Works Cited

D.J. Patterson, Free-living Freshwater Protozoa A Colour Guide. 1996 Manson Publishing Ltd.

Douglass Grant Smith, Pennak's Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States Fourth Edition, Porifera to Crustacea. 2001 John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Final Observation

Today I observed my MicroAquarium for the last time.  The organisms in the aquarium have increased again, most of them are still towards the top of the tank feeding.  The plants show definite signs of being eaten, and there is plant and dirt debris all over the place throughout the aquarium.  Towards the bottom of the aquarium several more of the same fungi have appeared and many dead organisms can be seen barely sticking out of the dirt. It looks like new plants of the same type already in the aquarium have started to grow out of the dirt on the bottom.  An Ostracoda (seed shrimp) which i had found earlier in the week has grown about twice the size it was when i first saw it.  Ostracoda move around by means of beating movements of the first and second antennae, and feed mostly on bacteria, molds, and algae (Smith 2001).  While watching this little guy, he was moving rapidly all around the aquarium, and feeding often.  I couldn't locate any new organisms but the ones that I've been seeing have increased in great number.

Third Observation

I observed my MicroAquarium November 4th and it was teaming with action.  The organisms are moving around quite a bit at the top, feeding from the plant parts and mosses, and collecting organic matter.  There are many stationary organisms as well around the middle and bottom of the aquarium. The number of organisms have increased many times over, and I've found a few new organisms roaming around.

Here is a picture of a Vorticella, they are small unicellular protists that move around using a long hair like cilia (Patterson 1996).  These were hanging out around the bottom of the aquarium and collecting bits of organic matter.

I only found a couple of these Arcella around the bottom of the aquarium.  Arcella are a type of amoeba that move around with finger like structures called pseudopods and feed on unicellular green algae or small protozoa (Patterson 1996).  I actually saw one munching on a diatom but couldn't get a good picture of it.

Here's a picture of a Diatom, There were several of these unicellular organisms all throughout the aquarium.  They are non-motile, and Diatoms have chlorophyll which use energy to make food for themselves (Patterson 1996).

Second Observation

Today I observed my MicroAquarium Which had one Beta food pellet inserted on Friday October, 21.  There was quite a bit more activity in the Aquarium.  The filaments growing from the moss and plant parts have now spread across the entire aquarium all intertwined. Around the food pellet and the top of the aquarium there are several paramecium and a few Euchlanis protozoa collecting the food.

Here's a picture of one Euchlanis (rotifer) I found around the middle of the aquarium feeding on some smaller microorganisms and debris.  The Euchlanis have two little pointy feet with which they use to propel them through the water (Smith 2001).


Food pellet supplied by: "Atison's Betta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. Analysis: Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%.

First observation

Today I observed my MicroAquarium in the lab.  There were definitely signs of growth on the plant parts, little filament like structures have started to grow.  Paramecium have showed up, and they are moving around and are collecting things and eating.  Not as much action in my aquarium as I would've hoped to see, but I predict my second observation to be a little more exciting.

Here's a picture of a couple paramecium eating.  Paramecium are unicellular microbial organisms that move around using cilia.  The cilia pulse rhythmically pushing the Paramecium in whatever direction it's trying to go (Patterson 1996).

Setting up my MicroAquarium

On Tuesday October 11th I set up my MicroAquarium in my lab section.  Using a pipet I extracted mud and water from the bowl containing contents from a water pool in Lynnhurst Cemetery off of Adair Drive. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Partial shade exposure Spring Feed Pond N36 01.357 W83 55.731 958 ft 10/9/2011.  Then I stuffed some plant parts/mosses, provided by the lab instructor, into the microaquarium.  Now all there is to do is wait and observe the growth of organisms in my aquarium.