One Fish, Two Fish, Hungry Fish, Dead Fish: An Aquatic Mortality Experiment. Micaela Senno and Dannie Joram DCC 330

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1 Goldfish and Mortality 1 Running Head: GOLDFISH AND MORTALITY One Fish, Two Fish, Hungry Fish, Dead Fish: An Aquatic Mortality Experiment Micaela Senno and Dannie Joram DCC 330 May 14, 2014

2 Goldfish and Mortality 2 Abstract This experiment looked at the effects of betta fish food on goldfish. Goldfish rely on plants for nutrition and therefore are not capable of ingesting high amounts of protein for extended lengths. As a result, several medical issues can arise, which can ultimately lead to death (Barrington). This idea led to the creation of the experiment where two fishbowls were filled with five goldfish each. One tank was fed with regular goldfish food and the other tank was fed with betta fish food. For roughly two months, the fish were fed their assigned food and were observed on a daily basis of how they were acting. At the end of the experiment, all of the fish fed betta fish food had died while only one goldfish fed the regular goldfish food died, which had proved our hypothesis. We concluded that goldfish can only survive on betta fish food for a short period of time, like a week or so, but they cannot survive on betta fish food or any long periods of time.

3 Goldfish and Mortality 3 One Fish, Two Fish, Hungry Fish, Dead Fish: An Aquatic Mortality Experiment Goldfish and betta fish have very different eating habits. Betta fish require a high protein diet, while goldfish are known to have a plant based diet. Knowing this, companies make food that caters to each type s individual dietary needs. Goldfish are omnivores because they are not made to process high amounts of protein. Their digestive tracts are not capable of digesting proteins in large quantities so if they are fed the high protein betta fish food on a regular basis, goldfish are going to experience severe medical problems (Connelly). Some medical issues that can arise are intestinal gas, swim bladder infection and in severe cases, kidney failure. This is because of the very large difference in eating habits (O Connell). Store bought goldfish food and betta fish food have different ingredients, so by feeding goldfish the protein-rich betta fish food, there is a strong chance that the goldfish s intestines would not be able to process the high amounts of protein and will ultimately result in death. Methods To test this hypothesis, we will be dividing ten goldfish into two groups. One group of five will be fed Terra Fin goldfish food while the other five will be given Betta Min betta fish food. Both foods were bought in Walmart and recommended by the gentleman who helped us get the fish. The regular goldfish are to be fed once a day, as it is recommended on the instructions on the back of the food packaging, at roughly noon each day. The packaging on the betta fish food container suggested that the fish should be

4 Goldfish and Mortality 4 fed two or three times a day, so the betta goldfish are fed at eleven in the morning and eleven in the evening each day. Cleaning of the bowls is also kept to a routine. Each bowl is cleaned once a week, and the water is replaced with room temperature, tap water from a faucet. On 25 March 2014, right after we came back from spring break, the rocks in the bottom of both bowls were changed due to the amount of dirt build up that started to occur. This experiment is occurring in Mortimer Hall on the SUNY Brockport campus in Monroe County, New York. The experiment officially started on 15 February 2014, however, the goldfish were purchased four days beforehand and given the grace period of those four days to get adjusted to the new environment that they were being placed in. When they all survived, we went ahead and started feeding them the different types of food. Commencement of the experiment occurred on 12 April Results At the end of the experiment, there were four regular goldfish alive, while none of the betta goldfish survived, which is why the experiment ended. Of the betta goldfish, after two weeks, one fish died then a week later one more died. The final two fish died within hours of each other on 12 April With the regular goldfish, only one died on 13 March 2014 and the remaining four are still alive. The one fish that died was smaller than the rest of the fish since the beginning and died the night of a routine bowl cleaning.

5 Goldfish and Mortality 5 Discussion The results of the study turned out exactly how it was expected to, with none of the betta goldfish surviving. It was very clear by the tank conditions and characteristics of the fish. In the betta goldfish tank, the water got very cloudy and developed a pink tint to it within hours of it being cleaned. The pink color came from the particles of food that were left behind after the fish started to not eat all of the betta food. This contributed to the extremely fishy, vile smell that started to come from the bowl by the end of the week. On the other hand, the bowl of the regular goldfish looked like a standard bowl and only got slightly cloudy by the time it came to clean them. How the betta goldfish acted was a huge indicator as to the fact that there was something wrong with them as well. Their eating habits started to change after a few weeks of being fed the betta food consistently. Within the betta food, there were particles of shrimp that were visibly different from the rest of the food which was in a flake form and they left these alone, presumably because of the almost straight protein content of the shrimp. Shortly after they stopped eating the shrimp, they started becoming less excited to eat. Typically, goldfish, when given the opportunity and resources, will eat until they die or explode, yet these fish stopped acting like a typical goldfish and would leave the food floating on the surface for extended periods of time. This contributed to the water turning pink because some of the food would sink to the bottom and stay there until it was cleaned. The fish started off being active, yet after a few weeks the betta goldfish started to become skittish and jumpy especially when someone would walk by their bowl. They also shied away from the top of the bowl in general. In the regular goldfish bowl, everybody got along, they were excited to eat and knew when they were going to be fed. Two of the fish in

6 Goldfish and Mortality 6 particular like to do laps around the base of the bowl and some of them like to dive into the rocks and appear to dig around in them. They were our favorite fish. Limitations we found in our study were that while we could conclude that the betta goldfish died from the diet shock from the protein, we did not know which of the side effects they died from. Since there were two or three different things that could happen to the goldfish from increasing their protein intake, it could have been any one of those things.

7 Goldfish and Mortality 7 Works Cited Barrington, Katherine Can Goldfish Eat Betta Food? [Online.] Demand Media, Inc. Available at Connelly, Jennie The Goldfish Digestive System. [Online.] Solid Gold. Available at O Connell, Jodi Thorton Can Goldfish Eat Betta Food? [Online.] AOL Inc. Available at