Guppy science fair project?

[RisiganL.]

A friend of mine (AwesomeM96) and me are planning on testing the growth rate of guppies based on different factors. Basically the setup is going to be a 2.5 gallon container for each fish, no substrate, and 50% weekly water changes. *The container will also not be filtered or heated. How does this setup sound? Is it possible to put these fish in a smaller testing container? Also, will 50% weekly water changes be enough? The guppies are ~1/2". Lastly, which gender grows faster, male or female?

 

[Ballyhoo]

Sounds cruel to me.

 

[Haydn24]

As they are not cycled, this fish will die with the ammonia.. Try 50% DAILY changes and maybe but no, i wouldnt do this...

 

[user_name]

Sounds cruel to me.

+1

 

[RisiganL.]

Is there any way to make this more humane? It is not my intention to be cruel.

 

[XanAvaloni]

Your header says this is for a science fair. I assume the fair has some sort of supervisor, a teacher or administrator, who has to accept or deny admission to proposed projects. Suggest you run your proposal past this person rather than us.

The first question likely to be asked is "What hypothesis is the proposed project intended to test, and how will you use your results to demonstrate if the hypothesis is proved or disproved?" In other words, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here? If you and your partner can answer that question you will probably not need to consult us any further.

that said I find it most unlikely that you are going to be approved for any experiment involving living creatures higher up the evolutionary ladder than planaria, or possibly worms.

If you are going to experiment on animals in any way you are expected to have an important reason for doing so, and a lack of alternative methods for proving the question. (Or else a lot of money/profit/some executive's bonus at stake, ie product testing of potentially dangerous chemical compounds on animals for cleaning products, makeup etc.)

Not wanting to discourage scientific curiosity but I think based on what you have told us here your project's intended goal is not sufficiently well-defined to meet this test.

 

[RisiganL.]

This project is actually for the google science fair. I am on the science olympiad team for my school and our coach wants us to also enter into this science fair.

 

[DormDweller]

You could make some DIY sponge filters and cycle the tanks to make the fish a little happier. An air pump could have split lines to service multiple tanks. My pump says that it can handle up to 10 different bubbling items, so you might want to look into a pump. That's a cheaper alternative thank having 10 separate HOBs.

As far as the experiment goes, what variables do you plan to have? I would have thought that size of the tank would be a choice in variables, what with the old saying that a fish only gets the size of the tank that new fish owners tend to hear. What do you plan to have as a 'control'? As far as which gender grows faster, I never really realized a different in the sexes developing at different rates, although as long as they are all the same, it shouldn't compromise your data. I would try to get fry out of the same drop if you could. Not a guarantee that they all have the same father as we know how guppies are, but it's a better bet than just going to a LFS. Don't want to give any other fish an advantage due to just having larger parents.

 

[FishesRWishes]

Add heaters and filters. Then it will be more humane.

 

[RisiganL.]

I can easily do DIY sponge filters, but I am not so sure about the heaters. My house stays between 72-75F but it does drop down to 69 at night. Is that warm enough?