Background

Shrimp

            Seventy five percent of all animals belong to the phylum Arthropoda. Arthropods include the chelicerates, the insects, and the crustaceans The largest group of marine arthropods is the class Crustacea, made up of approximately thirty thousand species. Members of the class in lobster, crabs, shrimps, krill, hermit crabs, copepods and many other groups of organisms. It is convenient to divide crustaceans into two groups, the entomostracans and the alacostraceans. The entomostraceans include the smaller species, such as fairy shrimp, water fleas, copepods, and barnacles. The malacostaceans include the larger more familiar crustaceans, such as crabs, shrimp, and lobsters. All Crustaceans have an exoskeleton made of the protein chitin and calcium. This external shell in addiction to being protective gives rigid support for the attachment of the muscles. The exoskeleton creates joints, allowing the crustacean to move its body and appendages. Typically the body of crustaceans is divided into two sections, the head and the trunk. The head has five pairs of appendages. Two pairs of antennae and three feeding appendages, composed of one pair of mandibles and two pairs of maxillae. The trunk is usually divided into the thorax and the abdomen. In many crustaceans a shell called the carapace covers the head and thorax. Crustaceans respirate via gills, located where the legs attach to the thorax. Most crustaceans are free living but some are sessile and a few are even parasitic. Some filter plankton or even bacteria from the water, are active predators, while still others scavenge nutrients from detritus. Although most crustacean are dioecious the actual mechanisms by which they fertilize vary greatly. Some crustaceans hatch young that resemble miniature adults, others go through larval stages. Shrimp go threw a molting stage. Although a crustacean grows, its exoskeleton does not, so the animal must molt its old exoskeleton in order to accommodate its expanding body. The process of molting is hormonally controlled. In preparation for molting the tissue layer under the exoskeleton detaches and secretes a new exoskeleton. At this point the animal has two exoskeletons the outer one and the inner one. When the new skeleton is completely formed, the old skeleton splits along a specific weak point and the animal pulls out leaving its old skeleton intact except for the split. Mobility is limited immediately after the molt because the exoskeleton is not rigid enough o keep the limbs stiff. Although crustaceans molt throughout their entire life, they molt less frequently with age. The Pandulas borealis (Pink Atlantic Shrimp) can live up to four years and reach lengths of one hundred and twenty millimeters. This species of shrimp actually begins as a male and then turns into females after a year or so for the rest of their life. They’re found throughout the cold waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. In the Atlantic Ocean, they might be found as far Greenland or Iceland and in the Pacific Ocean, they might be found throughout the Sea of Okhotsk and throughout the Bering Straight. Shrimp are a vital yet very small part of the underwater world that makes up over seventy percent of the Earth. They are a small number of invertebrates in nature, both marine and freshwater, but make up a huge portion of the invertebrate population of aquarium hobbyist. They are used as eye catchers, accents, and mostly as clean up crews. They are magnificent little creatures. The shrimp has nineteen separate sections of the body. Two main segments make up the body of a freshwater or marine shrimp. The first part is the upper portion of the shrimp referred to as the cephalothorax. The cephalothorax includes the head and the thorax or pereon region of the shrimp. It is covered by a protective plating called the Carapace. The cephalothorax consists of the rostrum, stalked eyes, carapace, the first and second antennas, antenulles, pereopods , the maxillipeds, and the mandibles. The antenna and antenulles are used as feelers or sensory feelers. The maxillipeds are used to rip food apart before it is moved into the mandible where it is crushed and devoured. Below is a picture of the lower portion of the body, often called the abdomen or pleon segment. This include both abdominal section upper and lower. The upper abdominal section, 1-3, is referred to as the tergum. The bottom half, 4-6, is peferred to as the pleuron. The pleopods, often called swimmerets, are tucked under the abdomen of the shrimp. It also includes the tail section of the shrimp that is broken into three parts. Two of which are called uropods, and the central pointier segment is the telson. The pleopods are used foe swimming while their tails are used like aircraft wings to control their direction. The shrimp life cycle starts off at the eggs. Shrimp eggs are thought to sink to the bottom at the time of spawning. The egg diameter is less than 1/64 inches. Most spawning is believed to occur in high salinity oceanic waters. Then the Nauplius stage. There are five naupliar stages. The first stage is about the size of the egg and succeeding stages are slightly larger. Nauplii have limited swimming ability and usually are a part of the oceanic plankton. Step three is the Protozoea cycle. The three protozoeal stages range in size from 1/25 to 1/12 in. These planktonic forms are found in oceanic waters. Protozoea have undergone development of their mouth parts and the abdomen has begun to develop. Mysis stage comes next. There are three mysid stages ranging in size from 1/8 to 1/5 in. These are planktonic in the ocean. Mysids have early development of legs and antennae. The two postlarval stages for white shrimp are about 1/6 to 1/4 in. Brown shrimp postlarvae are larger, up to 1/2 in. The walking and swimming legs have developed and the postlarvae appear as miniature shrimp. The second postlarval stage rides the flood tides into the estuaries, apparently becoming active during flood tide and settling to the bottom during ebb tides. The postlarvae ultimately settle in the upper parts of tidal creeks. Postlarval shrimp develop directly into juvenile shrimp. Growth is rapid, up to 2 1/2 in. per month. Juveniles are similar to adults except they are characterized by a much longer rostrum (horn). Juveniles typically remain in the marsh creeks until reaching about 4 to 4 1/2 in. before moving into the deeper rivers. Sub-adults move into the deeper waters of the estuaries and may remain there for a month or more before moving seaward. These shrimp continue to grow but at a slower rate than juveniles. Sub-adults usually do not exhibit any signs of ovarian maturity. Adults may be 5 to 8 inches in length. Adults are usually found in the ocean, but in dry years may delay migration until cold weather occurs. Spawning females are characterized by brightly colored ovaries that can be seen under the shell on the upper side of the body.

