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.