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.

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%.