Glow Sticks

With no bulb or battery, glow sticks manage to give off a strong light. Glow stick light is the result of a chemical reaction. Most glow sticks hold a hydrogen peroxide solution and a solution containing phenyl oxalate ester and a fluorescent dye. When the two compounds are mixed, the hydrogen peroxide oxidizes the phenyl oxalate ester, resulting in a chemical called phenol and an unstable acid ester. The unstable compound decomposes, resulting in additional phenol and a cyclic peroxy compound. The cyclic peroxy compound then decomposes to carbon dioxide; this decomposition process releases energy to the dye, and the electrons in the dye atoms jump to a higher level, then fall back down, releasing energy in the form of light.The actual light stick is simply a form of housing the two solutions. In the stick, the two solutions are kept in separate chambers. The phenyl oxalate ester and dye solution fills most of the glow stick, while the hydrogen peroxide solution is held in a smaller glass vial within the middle of the stick. This is why glow sticks must be bent to activate - bending the plastic stick breaks the glass vial open, allowing the two solutions to mix.The glow stick can stay lit for hours, if enough compounds are used. However, more commercial glow sticks are likely to last up to 30 minutes. Also, heating the glow stick will cause it to glow brighter, but it will also dim more quickly. Similarly, cooling the stick will slow down the process and cause a dimmer light to last much longer. Freezing a glow stick can cause the light to last for several days, though it will eventually fade out. Although some websites offer information on how to make a glow stick, this is discouraged unless a person has a background in science and considerable training in chemical compounds. While relatively safe, mixing the compounds incorrectly can lead to inadvertent results, and the dye can harm clothing and other fabrics.

Fertilizers

In order for a plant to grow and thrive, it needs a number of different chemical elements. The most important are Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen – Available from air and water and therefore in plentiful supply. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. The three macronutrients and the three elements you find in most packaged fertilizers Sulfur, calcium, and magnesium. Secondary nutrients Boron, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. The most important of these are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Without nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the plant simply cannot grow because it cannot make the pieces it needs. Without nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the plant simply cannot grow because it cannot make the pieces it needs. To make plants grow faster, what you need to do is supply the elements that the plants need in readily available forms. That is the goal of fertilizer. Most fertilizers supply just nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium because the other chemicals are needed in much lower quantities and are generally available in most soils. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium availability is the big limit to growth. The numbers on a bag of fertilizer tell you the percentages of available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium found in the bag. So 12-8-10 fertilizer has 12-percent nitrogen, 8-percent phosphorous and 10-percent potassium. In a 100-pound bag, therefore, 12 pounds is nitrogen, 8 pounds is phosphorous and 10 pounds is potassium. The other 70 pounds is known as ballast and has no value to the plants.

History of Phosphorus

The name of phosphorus has a Greek origin meaning "it possesses brilliance" due to its property of shining in the darkness when exposed to the air. Phosphorus was discovered by the German scientist Hennig Brand in 1669. He discovered the element while doing experiments with the distillation of urine. Brand discovered that phosphorus is an important constituent of the bones, introducing a new method of industrial production of phosphorus.  In 1803, the scientist John Dalton used Brand’s experiments with phosphorus to come up with the law of multiple proportions. He was able to explain the results of some of Brand’s studies by assuming that

matter is composed of atoms and that all samples of any given compound consist of the same combination of these atoms. The law of multiple proportions was further evidence that Dalton used to explain the existence of atoms. At the end of the 19th century, James Readman developed the first process to obtain elementary phosphorus. The basic methods of this method still remain in technology today.

