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.