Sunday, November 22, 2009
Week #5
I noticed no new organisms this week other than more flatworms. Most everything had died off and there was a grow of a little bit of mold growing in the middle of my MicroAquarium. It waws said seeing my little world just die.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Week #4
As promised here are pictures of what is living in my MircoAquarium. Top to Bottom: Vorticella, Difflugia, Flatworm, seed shrimp, freshwater cyclops.
These pictures and observations are from two weeks ago. Not much had changed that week and I was surprised that the food pellet (Atison's Betta Food*) didn't make much of a difference in the quality of life in the MicroAquarium. A lot of organisms had already started dying off. Many smaller unidentified micro organisms fed off of seed shrimp casings. The plants had begun to yellow as well.
However, the organisms pictured we very lively and I notices the vorticella for the first time. It's very pretty and a creates a whirlpool of water around itself.
Patterson, D.J. 1992. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide. London (UK): Manson Publishing, Ltd. p.169.
These pictures and observations are from two weeks ago. Not much had changed that week and I was surprised that the food pellet (Atison's Betta Food*) didn't make much of a difference in the quality of life in the MicroAquarium. A lot of organisms had already started dying off. Many smaller unidentified micro organisms fed off of seed shrimp casings. The plants had begun to yellow as well.
However, the organisms pictured we very lively and I notices the vorticella for the first time. It's very pretty and a creates a whirlpool of water around itself.
Patterson, D.J. 1992. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide. London (UK): Manson Publishing, Ltd. p.169.
All of the other organisms I had seen before but never identified. I had a video of a difflugia but could not load it on here. If I figure it out I will post it as soon as possible.
Other Sources used for Indentification:
Thorp JH, Covich AP. 1991. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. San Diego (CA): Academic Press, Inc.
Ward HB, Whippl GC. 1918. Fresh-Water Biology. Boston (MA): Stanhope Press.
*"Atison's Betta Food" is made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. Analysis: Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%.
*"Atison's Betta Food" is made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. Analysis: Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Week #3
Last Tuesday I went to the lab and made more observations of my MicroAquarium. I learn more of the proper names for my organisms and was surprised to see that some of my seed shrimp (formerly the skeletal organisms) and died off. I thought the food pellet would have been most helpful to them, but it doesn't appear to have been.
Halteria are the organisms that I have noticed that have wavy, spindles coming off of a circular body.
Diatoms are harder to describe, but they are more of what you think off when you picture looking under a microscope. They have what seems to be a cell wall with nuclei. They are also kinda green in color.
I noticed more spyrogyra algae throughout the MicroAquarium as well.
Difflugia are the organisms that I think resemble aliens. They look like one huge alien head with little tiny legs coming off of it. They are also close to the seed shrimp and in the plant leaves and pond scum.
Of course there are still ostracods and nematoads swimming about. The water also appeared to be less transparent and full of more pond scum.
Halteria are the organisms that I have noticed that have wavy, spindles coming off of a circular body.
Diatoms are harder to describe, but they are more of what you think off when you picture looking under a microscope. They have what seems to be a cell wall with nuclei. They are also kinda green in color.
I noticed more spyrogyra algae throughout the MicroAquarium as well.
Difflugia are the organisms that I think resemble aliens. They look like one huge alien head with little tiny legs coming off of it. They are also close to the seed shrimp and in the plant leaves and pond scum.
Of course there are still ostracods and nematoads swimming about. The water also appeared to be less transparent and full of more pond scum.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Week #2
Last Tuesday I went back to the lab to check up on my MicroAquarium. It was teeming with life. The plants were greener and the organisms were bigger. I could even see them without my microscope. I was able to see more organisms because all of the sediment has settled to the bottom. There are still a few that I haven't been able to identify, but I will be sure to update as soon as I find out. I did notice some more nematoads and ostracods swimming around. There were also transparent skeletal organisms near the plants. They were kind of scary looking and I'm still curious as to what they might be. We also added our food pellet to the aquarium. I am sure when I check on it again today my aquarium will be full of life I will be able to see more than the last time. Today should be an interesting day for my little micro water world. I'll be sure to post pictures soon.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Setting Up and Initial Observations
Last Tuesday we set up our MicroAquariums. The MicroAquarium looks like two small panes of glass hot glued together with a plastic stand on the bottom and a plastic cover on top. We identify our MicroAquarium by different color coded dots on the side of them. One designated for our lab section, one for our table, and one for our seat number. After we set up a way to differentiate ourselves from everyone else we began to fill out MicroAquarium with the contents that would bring it to life.
We used a pipette to extract enough water to almost fill up our MicroAquarium. Each table had a different water source. My water source was the following:
#11. Fountain City Duck Pond. West of Broadway at Cedar Lane. Knox Co. Knoxville TN Full sun exposure. Spring Feed Pond N36 02.087 W83 55.967 963 ft 10/12/2009
This water source was pretty nasty looking which is exciting because I think it will help produce a lot of life. After the water we added two different plants which are the following:
Plant A . Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Lindb. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/11/2009
Plant B. Utricularia vulgaris L. FloweringPlant. A carnivous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN.
These plants should get bigger as the MicroAquarium starts getting more complex. That will be interesting since it's such a small space. I don't know how that will work out. We also had the opportunity to make our initial observations of what might or might not be living in our aquariums. I had some pretty interesting stuff going on.
There was some kind of fuzzy taco shaped dirt eating monster bug living at the bottom of my aquarium. It's rumored that "he" was an ostracod. I'm not sure. There was also another pod-like creature darting across the aquarium. It looked like a jellyfish with something floating inside its body. Definitely strange looking. I think it will be neat to see what happens in the little world this week. I'll keep you updated.
We used a pipette to extract enough water to almost fill up our MicroAquarium. Each table had a different water source. My water source was the following:
#11. Fountain City Duck Pond. West of Broadway at Cedar Lane. Knox Co. Knoxville TN Full sun exposure. Spring Feed Pond N36 02.087 W83 55.967 963 ft 10/12/2009
This water source was pretty nasty looking which is exciting because I think it will help produce a lot of life. After the water we added two different plants which are the following:
Plant A . Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Lindb. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/11/2009
Plant B. Utricularia vulgaris L. FloweringPlant. A carnivous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN.
These plants should get bigger as the MicroAquarium starts getting more complex. That will be interesting since it's such a small space. I don't know how that will work out. We also had the opportunity to make our initial observations of what might or might not be living in our aquariums. I had some pretty interesting stuff going on.
There was some kind of fuzzy taco shaped dirt eating monster bug living at the bottom of my aquarium. It's rumored that "he" was an ostracod. I'm not sure. There was also another pod-like creature darting across the aquarium. It looked like a jellyfish with something floating inside its body. Definitely strange looking. I think it will be neat to see what happens in the little world this week. I'll keep you updated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)