reef blakout

hi i am an 8th gtrade student and am designing a science fair project. i want to study the effects of
blackout conditions on my dads reef. what would be good parameters to follow over a few hours after power is cut from aquarium. i have a ph and orp monitor available. i plan to compare the benefits of periodic manual water circulation , then battery operated air pump, versus control.
thanks for you help
brian

 

Cool project. 8)
I'd say you're off to a good start with the pH and orp monitors, those are the top things to look for in the water I'd think. Maybe you need to develop a level system for visual observations. You'd want to look for signs of stress in the fish and coral. [smiley=fish.gif] [smiley=goldfish.gif]

 

Anyone else have any ideas? [smiley=yaknow.gif]

 

sounds like a great project... keep us informed of your findings...

 

duriring the blackout, my dad took a 1 gallon bucket and
dipped into the tank water then poured back into the tank. he did about 25-30 gallons every couple hours.
everything did fine in the tank and the power came on
about 12 hours later. thats where this idea came from for the project. do you think orp and ph are sensitive enough to tell if things are changing in the water?
would you expect ammonia to spike?
thanks,
jayz

 

Ammonia is tied to bioload and is not light sensitive. I belive PH is light sensitive and is lower in the dark and higher when the lights are on.

 

If you are using meters/probes you should pick up changes in pH and orp. Let us know!

 

i might see some changes in the ph and alkalinity because normally at night they will drop a little for some reason. its a natural thing that occurs so with the blackout conditions your ph and alk may occur a little low. I would like to know if that happens good luck with your experiment