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.