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.