Properties of Phosphorus

Phosphorus existed in four or more allotropic forms. They are white/yellow, red, and black/violet. Phosphorus is a very waxy, white solid and colorless and transparent when it is pure. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for all aquatic plants and algae. Only a very small amount is needed, however, so an excess of phosphorus can easily occur. Excess phosphorus is usually considered to be a pollutant because it can lead to eutrophication - a condition where an overabundance of nutrients, such as phosphorus, causes increased plant and algal growth. Eutrophication can lower the levels of dissolved oxygen in the water and can render the water uninhabitable by many aquatic organisms. Phosphorus is often the limiting factor that determines the level of eutrophication that occurs.  White phosphorus has two modifications, alpha and beta and always glows in the dark because it is constantly reacting with the air around it. Phosphorus is insoluble in water but is soluble in carbon disulfide. Some forms of phosphorus will spontaneously burst into flames when exposed to air and will burn to

phosphorus pentoxide. The atomic number is fifteen with the atomic symbol P. The nucleus has fifteen protons, fifteen electrons, and sixteen neutrons with the atomic mass of 30.97. There is only one stable isotope of phosphorus. The electron configuration is [Ne].3s.2.3p3. Phosphorus has five valence electrons. The classification is a nonmetal and has no conductivity.  Phosphorus has a boiling point of 280.5°C. Phosphorus is extremely poisonous and should be handled very carefully. White phosphorus is the most toxic of all three types of phosphorus and needs the most care when hadling.

Functions of Phosphorus

Phosphorus is a major structural component of bone in the form of a calcium phosphate salt called hydroxyapatite. Phospholipids are structural components of cell membranes. Phosphorus can also speed up the healing process and puts a stop to calcium loss from injury, help prevent and treat osteoporosis, prevent stunted growth in children, help break up and carry away fats and fatty acids in your blood, keep your blood balanced, help stimulate your glands to secrete hormones and may help block cancer. Phosphorus is also used as a main ingredient in many fertilizers. All fertilizers have three bold numbers on the bag. First number is the amount of nitrogen, the second number is the amount of phosphate, and the third number is the amount of potash. The three numbers represent the primary nutrients. The fertilizer grades are made by mixing two or more nutrient sources to form a blend. Blends contain particles of more than one color. White phosphorus was used in matches at first. But since white phosphorus is the least stable, the most reactive, more volatile, less dense, and more toxic than the other allotropes, it was soon discontinued. The white phosphorus is the most toxic of all the allotropes of phosphorus.

The Phosphorus Cycle

The phosphorus cycle occurs when phosphorus moves from land to sediments in the seas and then back to land again. The main storage for phosphorus is in the earths crust. On land phosphorus is usually found in the form of phosphates. By the process of weathering and erosion phosphates enter rivers and streams that move them to the ocean. Once in the ocean the phosphorus accumulates on continental shelves in the form of insoluble deposits. After millions of years, the plates rise from the sea floor and expose the phosphates on land. After more time, weathering will release them from rock and the cycle's geochemical phase begins again.

Runoff

  Many causes of runoff including sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates.  In excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae.  Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and block light to deeper waters. Pollutants enter waterways through untreated sewage, storm drains, septic tanks, runoff from farms, and particularly boats that dump sewage.

Treatment of runoff is required before it can be safely buried, used, or released back into local water systems. In a treatment plant, the runoff is passed through a series of screens, chambers, and chemical processes to reduce its bulk and toxicity. The three general phases of treatment are primary, secondary, and tertiary. During primary treatment, much of the suspended solids and inorganic material is removed from the pollution. The focus of secondary treatment is reducing organic material by accelerating natural biological processes. Tertiary treatment is necessary when the water will be reused; 99 percent of solids are removed and various chemical processes are used to ensure the water is as free from impurity as possible.

Agriculture, including commercial livestock and poultry farming, is the source of many organic and inorganic pollutants in surface waters and groundwater.  These contaminants include both sediment from erosion cropland and compounds of phosphorus and nitrogen that partly originate in animal wastes and commercial fertilizers.  Animal wastes are high in oxygen demanding material, nitrogen and phosphorus, and they often harbor pathogenic organisms. Wastes from commercial feeders are contained and disposed of on land; their main threat to natural waters, therefore, is from runoff and leaching. Control may involve settling basins for liquids, limited biological treatment in aerobic or anaerobic lagoons, and a variety of other methods.