Water Tests and Margarita Snails

     So much more has been going on at my internship, and it is so exciting! Christine and I took water tests of both the touch tank (in the Hall of Malacology) and the original clownfish tank (in the Hall of Malacology). We found extremely high levels of Nitrates in the touch tank. The nitrate measured at    >20ppm (it should be around 0ppm in a healthy tank). Neither her nor I were sure where these high levels of nitrate were coming from. Nitrates are made from ammonia caused by the fish. This ammonia is converted by bacteria to nitrite, where it is then converted into nitrates. However, nitrates are usually kept at low levels by the algae living in the tank because high levels of nitrate can be toxic to fish and invertebrates. To fix these nitrate levels, I suggested that we do a water change on the tank. We would take out around 30% of the water currently in the tank replace it with water containing correct chemical levels. You don't want to do a 100% water change because it can cause the fish and invertebrates to go into shock and die.
     Within the original clownfish tank, the chemical levels were more reasonable, but we are going to wait a few weeks to add in the clownfish, just to make sure that the chemical balances will stay constant. However, we noticed algae growing on the rocks that are currently in the tank. To make sure that the algae doesn't get out of control again, Christine and I added margarita snails (Margarites pupillus). These snails are known for eating algae and are able to survive in water conditions that might not be the best for other animals. Hopefully, the water levels will stay constant, and we will be able to add the clownfish back.

New Updates from my Internship

I haven't posted in a while, mostly because I've been swamped with work, but new things are happening at my internship. First of all, the clownfish tank is almost back up and running. Right now, the tank is empty except for a few cleaned rocks. This is because we wanted to make sure the water qualities were correct before we added in the rest of the cleaned rocks and the fish. We should be able to add them in soon because I tested the water and found that has the correct qualities that clownfish need. We also found some beneficial algae on some of the rocks in the tank, which means that the water has the proper qualities to support life. We're almost done!!! Since, we're almost done, Christine asked me if I could design the new aquarium layout that will be in the Strake Hall of Malacology. I gladly accepted, and originally planned on having the tank house nudibranchs, a beautiful member of Phylum Mollusca that resemble sea slugs.

A Blue and Yellow Nudibranch

         However, I found that nudibranchs are incredibly hard to care for because they require extremely specific conditions. Because of this, I decided that flame scallops would probably be better for the new tank. I am still in the process of designing the tank layout and what other animals should go into it, but it will be complete soon! If you have any ideas about what you think would look good, please leave a comment.