Agriscience experiments??

[ZmanArt007]

Hey y'all.

I was hoping you guys could give me ideas for science projects involving my fish or my aquatic plants I could do this summer, so I can get into the National FFA Agriscience Fair Contest.

I did the contest last year, feeding two groups of small koi two types of food to see which improved both size of fish and water quality. I could redo and/or improve that project, but would rather do something different...

Any ideas?:dunno:

 

[fishin4cars]

You could do plants and different types of plant media, You could do a filter project comparing different types of filter media. You could see what the effects of salt have on different plants. Or you could do one of the effects of high nitrates and how they are effected by different plants that break the nitrates down. That's all some questions that as hobbyist come up and are questioned with no know scientific backing I'm aware of that I think would be useful information for the hobby as well.
Also, don't know what your studying but a much needed area of expertise and knowledge for Vets is more ornamental fish Vet. The rate that the hobby is growing is far out growing the amount of vets that do anything for fish health. Koi, goldfish, native species, and reef tanks are some of the highest demand and there are good jobs to be found and needed all over the country and world.

 

[steve s]

Z man what food was best based on your results last year and was there a significant difference between them interms of growth and water quality?

 

[ZmanArt007]

Thanks fishin4cars. as for the expertise thing... I'm still in high school. I will be majoring in Landscape Design, hopefully specializing in pond and water feature construction.

Steve, I found that higher protein foods increased growth but also lowered water quality. These days, I alternate high fiber foods and high protein foods, week by week.

 

[John Walburg]

You could evaluate the difference between a oxygenated pond and one that is not. We all put oxygenators in our ponds and don't know if they really make a difference.

 

[ZmanArt007]

Ive decided to test two different types of filters. A standard bucket filter and a Bakki Shower.

 

[fishin4cars]

I don't think you'll get much out of that, use the same amount of media and the bakki will beat out I believe. Want to get better test, Skippy vs. DOC style. Or Bakki Vs, Bog
I think you would get a closer challenge and it would be intresting to see between those. My best Guess? DOC in the first challange Bakki in the second. But I wouldn't be that surprised with what might happen.

 

[ZmanArt007]

Honestly... I dont care how I do. As long as I get a project done, I get to go to National Convention in Indianapolis. That's really the fun part. I figured the Bakki filter will do better.

 

[taherrmann4]

Honestly... I dont care how I do. As long as I get a project done, I get to go to National Convention in Indianapolis. That's really the fun part. I figured the Bakki filter will do better.

Zman but we would all benefit from the knowledge:lol:

 

[CometKeith]

Zman, landscape architecture? Our daughter who is a hs junior has wanted to be an architect since 2nd grade. We have been visiting a lot of good architecture schools in the last year. We almost have her convinced now to be an engineer instead because we want her to be able to get a job when she graduates!

 

[fishin4cars]

Honestly... I dont care how I do. As long as I get a project done, I get to go to National Convention in Indianapolis. That's really the fun part. I figured the Bakki filter will do better.

Honestly, If your going to do a project get something from it. Bakki shower to do correctly isn't cheap, and takes up a lot of room. Most ponders don't use them because of that. Not saying that making one and testing in a comparison isn't a good project but give yourself a challenge, Any one can prove a Bakki shower is better than a bucket filter, Prove to yourself for experience that one filter is really better in one aspect than another. Get some information that would be useful to the hobby or even yourself if your really going to take it somewhere as a future. Useful information like which filter of the four does the most efficient job for the cost, or per fish, or takes up the least amount of energy to run for a year.
If I'm a employer and I'm looking for a new recruit, do I want someone that wants to get in the show, or someone that can win the show?

 

[ZmanArt007]

The pools that I am using are only like 50 gallons each, so the filters don't have to be big. See, the problem is, I have been so busy working three jobs and with other FFA events, I haven't had time to start or even plan an experiment, until the day I started this thread, and project summaries are due August 1st. So basically, I have 1 month to complete a project. SO I haven't any time, or funds, to buy more pools or construct more filters.

Last year, my project spanned four months. I worked my butt off on it and I ended up with a silver medal. For a town kid from Nebraska to complete with a seventh generation donkey farmer from Texas is not an easy task.

Believe me, I conduct my own little experiments all the time, spanned from a day or two, to a month. I have a creative, scientific mind like that. About 5/8 of my knowledge of ponds came from this site, 1/8 from books and other sites, and 1/4 from learning as I go. I absolutely love experimenting, but can't do much this year...

But, I still really want to go to National Convention.