Ecocoulumn

Discussion

Our ecocolumn is a small little world that we created to show nature in a small scale. Just like Mother Nature intervenes in ecosystems our team intervened in the terrestrial and aquatic chamber to try and keep our ecocolumn healthy. Knowing that nothing in nature lives without some sort of help we provided help for our ecocolumn so as to contradict our hypothesis.

NH4 (Ammonium) is the ionized form of NH3 (ammonia). The water tests mostly contain NH4, not NH3. Ammonium (NH4) is not as toxic to fish as ammonia (NH3), which is why aquariums that have acidic water do not have as many problems with the initial phase of the nitrogen cycle. Ammonium, the most important nitrogenous fertilizer for water plants, is essential for the breakdown of plant protein. According to our tests and findings the level of NH4 remains fairly constant through out the lifespan of our ecocolumn at a level of .25 p.p.m. On November 16, 2007 the NH4 is .25 p.p.m. On November 19, 2007 the NH4 level is 25 p.p.m. By our third test day November 29, 2007 the NH4 level dropped to 0, which was strange, although by the next week December 5, 2007 it had risen to .25 and remained constant until our final test day of December 20, 2007. We believe our remaining fish lived because of the stable NH4 levels.

Nitrate (NO3) is a water-soluble molecule made up of nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrate is the result of the bacterial breakdown of ammonia. Nitrate is a natural constituent of plants and is found in vegetables at varying levels depending on the amount of fertilizer applied and on other growing conditions. Water naturally contains less than 1 milligram of nitrate-nitrogen per liter and is not a major source of exposure. Higher levels indicate that the water has been contaminated. According to the data we collected and the visual of the graph our nitrogen levels stayed constant through out the lifespan of this ecocolumn experiment. On November 16, 2007 the nitrate level was 10 ppm. This was due to the fact that bacteria was breaking down ammonia into nitrate. Three days later on November 19, 2007 the water levels were still the same (10 ppm). If the nitratelevels would have been any higher our fish should have in danger. Though not as dangerous as ammonia high enough concentrations of nitrate can cause fish to stress and lead to death. Ten days after our second test something unexpected happened our nitrate suddenly dropped to 5 ppm. At the same time, our ammonia levels completely vanished, affecting the levels that were converting ammonia into nitrate. Although by the next week December 5, 2007 our nitrate was back up to 10 ppm and our ammonia levels were also noticeable. December 20, 2007 was our last testing day and our nitrite came out to be 10 ppm even though our ammonia levels completely disappeared. Based on previous data our nitrate levels should have dropped once more but they didn't.

NO2 is nitrite and if too much of it is in the water, fish will die at a faster rate. Nitrite poisoning usually follows right behind ammonia as a major killer of fish. After ammonia poisoning kills Ð'Ð... your fish, nitrites rise and put your fish at risk again. Anytime ammonia levels are elevated, elevated nitrites will soon follow. Different species of fish tolerate differing levels of nitrite. Some fish may simply be listless, while others may die suddenly with no obvious signs of illness. Fish that are exposed to even low levels of nitrite for long periods of time suffer damage to their immune system and are prone to secondary diseases, such as itch, fin rot, and bacterial infections. As met hemoglobin levels increase damage occurs to the liver, gills and blood cells. If untreated, affected fish eventually die from lack of oxygen, and/or secondary diseases. Our N02 levels fluctuated from week to week. On November 16, 2007 the N02 level was 5 ppm and our ammonia levels were also low, with no fish deaths. Three days later we didn't have any fish deaths still and our N02 was even lower at 2 ppm but our ammonia levels didn't drop. Then 10 days later on November 29, 2007 the bad news came, one of our four fish had died and the ppm was now 10 and ammonia levels had dropped completely to zero. According to our information our nitrite levels shouldn't have risen. From November 5 to November 13 the nitrite level lowered to 5 ppm and the ammonia levels stayed the same for both days .25ppm. Finally the last day had come December 20, 2007, two more of our fish had died but surprisingly the nitrite level remained at 5 ppm and our ammonia levels drooped back to zero.

Dissolved oxygen is oxygen dissolved into water. Dissolved oxygen analysis measures the amount of gaseous oxygen (O2) dissolved in an aqueous solution. Oxygen gets into water by diffusion from the surrounding air, by aeration (rapid movement), and as a waste product of photosynthesis. Total dissolved gas concentrations in water should not exceed 110 percent. Concentrations above this level can be harmful to aquatic life. Fish in waters containing excessive dissolved gases may suffer from gas bubble disease. The bubbles block the flow of blood through blood vessels causing death. External bubbles can also occur and be seen on fins, on skin and on other tissue. Aquatic invertebrates are also affected by gas bubble disease but at levels higher than those lethal to fish. Adequate dissolved oxygen is necessary for good water quality. Oxygen is a necessary element to all forms of life. As dissolved oxygen levels in water drop below 5.0 mg/l, aquatic life is put under stress. The lower the concentration, the greater the stress. Oxygen levels that remain below 1 to 2 mg/l for a few hours can result in large fish kills. Our dissolved oxygen levels slowly incrased as our fish began to die. On the first day November 16, 2007 we had a dissolved oxygen level of 9 ppm. Three days later on November 19, 207 we had a dissolved oxygen level of 9 ppm still. Ten days later on November 29, 2007 one of our fish died and the dissolved oxygen level had risen to 10 ppm. This dissolved oxygen level of 10 ppm remained constant for our next two tests on December 5, 2007 and December 13, 2007. Finally on December 20, 2007 when we had figured out all but one of our fish had died we tested the waters dissolved oxygen level and found out it exceeded 20 ppm, which means without very much consuming the oxygen it had nothing to do but stay in the water. Though dissolved oxygen should also be depleted by death and decay of organic matter, it wasn't.

PH is a measure of the acidic or basic (alkaline) nature of a solution. In general, water with a pH < 7 is considered acidic and with a pH > 7 is considered basic. The normal range for pH in surface water systems is 6.5 to 8.5 and for groundwater systems 6 to 8.5. Alkalinity is a measure of the capacity of