November 18th: Saying Goodbye

November 18th,

This is the last day with my microaquarium. It was sad to finally let it go after over a month of watching it grow. My last observation was bleak, there were far fewer microorganisms in my aquarium this week, but to say there were far fewer doesn't mean there weren't any at all. There were a couple of nematodes that I found quickly moving through the middle and lower surface of the tank. In comparison to past week there were significantly more diatoms in the lower regions of the tank moving slowly and a further increasing number of cyanobacteria throughout the tank.

Image 1. Cyanobacteria

Image 1 shows the cyanobacteria which have been growing larger every week in the micro aquarium. The organism has a spiral shape as shown from the image and obtain there energy from photosynthesis (Forest p. 147).

Image 2. Chaetonotus (Gastrotricha)

Image 2 is taken of a Chaetonotus, which is a species of Gastrotricha that range from 0.1 to 1.5 millimeters long (Pennak p. 165). They are the largest species of Gastrotrich and have spiny cilia surrounding the body and can be quick to move, the organism was found near the bottom of the aquarium with the soil and algae.

Bibliography:

Forest, Herman S. Handbook of Algae. Knoxville: Knoxville, 1954. Print.

Pennak, Robert W. Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States. New York City: John Wiley & Sons, 1978. Print.

November 13th: Graveyard Shift

November 13th,

It has been nearly two weeks since I have visited my aquarium and no more food has been added to the tank, only water. Compared to nearly two weeks ago there are significantly less microrganisms in the tank, it looks like a graveyard. Two weeks ago the majority of the tank was green, now there is little green and mostly yellow-brown colors. Now that's not to say there's none, you just have to look for them!
For example I found two nematodes in the middle of the tank which were very fast moving. There was also two protozoa and tons of cyanobacteria! At the bottom region of the tank near the soil were hundreds of diatoms and were significantly smaller than the diatoms I had seen in previous weeks. Maybe they were not as mature, or a different species?

Image 1.

Image 1 above shows a picture of the cyanobacteria Nodularia. The filamentous blue-green algae is nitrogen fixing and grew in various places throughout the tank, especially towards the middle and the top (Prescott p. 200).

Next week is the final week I observe my microaquarium. I'm hoping to see larger diatoms and maybe an increase in cyanobacteria, because I have noticed it has been growing and increasing in quanity every week I have observed.

Bibliography:

Prescott, G. W. How to Know the Freshwater Algae. Dubuque: WMC Brown, 1994. Print.



October 30th: Feeding the Organisms

October 30^th,

In addition to extra water, due to evaporation within the microaquarium, there was one food pellet added on October 24^th, 2014. The pellet was “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%. With the addition of the pellet food there was an increase in organisms (McFarland 2014).

The microaquarium had many different organisms this time, there was less water in the aquarium, but many more organisms. There were 5 rotifers which were moving quickly on the bottom of the aquarium. There are many fast moving nematodes throughout the tank. There were many dark organelles in the middle of the aquarium and spin in the circles constantly. I also saw many diatoms, which we wormlike organisms with a gold color that we very slow moving. Also finding 3 stinters, and the bring  green algae eutricularia.

Image 1.

Image 1 shows the euplotus rotifer from two different views, from the side (left) and from looking over the top (right). In my microaquarium there were four euplotus rotifers total. The rotifer has a transparent body and large spine like cellia. (Patterson p. 124) The cellis of the euplotus make the organism look like it is "walking".

Image 2

The image above shows the euchlanis  rotifer. A different species of rotifer than what was shown in Image 1. The organism has a ciliated corona, or head (Stemberge p. 60). It also has two toes used for swimming and live near the middle of the tank most likely looking for smaller organisms to snack on.

Image 3.

The stentor is one of the largest organisms I would in my microaquarium. They are horn shaped and reproduce asexually through binary fission. (Patterson p. 113). I found many of these organisms in my microaquarium and throughout the middle sections and moving fairly slow.

Bibliography

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. Nov 1. Available from http://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

Steberge, Richard. A Guide to Rotifers of the Laurentian Lakes. Pellston: U of Michigan, 1998. Print.

Patterson, DJ. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. Washington DC: Mason, 1996. Print.

October 26th: Nematodes, Rotifers, and More

Since my last observation there has been little visible change in my microaquarium to the naked eye or through the microscope. There has been a slight increase in microorganisms, but that’s it. There are no dead organisms lining the tank or anything like that. The date last observed was Thursday October 23, 2014.
-On this day I found many organisms such as a nematode. The nematode seemed to be in constant, quick motion. The long, thin, tail like creature was transparent and appear all throughout the microaquarium.
-As I kept exploring I found three rotifers! The rotifers were transparent, slow moving microorganism and they also have a pointed tail found in the middle of the microaquarium near the foliage found inside the aquarium.
-The largest microorganism I saw was the seed shrimp. He was a bottom dwelling microorganism, with a brown coloration and two sets of antennas used to swim through the microaquarium.
-There were a few microorganisms that I was not able to identify. For example a small unicellular transparent organism which had tiny black vacuoles on its body. The organisms moved slowly with no pattern in all parts of the aquarium. I saw five total during. There was also a worm of some kind living in the dirt of my microaquarium, but he never breached the surface for me to identify him. Is there any way to bring the creatures out of the sediment in order to identify it?
Can’t wait until next time!

October 20th: Just the Beginning

This post is about the set up and beginnings of my Micro Aquarium. I have a thin plastic casing which I will call my aquarium. This is what it looks like.

A little more information about my aquarium, the water is from Lynnhurst Cemetary off of Adair Drive, in Knoxville Tennessee. Partial shade exposure Spring Feed Pond N36 01.357 W83 55.731 958 ft and the sample was collected on 10/12/2014. Here is a picture of the location my sample came from.

From the collected sample I used a dropper to put soil in the bottom of my aquarium then collected water from the bottom, middle, and top of the sample. Once I collected my soil and water my Micro Aquarium was ready for some more organisms. So I added two types of organisms:
-Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/12/2014
-Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A carnivorous 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. 10/12/2014
Now all my organisms live happily together. Through first look under the microscope I only found one microorganism. "He" was almost a perfect circle, except had a small tail, multicellular organism moving in a circle over and over again, doing constant doughnuts. He was the only creature I found.