Observation 5 11/12/13

I expected my MicroAquarium to show some dead species today. Most people in my lab have found dead organisms in their aquariums. During my observation I found that all the organisms were flourishing. The Diatoms, Colpidiums, Rotifers, Elpaxis, and Litonotus were all growing in numbers and size. Using the table microscope, you could not move anywhere without seeing some kind of organism; however, I did not find any new organisms in my aquarium. The bacteria were all throughout and the green plants were still surviving in the MicroAquarium also. My MicroAquarium seemed to hold a good environment for all the organisms that lived in it during these 4-5 weeks. The Tennessee River has some interesting creatures living in it that I would have never known existed without my MicroAquarium.

Observation 4
11/7/13

This weeks observation the MicroAquarium was full of many different and new organisms. Throughout the whole tank organisms were moving around. The Colpidium, Flagella, and Diatoms seemed to be prospering as there was many of those organisms throughout the tank. The two new organisms I found this week include Epalxis (Figure 1.) and Litonotus (Figure 2.). The Epalxis were everywhere in my MicroAquarium and last week they were no where to be found. The organisms were spread out and seemed bigger in size. The Beta food was gone and I feel like next week some of the organisms may start to die. Algae and Bacteria were also throughout the whole MicroAquarium. Week 5 observations should show many changes, as this week's changes were tremendous. 

Figure 1. (Patterson 1996)

Figure 2. (Patterson 1996)

11/7/13 
Bibliography

Donner, Josef. 1966. Rotifers. London and New York (NY): Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd. 80 p.

Patterson D.J. 1996. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. London. Manson Publishing Ltd. 223 p.

Prescott, G.W. 1964. The Freshwater Algae. Dubuque, Iowa. WM.C. Brown Company Publishers. 272 p.

Observation 3. 11/3/13

My third observation of my MicroAquarium proved to be the most active of all. Dr. McFarland inserted Beta food into our aquariums to see how it would influence the activity of organisms. This aquarium observation proved to be the most active the aquarium has been yet. Colpidiums, Flagella, Diatoms, and the overall population of all the organisms was the most I have seen in my aquarium. Most of the activity was around the Beta food flake where you could find many different organisms feeding. The one organism I did find to be increasing it's population towards the bottom of the tank was the Diatom (Figure 1.). The Diatom in my tank is named Fragilaria sp. With all of these organisms around my tank, I do not know if my tank can become more diversified and full of so many different organisms. Week 4 of my observations will hopefully bring many organisms I have not seen yet.

                                         Figure 1. (Prescott 1964)
Bibliography

Prescott, G.W. 1964. The Freshwater Algae. Dubuque, Iowa. WM.C. Brown Company Publishers. 272 p.

Observation 2. 10/22/13

This observation of my MicroAquarium had many different things going on. In the past observation there was little action, and more stationary organisms. This time I had numerous active organisms in my MicroAquarium. Most of the organisms I found were in the lower part of my tank. It seemed there was some nesting in the soil maybe. Some of the organisms I identified were Flagella, Colpidium, and Diatoms. The Flagella moved around rapidly in somewhat of a circular motion and there was high densities of them. The Colpidium (Figure 1.) moved around at a slower pace and there was fewer of them compared to the Flagella. The Diatoms were all around the tank but did not move. Week two of my MicroAquarium proved to be more active and week three observations should be even more active.

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Figure 1. (Patterson 1996)

Bibliography

Patterson D.J. 1996. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. London. Manson Publishing Ltd. 223 p.

First Observation and Setup 10/16/13

When first arriving into lab, Dr. McFarland gave us our tank, stand, and lid for the MicroAquarium project. We then color coded our tanks for ease of identification during the five week project. The first step in setting up my MicroAquarium tank was selecting a water source. My water source is (8) Tennessee River at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plant. Next, I used a pipette to receive water  from all depths and parts of the sample. I also used the pipette to extract some soil from the sample to put in my MicroAquarium. Utricularia gibba L. and Fontinalis sp. were put in small amounts next to provide oxygen for the aquarium. Upon completion of these steps, I viewed my MicroAquarium under the microscope. At first glance I did not notice much movement but after looking around I came across a Rotifer. The Rotifer I found was Asplanchna sp.(Fig.1).

Fig. 1 (Donner 1966)

There was not many other organisms I could find. I will look into it again next week during our second lab. 

Bibliography

Donner, Josef. 1966. Rotifers. London and New York (NY): Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd. 80 p.