Design Question 7

A marine biologist is testing growth of flatfish. Five flatfish are placed in each of 10 tanks; the 10 tanks are randomly assigned to one of five temperature gradients (two tanks per temperature). The fish are allowed to acclimate for 17 days then their length and weight are measured. The length and weight are measured four more times at 12-day intervals. Identify a reasonable design for this experiment. What would you choose for a response variable? In actual practice, all of the fish in one tank died after the second measurement period due to a hydroid invasion. In addition, three fish in another tank died after the first measurement and were replaced by three other fish who were measured on the second, third, fourth and fifth time periods. How do these changes affect your analysis?