Terrarium Lab
Objective/Purpose
Our objective was to design and build a terrarium and through the course of a couple months, study the ecosystem that we had made.
Materials
Fish tank
Smaller cylinder container
Soil
Moss
Platt's black
Annelids
Sand
Pebbles
Water
Elodea
Water snails
Fish
Smaller cylinder container
Soil
Moss
Platt's black
Annelids
Sand
Pebbles
Water
Elodea
Water snails
Fish
Method/Procedure
1. We used two small containers to plant our platts back and moss in and we also put worms in the dirt
2. Then we got a fish tank and filled it with rocks, then with water
3. We let the fish get used to the water then put them in along with the snails and underwater plants
4. Finally we tied our two plant containers to the sides and let them hang with the bottom underwater
2. Then we got a fish tank and filled it with rocks, then with water
3. We let the fish get used to the water then put them in along with the snails and underwater plants
4. Finally we tied our two plant containers to the sides and let them hang with the bottom underwater
Hypothesis
My hypothesis is that our underwater snails are soon going to overpopulate our underwater terrarium and we will need to regulate it so it doesn't throw off the balance of the ecosystem. Our plants with grow healthily and the underwater plants will help to feed the fish and snails.
Results
Day 0: We acquired all of our materials, but we had't stared building yet
Day 1: We cleaned out some rocks to put in our tank, we then filled it with water and slowly got our fish and snails accustomed to the water. Also we put our underwater plants in the tank, along with our above water plants hanging above
Day 5: When looking in the tank we saw that a pair of snails were mating, and as we looked closer we saw that there was clear egg sacks attached to the plants throughout the tank, and the fish were feeding off the underwater plants.
Day 13: We came in to got look at the terrarium and we saw that the water had become very murky and smelled gross, we think it was the underwater plants
Day 15: Once we were back from the weekend we saw that two of the fish had died, and we made the decision to not have an aquatic tank anymore we then put our plants and worms into a larger container
Day 21: The plants recovered from being moved and re rooted into the new dirt and look healthy
Day 25: Unfortunately someone put a lid on our container and smashed our plants, so we toke the lid off and watered the plants hoping they would survive
Day 26: This is the last day of the observations, and our plants mostly recovered from being smashed.
Day 1: We cleaned out some rocks to put in our tank, we then filled it with water and slowly got our fish and snails accustomed to the water. Also we put our underwater plants in the tank, along with our above water plants hanging above
Day 5: When looking in the tank we saw that a pair of snails were mating, and as we looked closer we saw that there was clear egg sacks attached to the plants throughout the tank, and the fish were feeding off the underwater plants.
Day 13: We came in to got look at the terrarium and we saw that the water had become very murky and smelled gross, we think it was the underwater plants
Day 15: Once we were back from the weekend we saw that two of the fish had died, and we made the decision to not have an aquatic tank anymore we then put our plants and worms into a larger container
Day 21: The plants recovered from being moved and re rooted into the new dirt and look healthy
Day 25: Unfortunately someone put a lid on our container and smashed our plants, so we toke the lid off and watered the plants hoping they would survive
Day 26: This is the last day of the observations, and our plants mostly recovered from being smashed.
|
Analysis Throughout this project there were limiting factors that affected our terrarium such as biotic and abiotic facers. This included the problem of our fish tank being dirty, we could have been more prepared and cleaned out the rocks better and the tank more often, also if people wouldn't have dumped tons of bata fish food in it to make it super dirty. We put it by the window but it still didn't get that much sunlight because the window was only on one side. Also we didn't get enough water to the plants because over the weekends there was no way we could have watered it. Our plants could have thrived better if they had more room to grow from the beginning and the worms also would have had more room. Finally if we had taken care of our fish better they might not have died.
The chart I have added below is a picture explaining the nutrient cycle, which occurred in our terrarium. It starts with the precipitation that we provided with a squirt water bottle, and along with the carbon and nitrogen in the air it was all absorbed by the plants and soil. Then the worms helped decompose and break down and decompose the organic matter. |