RESULTS

Part A 
 
Newton Moore Senior High School

i)School Breeding Site, Environmental Centre

The science department has two areas involved with the breeding of the Western Pygmy Perch and the Western Minnow. One location is in classrooms and the other outside in the environmental centre. It is important to have more than one location in case one population becomes contaminated or one system fails.
Five 250L tanks house a population of about 70 Western Pygmy Perch in three separate laboratories.
One below ground pond constructed with limestone blocks, sealed and covered with a pergola with shade cloth is the most successful breeding site. It is located in the Environmental centre alongside the science laboratories. This pond  is aerated with a submersible pump and apart from the occasional top up with water,  no maintenance or feeding is required. Bird netting around the side protects from birds. Twenty litre tubs support aquarium strap weed. The soil for these tubs came from the wetlands and included non biting midgie larvae, a source of food for the perch. The algae, cladophera also thrives and breaks down to add to the nutrients in the sediments. These thriving aquatic plants provide an excellent habitat for the juvenile fish and allows provide shelter for  them to escape being eaten by the mature Western Pygmy Perch.
The Western Minnow is not so easily kept in aquariums as they are vigorous jumpers and care must be taken to seal off the top of the tank.
In 2006 students set up a breeding pond alongside the Western Pygmy Perch’s limestone pond. It  is set up the same as the perch’s pond  with a submersible pump and tubs of plants. It however must be tightly covered with fish netting to stop the fish jumping out.

Students preparing the site for the Western Minnow pond.	Students placing pond in position.

Fish Netting Joined to cover the pond.	Adding the Western Minnow to the pond. Power is connected to the pole from the adjoining pond to the left.

Two tubs fixed in the soil and covered with shade cloth provide a live food source of protozoans and  daphnia  for the fish in classrooms.

All of the ponds are to be moved in May as the Environmental centre will be relocated to a new site on the school grounds.

Part B

ii)School Breeding Site, Koopoolang Pond

Water Testing Results of the  Breeding Pond, Koopoolang Pond

2005

2006

2007

Sampling for macro invertebrates in Koopoolang Pond 2005

Macro invertebrate Sampling in Water sites in Bunbury City

KEY

Site: Koopoolang Pond

2005

2006

2007

Water Index Rating for Test Sites

Star Rating Guide:

×         Wetlands is in urgent need of assistance to restore habitat and reduce  nutrient input

××      Wetland needs some assistance. Continue restoration

×××  Wetland is in reasonable condition now. Keep monitoring it

××××Wetland is healthy and diverse. Protect it

School Breeding Pond:  Koopoolang Pond

Releasing Western Pygmy Perch and Western Minnow into Koopoolang Pond in 2006, just above the submerged concrete tanks.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, domestic demand for ground water is very high and the summer water level has been low for 2006 and 2007. The presence of the two concrete tanks detailed in the 2005 Report, have prevented the pond from drying up. We have also had to add bore water to the pond to maintain the level just above ground level. We obtained  a “License to Take Water” from the Department of Environment to draw water to do this. Unfortunately the iron and manganese levels in the bore water, is above the recommended level for aquaculture.
Students are in the process of constructing a settling tank to remove the iron. Bore water will be diverted to this tank before it is gravity fed into the pond. Work is due for completion by the end of May 2007.
When the addition of bore water is kept to a minimum, chemical and biological analysis of the pond indicates the water  quality is within the recommended limits for a healthy waterway able to support the Western Minnow and the Western Pygmy Perch. The plants in and around the pond are becoming more established.
Western Pygmy Perch and Western Minnow have been released from the original breeding stock in the environmental centre in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Each monthly sampling from July 2006 to April 2007 has shown Western Pygmy Perch, including newly hatched juveniles. The Western Minnow has not yet been recaptured. More Western Minnow will be released in May when the ponds are emptied and moved due to the school’s building program.

Top

• The Project
  • Introduction
  • Method
• Results
  • Control
  • Breeding Pond
• Release Sites
  • Big Swamp
  • Dodson Lake
  • Five Mile Brook
  • Horseshoe lake
  • St Marks Pond
  • West Street Sump
  • Release Dates
  • Other Sites
• Conclusion
• Conclusion
• Discussion
• Recommendations
• Community Awareness
• Acknowledgements
• Links
  • N.M.S.H.S Wetlands
  • Bunbury City Council
  • N.M.S.H.S
  • Dolphin Discovery Centre