Max has a group of goldfish in his tank at home. He notices that they are struggling a bit. Max wants to increase their rate of cellular respiration because he thinks that it would help them to survive. Which of the following actions would potentially increase the rate of cellular respiration in the goldfish?

Question

Max has a group of goldfish in his tank at home. He notices that they are struggling a bit. Max wants to increase their rate of cellular respiration because he thinks that it would help them to survive. Which of the following actions would potentially increase the rate of cellular respiration in the goldfish? 
increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the tank
reducing the amount of food placed in the tank
increasing the amount of oxygen in the tank
reducing the amount of sunlight that hits the tank

GPT-4o mini · Answer

To potentially increase the rate of cellular respiration in the goldfish, the most effective action would be increasing the amount of oxygen in the tank. Cellular respiration in aquatic animals like goldfish relies on oxygen to convert food into energy. By ensuring that there is more oxygen available, you can facilitate a higher rate of cellular respiration.

Increasing the amount of carbon dioxide could have negative effects as it could lead to lower pH and harm the fish. Reducing the amount of food could decrease energy availability, and reducing sunlight would typically not have a direct effect on cellular respiration itself, as goldfish do not rely on photosynthesis. Thus, increasing oxygen is the best choice for enhancing cellular respiration.