2/17 Progress Update

1. Initial vs. Present Conditions:

• The initial tank was set up with two tanks with a hydroton planter in each. Each tank had five fish each. The planters were seeded with Glycine max (soybean) sprouts and were left to germinate. 
• Currently, the tank set up remains the same, however, fish ratios have fluctuated greatly between 1:1 and the current 4:5 (to be supplemented in the following week). The G. max plants have shown enthusiastic growth reaching over 30 cm upwards and great extensions into the tanks. Nitrite and nitrate levels have also risen from previous conditions due to the protein differentiation in feeding, growth of the plants, and support of nitrogen fixing bacteria in the hydroton. 

2. Data Tables

3. Data Graphs

4. So far, the G. max plants have been working very well in our system due to their rapid growth in the planters with their roots extended into the water. They keep nitrate levels stable and habitable for the fish, as exhibited by the dangerous increase of levels after the removal of several of the plants (2/9). The data has not been very reflective of the protein levels on dependent variables due to the high mortality rate of the fish that left uneven ratios of waste production in the tanks and caused a disparity in plant growth. However, leading up to the most recent collection (2/13), the fish ratio was 4:5 and closer values for plant growth were observed with an average height of 33.8 cm for both tanks.

5. High nitrate and nitrite levels have become a problem as reflected in the most recent data collection. We have added more plants to take up the nitrates and have incorporated hydroton, rich in nitrogen fixing bacteria, from a previous set up into our planters to fix nitrite faster. We hope that once the newer seeds germinate, they will help take up nitrates from the water. We also plan on finding a new configuration for the light source since our current desk lamp is too short and the plants overgrow the light. We plan on finding a way to suspend a light above the tanks to imitate the sun better and create greater distance between the plants and the light bulb.