Thrilled to the gills

Harry and Sally dig holes and toss pebbles.

Their moves are carefully monitored by the 12 students of Sedalia Seventh Day Adventist Church School, on U.S. 50 east of Sedalia.

Harry and Sally — two convict cichlids — share their aquarium with 12 other fish. Students hope the other convict cichlids — also called zebra cichlids for their black stripes — and green severums will also form breeding pairs.

The aquarium is part of a two-year project to learn about the fish and their biology, chemistry and water cycles. The fish arrived last week, and students will observe, learn and write about the fish.

“Whenever they go to dig holes, that means they’re ready to lay eggs,” said Jeramiah Caviness, 6, of Sedalia. “They’ve been digging a lot of holes.”

Harry and Sally have moved pebbles around to make a nest. Students can tell the two apart because Sally has an orange belly, which shows she is ready to procreate.

“One will usually stay around there, so if one (fish) comes around that’s not supposed to be there, it’ll chase it off,” said Jeramiah.

Each age group in the school, which serves student in kindergarten through eighth grades, supervises a different aspect of the aquarium and its fish.

Sam White, 9, of rural Sedalia, helped his peers test the pH of the tank to make sure the water is neither too acidic nor too basic for the fish.

The students dipped some of the tank water into a test tube on Thursday, then added the pH testing agent and compared the resulting color to a chart. The water has a pH of 7.6, a little more basic than the fish prefer. Their natural environment has a pH of 6.8, so students test the water once a week to make sure the water won’t affect the fish.

Older students test the level of ammonia in the tank with a similar process. Students are careful to open and close the top of the tank and cabinets below the tank carefully.

Slamming cabinets “can cause pressure waves in the tank,” said Jennifer Beltz, 13, of Warsaw, which can scare or kill the fish.

Ammonia is produced by the fish waste, but is filtered out by one of three filters in the tank.

“It makes their immunity not good, and they can get diseases,” said Jennifer, and too much ammonia can poison the fish.

Ammonia is filtered out by the biological filter, which contains bacteria that turn the ammonia to nitrites and then nitrates, a process of the water cycle.

So far, students enjoy their observations and lessons about the fish. Sam said he likes to watch them during his spare time. The 2 inch fish will grow to about 6 inches long over the course of the project.

“It’s fun to take care of them and see them grow,” said Jennifer.

Vianna Pitsul, 11, of Sedalia, said she likes the project.

“It’s interesting. It’s not something we’d do with pet fish at home,” she said. “I learned a lot of stuff.”

After the fish procreate, the babies will go back to The Pet Shop in Sedalia in exchange for food and supplies.

Teacher Sharon Nguyen said she started the project because it would engage and excite students, and they could see results quickly.

“I truly believe that nature is as good of a teacher if not better than any teacher,” she said.