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Project Reflection

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slids 7 - 11

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Scale Boat Inside Aquarium

The educational side of my art installation is the Icebreaker ship that they use for the exploration to Scott’s Base in Antarctic. As the Icebreakers are so massive and my shipping container is only 12.2metres. So my idea is to use the same materials they use for building the icebreakers but it will be built only 8metres long (so in theory it will be a small scale version of the actual icebreakers) 

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Why does salt water make metal rust faster?

If you had pure iron, and put it into pure water, very little would happen, since there would be no oxygen to react with the iron. But if you put the pure iron into pure dry oxygen, very little would also happen. The outer iron atoms would rust, but then that layer of rust would stand between the iron and the remaining oxygen.

Water helps iron react with oxygen. The first step in getting oxygen to react with iron is to break up the oxygen molecule. In water, oxygen can steal some electrons from iron to make four hydroxyl ions (the OH- ions in the following reaction):

O2 + 4 e- + 2 H2O → 4 OH-

The electrons come from the iron:

Fe → Fe2+ + 2 e-

But to make rust we need another reaction with iron:

4 Fe2+ + O2 → 4 Fe3+ + 2 O2-

In the process of making rust, the ferrous (Fe2+) and ferric (Fe3+) ions also react with water to form Fe(OH)2 and Fe(OH)3 (ferrous hydroxide and ferric hydroxide) and hydrogen. These hydroxides can then lose their water to form still more iron compounds. It is all these reactions that end up making the rust flaky, so it falls off the iron and exposes new iron that can start to rust.

All of these reactions are sped up by acids and by having more ions in the water, so it conducts electricity better, so that the iron and oxygen can exchange electrons.

Adding salt to the water makes the iron corrode more quickly, but adding an acid makes it corrode even faster than that.

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How Does Saltwater Rust Metal

Rust is essentially oxidation, or a chemical interaction involving oxygen. When oxidation occurs in some elements, a thin film is formed as a result--such as the green layer that copper acquires. Other elements, such as iron, show rust as evidence of oxidation. If iron--or metal related to iron--is exposed to an environment both oxygen-rich and friendly toward the catalyst, then the oxidation process will begin. Molecules of iron at the surface of the iron object will exchange atoms with the oxygen in the air, and what atoms are left will form a new substance, the reddish-brown rust.

Air is not always necessary to cause rust, only the presence of oxygen, and oxygen can be found in water as well as air. In fact, water is usually considered the third part of the oxidation process, since it allows the oxygen and the iron to meet. This is why areas with lots of moisture in the air, with the presence of water vapor, have much faster rust rates than dry areas.

To look at it another way, oxidation is an electrochemical process that acts somewhat like a battery, exchanging small amounts of electricity. Like batteries, a solution helps this process by allowing electrons to move more easily between the two elements, and also like batteries, different solutions work better than others. Water takes some of the atoms and changes them into a light form of acid as the oxidation process continues, which helps metal rust even faster.

This acidic transformation occurs with pure water, but when the water is already salty it starts out as a minor acid and becomes an even more powerful electrolyte, facilitating the rusting process. There is then a hierarchy in the rust process. Rust does not easily form in dry climate, but in a wet climate the oxygen can access the metal more easily through the water vapor, and rust occurs much faster. Pure water forms an acidic solution and allows the oxidation process to happen more easily, and salty water works even better since it is already a catalyst. Prime rust conditions occur when the metal is regularly exposed to salt water and air.

For people who want to protect metal tools or vehicles against rust, there are a variety of waxes and oils that can be used to interrupt the oxidation process. Most of these work by not allowing water vapor to come in contact with the metal. Without water to help the elements exchange electrons, rust happens in barely noticeable amounts.

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Wood plaque

with photo of the photoshop page

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Setting up Saltwater Aquarium

Step 1:

There are two keys to a good salt water aquarium. The first is good equipment and the second is PATIENCE. The first thing you need is of course the aquarium. I started with a 10 gallon because it costs less, but what I save in cost I make up for in daily to every-other-day maintanance. This tutorial is really based on a nano tank (20 gallons or less) because that is what I have experience with and that is all I can afford at the moment. (This tutorial will assume you have chosen a smaller tank) After you have decided the size of the aquarium you will want to buy a POWER FILTER. Always buy it 20-30 gallons bigger than the aquarium you have. (I have a 10 gal. so I bought a 30 gal.) You should also buy a LIGHT HOOD for your aquarium. Coral life/sun is a good bulb that can be bought at any fish store and I suggest a 50/50 bulb. Another important piece of equipment will be your HYDROMETER because this will measure how much salt is in your aquarium. The next step is to buy the SAND live rock for your aquarium. As far as sand, the best by far is the live caribean sea sand sold in bags that have water with the sand. This sand already has good algae and chemicals that is important for you tank. For a tank smaller than a 10 gal. I found that florida crushed coral works well because it is sold in smaller portions, however the live sand cycled the tank faster than the crushed coral. (Don't worry 'cycling' is coming up) LIVE ROCK part of aquarium keeping because it gives the tank the look you want. 1 pound per a gallon of rock is the average, but 1 or 4 pounds over is always a plus. The best pieces are the big light one. This is because it creates better water circulation through the pores. When choosing rock I found one good piece of rock then a few medium size pieces to pu around it creating caves and crevices which fish enjoy. After pooring your sand into the aquarium and arranging the rock the way you want, you can add the SALTWATER. The first saltwater I got was bought from my Local Fish Store(LFS) because I wanted to be sure the salinity was perfect. The ideal salinity is 1.023-1.025. It can range .001 above or below but this is ideal for everything that will go into the tank. When pouring the water in, attempt to pour in the rocks because this will cause less sand disturbance. After this step is where the PATIENCE comes in. Apart from waiting for the water to clear up from adding the water, you now have to wait for the cycle.

