MicroAquarium Entry #5

The last time I went to visit my aquarium, I noticed that there was very little water in it. It was less than half full. This last time, I took all my pictures and they will all be attached in this post. First, is the amoeba that I saw early on in the project (Forest).

The next organism that I caught a picture of was actually dead, but it was an Ostracod, which I thought was very interesting. Originally, I thought it was a Ciliate, but Dr. McFarland told me what it was. I thought the many hairs all over it were the most interesting (Pennak).

Another creature that I found in my aquarium was a Euchlanis. I originally had no idea what it was, but Dr. McFarland helped me with this one also (Pennak). 

Also, I got a picture of the Desmid that I had talked about earlier. It turned out to be Closterium, and it is pictured below (Pennak). 

Earlier, I had talked about seeing several Cyclops and it took me several attempts to capture one on camera because they moved so fast. So here is the picture of one of them (Pennak).

The last organism that I saw was a Philodina, which I thought was one of the most interesting creatures. It's propellors were very neat the way they would move objects that floated into their path (Pennak).

MicroAquarium Entry #4

The last time I visited my aquarium, it was quite different. To begin, it was much, much dirtier this time. The water had a green tint to it, and there was a lot of algae. The desmids looked greener, but there were fewer of them. I saw a few less Cycloips this time, and I even saw one dead one. Only one of the Cycloips still had an eggsac though. The groups of flagellates in the aquarium seemed to be fewer, but the ones that were there were still moving around just as much. I saw a few kinds of rotifers. One of which was a Philodina, but I could not get a picture of it. Another one was a Otestophanus monteti, as identified in Rotifers by Josef Donner. I also saw about three or four soil nematodes at the bottom that were eating everything in sight. I had pictures, but I could not photoshop them on my computer for some reason.

MicroAquarium Entry #3

The last time I went to check out my aquarium, it was mostly the same as before, but it had a few changes that I could find. To begin, there were several more of the organisms that I believe to be mosquito larvae and several more groups of them. Also, the desmids that I saw were much greener than the last time. The creature that I believed to be in the Coleps category of Ciliates was seemed to be in the same spot, and again while I watched it, it did not move. I saw a few more Copepods around my aquarium, which I have found them to be Cycloips. Some of them have now developed egg sacs, and some of them you can see with the naked eye. They are by no means large, but if they are moving in the aquarium, you can find them without a microscope. I believe I saw a soil nematode in the bottom corner this time. It was moving along the side toward the bottom and eventually disappeared. The other new organism I found was an Annelida, more specifically it was a Tubifex. It was moving, very snake-like, near the bottom of my aquarium, and it too disappeared into the sand a few seconds after I saw it. I used the Guide to Microlife writtern by Kenneth G. Rains and Bruce J. Russel to identify these creatures.