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.

MicroAquarium Entry #2

When I went back to my aquarium for the first time since setting it up, not much had changed. I was able to find several different organisms and I believe I correctly identified them. The first organism I saw was very insect-like with two long, jointed tails. It moved quickly like it was crawling and I believe it to be a Crustacea in the Copepods category.I saw two of these, one at the bottom and one in the middle of the aquarium. I saw several green, thin strands that seemed to be some Desmids. Also, I saw several small, pill-shaped creatures that often traveled in circles or S-shapes. Often when I saw them, they were in very large groups swimming around. I presumed them to be either mosquito larvae or nematodes. The last organism I saw was also the most interesting. It was very close to the bottom and the entire time I watched it, it did not move. It was vary large with a circular shaped body. It had a tail with five or six divisions in it. And all around its body were small hairs, which I believe were cilia. When searching through the book, I think that this organism I saw was in the Coleps category of the Ciliates. All of the findings that I recorded came from the Pond Life Identification Kit.

Setting Up the MicroAquarium

Last Wednesday, we set up our aquariums using the glass tank, a stand holder, and a lid. We put our initials on multicolored dots that matched our seat and table number. We then extracted water from a water source of our choice, mine was from Tommy Schumpert Pond at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge. There is partial shade at this pond and there is some sheet runoff around the sinkhole. The coordinates for this pond are N35 57.256, W83 41.503. The plants that I added to my aquarium are Amblestegium varium from a spring at Carter's Mill Park, Fontinalis sp. from the Holston River along Sevier Highway under the I-40 bridge, and Ultracularia gibba from the south shore of Spain Lake. The only organisms that I could find were some fleas, water bugs, and a few other arthropods. Nothing was very distinct and I expect to see more movement as this project moves forward.