Aquarium lab report

By: Maddie, Eliot, Matthys

Question: How will Sodium Phosphate affect the biogeochemical cycles?

Background:
1. Biogeochemical cycles are interrelated processes through which compounds are used
and reused in a local, regional, or even global ecosystem. They are important in
ecosystems because they help with reactions.
2. If temperature and pH measurements are high than the biogeochemical cycles in a pond
ecosystem are slowed down.
3. Mostly everything in the aquarium stayed constant. Temperature varied each week but
was close in range. pH was a constant 8 along with Hydrogen Sulfide and Phosphate
being 0 each week. Nitrite and Nitrate wasn't constant throughout the weeks. Elodea
and green algae was constant while the amount of pond snails and crustaceans
increased a little bit by week 3.
Hypothesis: If sodium phosphate is added to the aquarium then the algae mass should
increase because algae uses phosphate is grow which result in more algae.
Materials:
Aquarium and lid
Gravel
Spring water
Permanent marker
Elodea
Mixed crustaceans
Mixed green algae
Pond snails
2 pipets
4 nitrate/nitrite test strips
4 pH test strips
4 hydrogen sulfide test strips
4 phosphate test strips
Graduated cylinder
Vial
Color charts
3 grams sodium phosphate
Procedure:
1. Spread the gravel evenly across the bottom of the aquarium.
2. Use the graduated cylinder to measure spring water to fill the aquarium. Add water until
the aquarium is three-quarters full of water. Record the total amount of water in the data
table.
3. Use a pipet to add two pipettes of green algae mixture in the aquarium.
4. Put 2 or 3 Elodea sprigs in the aquarium. You may have to gently bend the stems of the
Elodea to fit them in the aquarium.

5. Use a second pipet to add 2 pipettes of mixed crustaceans in the aquarium.

6. Gently place 3 or 4 pond snails in the aquarium.
7. Use the thermometer to measure the temp of the water in the aquarium. Record this
measurement in the data table.
8. Use a pipet to remove water from the aquarium and place a drop onto the center of the
pH strip. This portion of the strip will change color to indicate the pH of the pond. Match
the center squares color to the color chart on the strip. The pH strip reads in 1.0
increments from a pH of 1(red) to a pH of 12(purple). Record your measurement in the
data table.
9. Use the pipet to remove a sample of water from the aquarium, and place it in a small
vial. Follow the instructions on the color chart to measure the amount of nitrates in the
water. Record your measurement in the date table.
10. Discard the water in the vial. Repeat the preceding step to measure the hydrogen sulfide
and phosphate concentrations in the aquarium.
11. Observe the aquarium and, in the data table, check off the organisms and observe.
12. Mark the water line on the outside of the aquarium with a permanent marker.
13. Place the aquarium in a sunny window or under a fluorescent bank, specified by your
instructor.
14. Add 3 grams of sodium phosphate into the aquarium. Record observations in aquarium
over the weeks.

Data Tables:

Parameter

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Water

1500
mL

1500
mL

1500
mL

1500
mL

1500 mL

1500 mL

1500
mL

1500 mL

Temp (C)

22.5

28.2

23.5

23.1

24.5

21.9

20.9

19.4

pH

Hydrogen
Sulfide

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Phosphate

200

0.2

Nitrate/Nitri
te

2/0

10/0

15/.4

15/.4

0/0

5/.3

10/.3

N/A

Organism

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Elodea

Pond
Snails

Crustacea
ns

Green
Algae

Observations: Through the first three weeks, our ecosystem was healthy, and growing. There
was an increase in pond snails and crustaceans. We added three grams of sodium phosphate,
which resulted in a major turn of events. After week 4 many of the organisms began to die out,
and it created an increase in algae. The pH level began to decrease after week 4. A pattern in
the data is right when the amount of algae noticeably increased the snails began to die off. Also
as the waters temperature began to decrease mostly everything living died.
Analysis: The data told us that the sodium phosphate that was added after week 3, caused a
decrease in all living matter except for the algae, which increased dramatically.The patterns of
the data mean that sodium phosphate causes a dramatic algae bloom and causes death for the
rest of the organisms. The colder temperatures also played a factor in the ecosystem, because
the organisms were not receiving enough nutrients. We think we got the results that we did was
because sodium phosphate is not healthy for living matter, and this dying off of organisms led to
increase in algae.
One surprising pattern in the data was the death of the snails and crustaceans. The
addition of sodium phosphate caused the organisms to die off. One source of error in this
investigation was the testing strips. For the last part of the lab we were using expire nitrogen
strips which led to inaccurate data. Another problem was we placed our ecosystem next to a
window, so as the temperature became cooler, the organisms werent getting enough nutrients.
These errors can be fixed simply by buying unexpired test strips to get more accurate data. We
could also put our ecosystem under artificial light, so the living organisms receive an abundance
of nutrients.

Conclusion:

If sodium phosphate is added to the aquarium then the algae mass should increase
because algae uses phosphate is grow which result in more algae. The data we collected
supported our hypothesis completely. Our conclusion is that sodium phosphate wouldnt work
well in an aquarium containing living organisms. It being added caused a decline in all living
organisms including the elodea. Without anything to feed off the mass amount of algae created;
the algae will take over and most living things inside the aquarium will die.
We could test it out on a bigger scale, such as a lake or pond. Testing it out in an open
system that isnt closed off could show more reliable results. It would be more realistic to test it
on an aquarium with more organisms and a wider range of plants. More variables to look at
could be if its closed off or is open to air and other weather conditions. Variables could also be
the organisms living in the aquarium, sunlight that was offered to it, and types of plants inside it.
The amount of sodium phosphate added into the aquarium could be tested with different
amounts. The 3 grams we added could've been to much;which is why it caused our aquarium to
slowly decompose into nothing.