Re: Planted tank for biology lessons (and my own question at the end!)

[jgarden2000 at juno_com]

Sorry, a tad long...

> ------------------------------
> 
> Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 12:25:14 -0700 (PDT)
> From: JoAnn Amber <elmtreeacademy at yahoo_com>
> Subject: Planted tank for biology lessons
> 

Well, I'm a homeschoolee--finishing up my first year of high school--and
a rabid fish/aquatic plant geek. Let's see if I have anything to say. :-)

> I've been lurking for quite a while and have learned a great deal.  
> Thanks to you all!

Same here. ;-)

<snip>

> You are probably wondering what my point is, so I'll get to it 
> (finally).  Does anyone know of educational materials based on a 
> planted aquarium that are suited to middle-school/lower-high-school 
> level or do I have to start from scratch?  Most of what I've seen is 
> elementary level. Can someone point me toward literature that 
> discusses a planted aquarium as an ecosystem?  

I asked my mom (she has a text for teaching about anything!) and she
hasn't been able to find anything. Probably the best option would be to
use some standard biology/chemistry texts and create your own labs.

Let me know if you want my mom's opinions on which biology/chem texts to
use...

> I need to know if 
> there are ways I can realistically keep hydra, planaria, daphnia, 
> and other nonstandard aquarium residents in a planted aquarium and 
> not have them either disappear or get completely out of control.  

You can, and I have, but I don't know how. Isn't that helpful? ;-)

Seriously, I managed to introduce both hydra and daphnia/cyclops into my
planted tank and had them thrive for a while, then they mysteriously
disappeared. They would probably disappear very quickly if you had a lot
of fish. Maybe some sort of netted sump or reef-tank-type refugium setup?
The easiest method might be just a separate tank.

The key to the daphnia is lots of gw etc. and few/no predators (fish);
the key to the hydra is lots of daphnia. ;-)

> Has anyone looked at C-Ferns (http://cfern.bio.utk.edu)?   As far as 
> I can tell it's a variety of Ceratopteris richardii, so it should 
> live happily in a planted tank once our propagation studies are 
> done, should it not?

I'm not famliar with them. I don't see why they wouldn't.

> As you can see, I'm full of questions.  Is anyone willing to help me 
> out with this? 

Well, I tried. ;-)

Now, I have a question for the list...

My understanding is that an acid is a proton donor; a molecule that
releases an H+ ion in solution. In that case, how can CO2 be an acid,
since it doesn't contain H?

OK, chemists! ;-)

William

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