Effect of Thermal Pollution on Fish

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Effect of Thermal Pollution on Fish

• Caterina Wu
• Lindsay Hopkins
• Dylan Manning

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Table of Contents

• Thermal Pollution
• Goldfish Background
• Problem / Hypothesis
• Materials
• Procedure
• Experimental Design
• Pictures
• Data Table
• Graph
• Analysis
• Conclusion

Retrieved from fanpop.com
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Thermal Pollution

• Excess heat that creates undesirable effects over
  long periods of time
• Act of altering the temperature of a natural body
  of water
• Broader subject of water pollution
• Caused by waste heat from power generating
  plants and factories, deforestation,
  urbanization, conversion of heat energy into
  mechanical energy
• Impacts biogeochemical cycles (thermal shock,
  changes in dissolved O2, redistribution of
  organisms)

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Thermal Pollution

• Can cause significant environmental consequences
  
• decrease of biodiversity
• creation of an environment hospitable to alien
  aquatic species
• Depresses dissolved O2 content
• Raises metabolic rate of aquatic organisms
• Increases enzyme activity
• Causes algae bloom

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Thermal Pollution

• Possible solutions
• Creating policies/limits on discharges that lead
  to thermal pollution
• Cooling the used water before it is let out
• Spreading out the polluted water into different
  areas

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Goldfish
Retrieved from goldfish.ornamental-fishes.com

• Freshwater fish
• Small member of the carp family
• Native to East Asia
• Can survive temperatures from 40F 106F, but
  the extremes will kill the goldfish if the
  exposure lasts too long
• Best temperature range is 68F 75F

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Problem / Hypothesis

• What is the effect of changing the temperature of
  water on the behavior of fish?
• If the temperature of water is decreased, then it
  will have a negative impact on the behavior of
  the fish because goldfish prefer warmer
  temperatures since they are not cold-water fish.

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Materials

• 3 fish tanks
• 6 9 goldfish
• Filters
• Water
• Fish food / all necessary fish care supplies
• 3 thermometers
• Ice
• Hot water
• Bucket

Retrieved from dreamstime.com
Retrieved from Clip Art
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Procedure

1. Set up the fish tanks in a quiet, naturally-lit
   (preferable) environment.
2. Label the fish tanks CONTROL, COLD WATER, and
   WARM WATER.
3. Fill the control tank with room temperature
   water.
4. Fill the cold water tank with cold water and
   the warm water tank with warm water by using
   ice and hot water.
5. Make sure to keep the temperatures in EACH bowl
   almost the same throughout the experiment.
6. Place 2 3 fish in each fish tank.
7. Feed the fish a recommended amount of fish food
   each day and make sure to filter the water. Care
   for regularly.
8. Record the temperatures of the water and any
   significant changes related to their behaviors
   each day for 3 days.

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Experimental Design

• Independent Variable
• Temperature of water
• Dependent Variable
• Behavioral changes in fish
• Control Set-up
• Fish tank with room temperature water
• Experimental Set-up(s)
• Fish tanks with cold and warm water
• Constants
• Size of tanks
• Type of water (fresh/salt)
• Amount of food
• Amount of time

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Pictures from Experiment
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Data Table
Day Temperature Temperature Temperature Observations Observations Observations
Day Cold Room Warm Cold Room Warm
1 40 70 75 Moderate movement, fish are moving around moderately A lot of movement, fish moved around freely Barely any movement, fish seem to just float in the water
2 40 70 74 Little movement, fish are avoiding the edges of the tank Moderate movement, fish still looked natural Little movement, fish swim near the top of the tank
3 43 70 74 Little movement, fish seem to have adapted somewhat Moderate movement, no unusual behaviors Very little movement, fish stick to the center of the tank
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Graph
Movement of the Fish
Estimated movement of fish (scaled 1- barely any,
5- a lot)
Temperature of water (F)
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Analysis

• Goldfish thrive better in room-temperature water
  than cold or warm water (although cold water is
  better than warm water).
• The average movement for fish in cold (40 45F)
  water was little to moderate.
• The average movement for fish in room-temperature
  (70F) water was moderate to a lot.
• The average movement for fish in warm (70 75F)
  water was barely any to very little movement.
• As the temperature increases to 70F, the
  movement of the fish increases.
• As the temperature decreases from 70F, the
  movement of the fish decreases.

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Conclusion

• The hypothesis was not supported by the findings
  of this experiment fish do not thrive better in
  warmer water.
• There is more oxygen in cooler water, which makes
  it easier for the fish to breathe. It is easier
  for fish to perform cellular respiration thus,
  they thrive better.
• Errors
• Different amounts of food given to the fish
• Different amounts of water in the tank
• Human error in measuring the movement of the fish
  and making other observations

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Sources

• Hogan, M. C. (2010). Thermal pollution. Retrieved
  from http//www.eoearth.org/article/Thermal_pollut
  ion?topic49471
• Mayntz, M. (2011). Types of pollution. Retrieved
  from http//greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Types_of_Po
  llution
• Rank, J. (2011). Thermal pollution. Retrieved
  from http//www.pollutionissues.com/Te-Un/Thermal-
  Pollution.html