Thursdays INVADERS!!!!

Hydrilla, Purple Loosestrife, Water Hyacinth and Water Lettuce are all problems in Texas because they are all invasive plants. All of these plants rapily reproduce and create problems for waterways. Hydrilla, Water Hyacinth and Water Lettuce all impede navigation which stops recreational activities such as fishing and boating. Hydrilla, Purple Lossestrife and Water Hyacinth all shade out natural vegetation which depeltes oxygen from the water because no sunlight can penetrate through the invasive plants. Hydrilla is the perfect weed and can grow an inch a day, which is why it is a big threat in Texas waters. Purple Loosestrife is the Marsh Monster which clogs irrigation canals. Water Hyacinth is the World's Worst Weed (other than Salvinia) and acidifies the water. Lastly, Water Lettuce affects the habitats for the living organisms in the ecosystem. All of these INVADERS need to be stopped so if you see one, PULL IT OUT OF THE WATER!!!!!!
From your great captain,
TURTLE ROOTER

Invasive's just go away!

So I am getting pretty annoyed with these different invasive plants like hydrilla, purple loosestrife, water hyacinth, and water lettuce. These are all problems in Texas waters because they all came from south America so the climate is pretty much ideal for them. They were brought for looks and for aquarium decor but that obviously went down the toilet when people dumped them in the lakes and rivers and people didn't wash the plants off their boats after using them and this caused most the plants to over populate and grow in different regions. They all pretty much impede navigation and remove oxygen from the water so native ecosystem will die! Sooo we should keep our eyes out for these Invasive's!!!!

-Shark biscuit:)

weeds:(

Some common invasive plant species in Texas currently are alligator weed, Eurasian water milfoil, and Giant Salvinia. These are all problems in Texas because of their excessive reproduction rate and that they were not discovered and stopped in time for them to be exterminated before causing a huge problem like now a days. Since we have mostly man made lakes and caddo lake is the only one that is not a constructed lake,  it has the greatest impact of these non-indigenous plants. Some problems that these weeds cause is that they are big problems for navigation routes in waterways and as well as driving out native plants and creating an uninhabitable environment for native species.

-Shark Biscuit  

Fish training is a pain in the neck

Okay so we TRIED to train the fish, yet I was successful with the hoop trick a few weeks ago with other students but for some reason the fish stopped responding to the feeding wand. With that said the fish hid in the corners of the tanks and did not cooperate. I was sadly disappointed but they cannot be forced...yet. But these stubborn fish failed to go through any hoop or tube so, sorry to disappoint the audience for not having a magical fish. I feel like they were just camera shy. But we will keep trying and get these fish to do more and more tricks.

Shakabra from Turtle Rooter

Quality Graph!

Our ammonia has improved greatly, yet the nitrite levels are starting to get there. We are not perfect yet so we just have to wait on the nitrogen cycle to finish its course. Now we have added double the amount of bacteria In order to eliminate the nitrite. Luckily it isn't ammonia because the amount of 5 would nearly kill our fish. We have a week and a half left of keeping our fish so I really hope that our nitrite levels go down and we have our baby guppies!!! I'm kind of excited... Anyway I'm going to do another blog that needs me!
-Turtle Rooter

Invasives v Natives...BOOM

Invasive plants are continually becoming a problem... Not cool! They need to stay where they belong and these hydrilla and other plants are ruining habitats for animals. The native plants do not grow as fast and they cooperate with the ecosystem, unlike the invasive a who ruin it by reproducing faster than rabbits by laying thousands of seeds or growing from broken stems. The native plants belong to the ecosystem and the invasive a don't, so they're panicking and don't know what to do other than reproduce and INVADE the area. This is a problem because there is too much to manage and it is killing everything. But right now I have to worry about my aquatic science class and I'll deal with the invaders SOON!
Peace Out,
Turtle Rooter

From day one to day twenty..

our aquarium has come a long way since the first day we set it up. We used to have really bad ammonia problems but not anymore now its nitrite! we also had 2 fish die in the first 2 weeks but we haven't had a fish die since the last one! also, we are getting alot more plants and snails in our aquarium as well as our aquarium is almost done cycling through to find its stability. I think Turtle Rooter and i would agree that the hardest part of keeping an aquarium is the water changes. its so dad-gum annoying to have to replant the plants after each day we do a stinking water change! it definitely gets on your nerves after a while. Turtle and I both actually will be keeping an aquarium after this project is over we just discussed this today! We're going to split up the fish and take them home. We really do like keeping fish and we take pride in it, although i cant really promise well keep the water changes up like we do in class... least i don't think... by far the most interesting thing that has happened since class started would have to be our mama guppy getting prego! we are so stoked for her to get her babies were getting WAY too anxious for our own good over this subject, everyday shes the first fish we check on and we really cant wait til we get to see the babies and be grandparents!!

-Shark Biscuit 

Want to assess a pond??

To assess a pond or lake you have to take some sciency steps, like obervation is the first then you'll do some cheap water tests using things like algae! then for very accurate readings you could invest in some pretty pricy chemical tests. You would want to do it this way obviously to save some cash, if you can obviously see that there is something wrong with that pond or lake you know to check it out. But you dont want to spend a fortune on water tests if the major factor can be deturmined by the algae that live in that water. if you test the algae and use the polluion index from them and you still are not too savvy on whats going on then you can spend the cash to use a pricy and accurate chemical test. It is very important for cities to know about thier bodies of waters quality because of how those waters are used; by drinking or recreational activities. You dont want people of your city or town to swim or drink highly polluted water because that my friends is how lawsuits are started! and lawsuits are not good for anyone on the defending end.

the always helpful!
-Shark Biscuit