Step 2:

This is the easiest yet hardest step of them all. It is easy because you do not have to do anything, but hard because you have to wait, kind of like waiting for water to boil. At this point you should invest in a good TEST KIT. Every 2-3 days you should test the water to check ammonia and nitrates. Once these both hit zero you are ready to stock the tank. You might want to wait another 2-3 days after you see it hit 0 before you go buy a fish because sometimes it spikes again, so to play it safe I would wait. Again with the PATIENCE. This process can take anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks depending on the sand and sand you buy.

Step 3:

Finally! All that waiting is finally paying off. You should now see hair algae growing all over you tank, and the best way to get rid of this ick is invertabraes. I suggest 1 BLUE LEGGED HERMIT CRAB per gallon and one snail per gallon. One of those snails should be a MEXICAN TURBO SNAIL. These things get the job done. In one day this snail had the front of my glass as clear as a window. The other snails can be NASSARIUS or REGULAR TURBOS. Other inverts you can get are star fish, but I have no experience with them to offer any tips. Do not add everything at once because this will shock your system, instead add 2-5 at a time. By the time most of your clean up crew is in the tank it should look pretty good. Now you are ready for fish.

Step 4:

Now is the time to add fish. Some of the best fish for tanks smaller than twenty gallons include clownfish, gobies, damsels, and cardinals. In a tank less than 5 gallons, do not attempt fish, it will end badly. I started my 10 gallon with a Yellowtail damsel, because it is the easiest fish in the world to take care of and only little sisters are able to kill them (I would know). In my fourteen gallon, I got a false percula clown fish because I enjoy the fish and my 14 gallon is a bit more stable. Another clown which I like is the tomatoe clown because of its bright color. Another fish which I will be purchasing soon is a firefish goby. Their colors are amazing and the have the coolest swimming habit ever due to their long dorsal fin. I talked to my LFS worker many hours and did tons of research before I bought any of my fish. Find one that you like and then see if it is right for you.

Step 5:

As I do not yet own corals, I am still learning about these creatures. However, through research I have learned that poly corals such as zooanthoids are perfect for low lit nano aquariums. Types of mushroom corals such as ricordias are also good for this setup. Corals such as frog spawn or colt corals are not advised due to their sweeping tentacles which can kill other corals and even fish. Anemones are likewise ill advised but with research, there are types that are safe for your tank. Your best bet however is soft corals because of they are the easiest to care for and require the least amount of lighting.

Another cool creature that can reside in your tank is a feather duster. These creatures are actually worms that live in a 'tube' and have feather looking things coming from the top that resemble a feather duster. The 'feathers' are used to collect food floating in the water. These are simple creatures that are fairly inexpensive as far as saltwater goes.

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before

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before (left) and after (right), just switching around the lines so that they don't overlap each other

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Power

As my installation fish tank container will need power to run all the security cameras, fish equipment along with the tv screens, the best solution for this would be having solar panels on the roof to capture all the sunlight and store it in a generator to be used on all the electronics. During the day everything will need to be running, but during the night from 9pm till 6am on the fish equipment will need to be running, (so no tv screens or security cameras will be operating at this time).   

As you can see in the photos above of how solar panels work where the sun shines on them, then goes through an inverter which converts the current into AC electricity, then goes to the meter where it is stored to be used, then goes to the power outlet plugs, where this will go to the electronic equipment that will need for running the fish tank, tv screens and security cameras. So since i will need al this extra equipment to run the tank, screens, etc i will have an additional small little box on the corner next to the container that will supply all this equipment.

Sketch-up model showing the solar panel position with the electronic box on the side of the container above the 4 tv screens. The whole 12m x 2.4m roof of container will be filled with solar panels. This will produce a lot of energy for the fish tank container and will be able to store it all as well on days when the sun is covered by the clouds or when it is raining. 

This photoshop close up image shows how the solar panels will supply the electricity to the various equipment need for the fish tank to ran. 

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Feedback From Presentation

Power - how does it run (security cameras, fish tank equipment, etc)

Think about what words will be written on the wooden plaque on the side of the container that will talk about what it is i am doing and why

Labels

Measurements

Coral reef what need in it

Swap some of the lines around in book so don’t overlap each other

Rusting - thinking about the surface and how to make it rust faster no chemicals added

Research about how to keep saltwater fish alive in container

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Slides 7-11 of final presentation booklet that will be next to my small scale model.

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slides 1-6 of final presentation booklet that will be next to my small scale model.

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Final presentation powerpoint, showing key aspects of my installation piece with the plan on site, perspective views about how it looks on location with what metal looks like when it rusts and other key elements to my design. And along with final slide of model photos showing it as a smaller scale model.

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Siamese Fighting Fish

In my fish tank there is a Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens), also sometimes colloquially known as the Betta, is a species in the gourami family which is popular as an aquarium fish. Bettas can be territorial fish and are prone to high levels of aggression towards each other. Two males in close proximity will almost always attack each other, if they do not have the ability to escape this will usually result in the death of one or both of the fish. Female Bettas can also become territorial towards each other if they are housed in too small an aquarium. It is typically not recommended to keep male and female Bettas together, except temporarily for breeding purposes which should always be undertaken with caution.

This species is native to the Mekong basin of Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. The fish can be found in standing waters of canals, rice paddies and floodplains. It is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

They are called pla-kad (biting fish) in Thai and trey krem in Khmer.

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requirements for building a fish tank