Destination

Let me, again, start by apologizing for the late post. In my last observation, and my final observation, I saw a few things. First, there was far less movement than usual. I'm unsure what might have caused this, but it was much less than in the previous weeks. Despite the decrease in movement, the organisms that were still alive were quite large. Some of the rotifers in the aquarium were massive compared to their previous size.

Actinosphaerium had multiplied exponentially, visible in almost all corners of the aquarium. Cyanobacteria had also multiplied, and there were even sightings of spirogyra.

Nearing the end

During my lost observation I discovered many things. What I thought were Daphnia were, in fact, Lakane Rotifers. I also spotted some deflushia, or enclose amoeba, according to Dr. MacFarlane. Many of my organisms had grown significantly since my last post, and were quite fat. The Lakane Rotifers were the best growers, but the vorticella were also growing quickly.

I also noticed two interesting things pertaining to the invertebrates in the aquarium. First, I noticed a copepod, and secondly I saw what looked like the molted skin of an amphipod above the waterline of the aquarium.

During the time I was in the lab, the majority of my time was spent trying to learn what a particular cilliate was. Dr. MacFarlane and I spent over an hour observing it, taking photos, and filming it at a 40x objective to clearly see it's components. At the end of this time we determined that it must be a chlamydodon.

Pictures and film coming soon, I just need to get back in the lab and e-mail them to myself.


Cyanobacteria:



Chlamydodons:

Continuing down the path

First, let me apologize for the late entry. Now, onto the main event. The last observation was a good one. While the activity in my microaquarium seems to be calming down I was still able to observe several interesting things. The amphipod is still doing well, as are the many daphnia in the aquarium. The food pellet was host to a menagerie of organisms, from daphnia, to volvox, to actinosphearium.

First steps in a new world

On Thursday October 22nd I had the opportunity to observe my MicroAquarium once again. This time was far more interesting. This time I was able to see many things that were not visible the first time around.

This time I saw what believe to be didinium, which are small round organisms. The aquarium had many, many of these floating and moving around. It was also home to what appeared to be many colonies of small organisms. These colonies seemed to be parts of plants that would sometimes contain hundreds of tiny spinning creatures.

The arthropod from last week was still there, and I've learned that it is an amphipod. It has decided to create a small burrow in the silt at the bottom of the aquarium and eat any of the other organisms unfortunate enough to wander past.

Hi Ho! The adventure begins!

The first steps in our adventure into plants involved creating a MicroAquarium. These MicroAquariums consist of a tiny glass case filled with water from different water sources, a base, and a lid. We also placed silt taken from the same source into the bottom of the aquarium, and then one sample of two different plants.

For my MicroAquarium I chose water sample 8:

8. Tennessee River at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plant

8. Tennessee River at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plant. Neyland Dr. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Full sun exposure. French Broad and Holston Rivers water Sheds N35 56.722 W83 55.587 813 ft 10/11/2009

And the following plants:

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

Plant. 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.

After this initial setup we were to observe our MicroAquariums under a microscope. In mine I saw many small protists and bacterium, and even an arthropod that was visible to the naked eye.