. This term does not describe my aquarium. This is because our fish need to be fed. If not fed they will eventually die out and throw the balance of the nitrogen cycle off. For it to be self sustained I think it needs to be larger and have a much larger population with a variety.

In an ecosystem there are fish which eat, and then this food is decomposed. The decomposed food is turned to ammonia. In the presence of oxygen, nitrosomonas bacteria turns the ammonia to nitrite. Then, the nitrite is oxidized by nitrobacter bacteria to turn into nitrate. Plants then take in this nitrate to remove from the water. If anything, removing the plants should be ok since contact with the atmosphere helps clear the nitrate as well.

In terms of relating our aquarium to a lake or river, I believe our aquarium most resembles a lake. This is due to the fact that a river is moving water and a lake is still water. Our aquarium has no moving water. Our aquarium also contains a turtle. It is more difficult to find turtles in a river than it is to find one in a lake.

Our aquarium is doing fine, my only complain is how filthy it is. Our turtle is a lot more shy than what it was when we first got him. When we got him we were able to actually observe him eat. Now, when there is people around he hides in his shell or swims towards a corner. Our nitrate level is 10, ammonia is 0, and temperature is 28 Celsius and 75 Fahrenheit. The only change I'm going to make is feed our turtle less.

The purpose of the Pollution index chart is to check the amount of algae in the water. From knowing this it can translate into checking how clean the water is.The benefits from this are checking how clean the water is. It is not a definitive test because it does not give a clear number. The cleaner the water the more the diversity. The dirtier, the less diversity.