The End

This is my last observation and blog post on my micro aquarium project. It seems fitting that my last post coincides with the least amount of activity I have observed and the fewest number of micro organisms. This is also the first time I have not seen anything new, except dead bodies of micro organisms that I have already observed. The picture below shows the remains of an ostracod with a still living cyclops beside it. There were numerous remains scattered across the micro aquarium. There were a few paramecium still swimming around but the food pellet shown in previous posts is now completely gone.



The only thing that still seems to be as numerous are the cyclops. As seen in the picture above and in the one below. The picture below shows another female with egg sacs on the sides, so it seems their numbers will continue and there will be food provided by the corpses of the other organisms that have died.

Well I have to say I have seen things that I never knew existed, especially in everyday water sources. I thought the project was fun and I learned a lot, so I am grateful for the opportunity. Although, I will definitely think twice before drinking out of a stream or spring the next time I go camping or hiking.

On my third week of observing my micro aquarium there are still new surprises. With the naked eye tiny specks can be seen moving all over, but there seems to be less larger micro organisms like seed shrimp present. I think I got some good pictures this week and I will describe them below.

Here is a good close up picture of paramecium, which are still very numerous in the micro aquarium.

The new discovery this week was this algae which was not present last week and was visible in many different parts of the aquarium. This picture is of a Coleochaete Irregularis, a type of colonial algae. This was determined from the "Handbook of Algae" by Herman Silva Forest, The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville 1954. This particular information is from page 89, figure 86. I also happened to get a cyclops in the juvenile stage in the same picture.

This picture is a cyclops in the juvenile stage, last weeks post had a pic of a female cyclops with egg filled sacs on the sides. This could be a product of one of those eggs but I cannot be certain. It is still very neat to see them in their different stages I think.

The picture above is what is left of the food pellet, as you can see holes have been eaten through it and there are still lots of paramecium and ostracods feeding.

I did my third observation on 10-27-09 and it is also the third week of my micro aquarium. The activity has increased dramatically, especially around the food pellet and plants."Atison's Betta Food" is 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%. There are new organisms that I have not noticed before. They are called paramecium, and they are all over the place, possibly numbering in the hundreds. I have included a video of them around a food pellet at the bottom of this post.

All of this new activity can be seen with the naked eye, the paramecium appear as just tiny specks, and the seed shrimp and ostracods being slightly larger. The microscope really revealed how much things have changed in a week. I beleive I could take a picture of any part of the micro aquarium and capture something new that I have not seen.



With a lot of effort, because they move so quickly, I was finally able to get a picture of a cyclops, which you see above. This one is a female, the green looking sacs on the side are eggs. Below you can see a picture of an ostracod and a seed shrimp, both of which are more numerous than in the previous two weeks.

Below is the paramecium feeding from the food pellet, this same activity can be seen around the plants as well.

A week after setting up my micro aquarium I returned to do another observation on 10-20-09. Lots of things have changed just from looking at it with the naked eye. First the two largest organisms thought to be seed shrimp are dead, both are floating at the top of the micro aquarium. Second there seems to be a lot more activity, numerous small organisms can be seen swimming all over.

With the microscope I observed a cyclops, numerous ostracods that seemed to be feeding or going through the soil at the bottom of the micro aquarium. I observed one of the ostracods eating a smaller organism, or at least that is what I thought was happening. I was also able to observe an amoeba and get a couple of pictures under different magnifications, which are the pictures you see above.

With the help of a reference book Free Living Freshwater Protozoa A Colorful Guide by D.J. Patterson, published in 1992 and the website Tree of Life Web Project I was able to identify it as Difflugia Corona. Here is a link if you would like to check it out at http://tolweb.org/difflugia/124487

1st. Day - Setup

The water source for my microaquarium is # 11, the Fountain City duck pond. The duck pond is located in Knoxville, TN west of Broadway at Cedar Lane. It is a spring fed pond with full sun exposure. The sample was taken on 10/12/2009 and was added to my microaquarium on 10/13/2009.

The setup of the microaquarium started with getting dirt fron the bottom of my water sample and adding it in, then filling it with water from the sample. The next step was adding two different types of plants, labled A and B. Plant A . Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Lindb. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/11/2009Plant B. Utricularia vulgaris L. Flowering, and Plant B. Utricularia gibba L. A carnivous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN.

My first observation showed 3 small organisms swimming around, this was seen with the naked eye, no microscope was needed. Next I placed my microaquarium under the microscope but the organisms were moving too fast for me to focus on them. I caught a glimpse of one and it was thought to be a seed shrimp, but I am not certain untill I can get a better look under the microscope.