Week 5: Final Observation

The final week has come in the observation of the organisms in my MicroAquarium. There is now significantly less activity in the microaquarium this week. Many of the organisms I have identified over the past month are now either in significantly less numbers or missing entirely from my observations. I would assume this is due to the organisms exhausting their food sources within the small environment created for them. The organisms I was able to see this week were mainly rotifers, amoebas, and paramecium. Dr. McFarland did assist me in the identification of one new organism this week, a difflugia.I did not notice any movement out of the organism during my observation so at this time I am unsure as to what it feeds on. I only noticed the difflugia in one section of my microaquarium and it was surrounded by 7 others of the same species. The difflugia can be seen in the photo below. Also to note the diffugia is surrounded by diatoms, it could be possible that they are a food sources for the difflugia as there are many directly around the organism.

Also this week I found what Dr. Mcfarland told me to be the body skeleton of a Cyclops. I identified a juvenile cyclops  in my observations last week and this week I discovered the discarded exo-skeleton of a mature cyclops which can also be seen in the photos below.

Week 4: Cyclops

It seems like the life in my MicroAquarium is beginning to slow down as we enter the fourth week of the term project. There isn't nearly the same amount of activity as I saw several weeks ago. The water level in my microaquarium has dropped over the weeks as well, I'm assuming that this is in part due to evaporation. Dr. McFarland helped me to identify my first new organism of the week as a juvenile cyclops. A picture I took of the organism can be seen below. I couldn't determine much about the cyclops' feeding habits as it didn't really do much but move around a little bit during the time I was viewing it. I also saw one other organism that I believe to be a Vorticella. I couldn't get a picture as the organism moved around much to quickly to be photographed. It seemed to be attached, feeding, on a bit of the soil at the bottom of the microaquarium. It had a long tail that was constantly moving around and the top of the organism was obscured by the debris it seemed to be attached to.

Week 3: Annelid & Tacysoma

With the insertion of the food pellet from last week I found my microaquairum to be decidedly more active this week, with even more organisms moving around. Two of the organisms I identified this week are the Annelid and the Tacysoma. Annelids very much resemble earthworms as they come from the same phylum. When watching the annelid in my microaquarium is appears to feed off of loose debris and possibly the plant material as well. There doesn't seem to be very many annalids in my microaquarium. I only counted 3 that I could find.

Dr. McFarland assisted me identifying the second organism as a Tachysoma. The organism is very abundant in my microaquarium. The tachysoma moves constantly and I wasn't able to see it under high enough magnification to determine how the organism moves or what it may feed on.

Below are photos I took of both organisms through one of the microscopes in the lab.

Week 2: Rotifers

I stumbled across an interesting organism in my microaquarium that I have identified to be a Rotifer. Rotifers are also commonly known as "wheel animals". They tend to be found on the bottom of rivers and lakes. The term "wheel animals" comes from the fact that they have cillia around their mouths thats moves very quickly to resemble the spin of a wheel. They feed on algae and other dead organisms. Because of their diet they help  to clean the water (Baqai 2000).


Also, on Oct. 22 a Beta Food Pellet was added to my microaquarium. The analysis is as follows: Atison's Betta Food" 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%.

Works Cited:
Baqai, Aisha., et al. 2000.Introduction to the Rotifera. Berkeley: University of California. Available at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/phyla/rotifera/rotifera.html

Week #1 - MicroAquarium Setup

On Tuesday, October 12th, I set up my micro aquarium. Each student was given one and then allowed to put in a small amount of water from a source of their choosing. My water source came from the Tennessee River:

8. Tennessee River at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plant

8. Tennessee River at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plant. Neyland Dr. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Full sun exposure. French Broad and Holston Rivers water Sheds N35 56.722 W83 55.587 813 ft 10/10/2010

 

I then briefly observed my sample, seeing several small organisms. My posts in the following weeks will be focusing on identifying these organisms and monitoring what they do.