Week4&5:My MicroAquarium

Well I am making up for not posting last week, sorry I had a very busy weekend. Starting with last week I noticed that there were no cyclops to be seen, except with the dead one that i found laying at the bottom. There was a slight appearance of Diatoms in my tank quite a varity of them. Diatoms are photosynthetic they are very import in aqutic life, used as a food source by other microorganisms.
Information provided by:http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edy/chromista/bacillariophyta.html
I also noticed that there were lots of Amoebas, which use their cyptoplasm help it catch food and move about. There were also an abundance of Rotifers they are multi-celluar creatures that appear to be transparent. There were also some Protists, Chilomonas I believe was the type I saw living in my aquarium. Again my Fluke was still going strong, he was just sort of hanging out at the bottom of the tank eating on the sediments like always.

Week 5:
I noticed that there were even more Rotifers then before, also it seemed an increase in mulitple Diatoms. It seemed as if they were starting to take over the whole aquarium, for they were found all over the tank(top and bottom). Also there was a sudden abundance of Cyanobacteria which is a type of alge/bacteria hybrid. It seems that along with the Diatoms, it will take over the tank. Hopefully my Fluke will continue to survive. He has thus far, while the Cyclops and other organisms I found died out; while my Fluke holds on in the new dawn of the diatoms and cyanobacteria.

Week 3: my 2nd Observation

Well this week showed many changes inside my aquarium. I noticed that there was an a sudden surplus and some creatures (some I had seen in the week before and others I had not). I was not able to take pictures this week due to a surplus of students in the lab at the same time. I did however tried to identify some of the creatures I saw this week. I believe that one of the creatures I saw was a heliozoan which literally means "sun animal" it is classified as a euglenoids. The heliozoan is a amoeba that surrounds itself with a formidable battery of needle-sharp spines that radiate from its core that act like sunbeams. These organims are found typically come from water that surrounds the edge of a pond, most likely where moss has formed.
(Information cited from: beyoundthehumaneye.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html)

Another organism I noticed is something that I thought was just smudges on the glass, but with a closer look I realized that it could be what is called chaos carolinensis which is a amoeba. The amoeba is considered one of the most primitive due its form of locomotion. By extanding cyptoplasm outward to form a pseudopodia or false feet. These are used for feeding and making oxygen.
(Information cited from: www.microscopyu.com/.../dxm1200/amoeba.html)
I noticed tons of other organisms in my aquarium however I was unable to identify them. But I will focus more on trying to pinpoint their idenity next week. Aslo I noted that I did not see any of the Cyclops that were in the aquarium last week. Corneliuys the fluke was still hanging in there, I found him where I always do; he was just hanging around the bottom feeding in the sediments there. I hope to see him still haning in there next week as well. We'll see.

Week 2: Feeding Time

Well it is the 2nd week since the birth of my microaqarium; and my 2nd look at the life inside of it. This week I noticed that there had been some changes inside the aquarium. Some of the lifeforms I had seen at the start were not present this time. However, I did see some lifeforms and proof of breeding. I did notice at least 3 different lifeforms within the aquarium; which with the help of Dr.McFarland I was able to sort of idenify them. A fluke, cyclops, and a planera were some of the micro-heroes of life in my aquarium.Before I left I dropped a food pelet into my aquarium to ensure surivial of my new pets. The food was "Atison's Betta Food" it is made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. The ingredients include: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins, and perservatives. Analysis: Crude protein 36%, Crude fat 4.5%, Crude fiber 3.5%, Moisture 8% and Ash 15%.

This little cutie to the right is a baby

Cyclops and proof that breeding is occuring within the aquarium. Top left is a possible parent of the little one.

This next picture is of the king of the aquarium in size and coolness (in my opinion), this is a fluke. I call him Cornelius, Meet Cornelius =]. He is camera shy and runs as soon as the light hits him, which explains the blurry picture.

Cornelius did however allow one good picture:

of his behind, which I think is his way of telling me to keep the light/camera off him.

Week 1: Creation of my MicroAquarium

My microaquarium was born October 14 2009. The water and sediments used for my microaquarium came from Tommy Schumpert Pond, Seven Islands Wildlife refuge. Located on Kelly Lane Koxville, Tn. The pond has partial shade exposure and sheet runoff around a sink hole. I will be making observations every week, for the next four weeks and writing what I see in a series of blogs.

Picture of Tommy Schumpert Pond: taken by Dr. Ken McFarland

When looking at my microaquarium under the microscope, I noticed many micro-lifeforms within it. There were larger ones that stayed near the bottom near the sediments and plants. There were also tiny worm like creatures that stayed in the middle and top areas of the microaquarium. I did not have a chance to identify the organisms this week during my observation. But hopefully I will begin to in as my observations continue over the next 4 weeks.