Week ending 10/25/09

It has been a little over a week since setting up the MicroAquarium, and there seems to be a little more going on than last time. Organisms were much easier to come across and seemed to be more abundant.

First organisms noticed were Rotifers. The first of which seems to be from the genus Epiphanes. It was found on Plant A. In the first picture, you get a good look at the two rotating disks at the front. This organism was identified by using “Guide to Microlife” and found on page 183.

















There was another Rotifer noticed on the same plant, yet this one seemed to glide around the plant. The organism was identified with the help of Dr. McFarland. In the below video, you can get a good look at how the Rotifer moves.

Away from the plants, near the middle of the MicroAquarium, a Vorrtacalla was found. This organism had a "halo" of cillia around it that it uses to sift food. Identification was done with the help of Dr. McFarland.

In Plant B we see a annelida Stylaria. This multicelled segmented worm was moving around the plant. It was identified on page 227 of "Guide to Microlife".

Finally, a few Amebas were spotted through out. Also, there were a few unidentified organisms was also found near the lower center of the MicroAqarium. They moved to quickly to be identified.

At the end of the lab. The organsims were feed with one "Atison's Betta Food" pellet. "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%.

At the end of the lab,

First post 10/16/09

Our experiment begins by setting up the MicroAquarium. First, the MicroAquarium was set up by color coding it to the lab time, table and seat (mine is orange, dark blue, red). Then the aquarium was filled with water. The source used for my aquarium was from Carter Mill Park at spring source. The location of the park is at Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. Tennessee (N36 01.168 W83 42.832 940 ft.). There was Partial shade exposure. The sample was taken by Dr. McFarland on 10/11/2009. The aquarium was filled with water from the bottom of the sample water to a height of about 1/3 with a small amount of sediment. The next third of the aquarium was filled with water from the middle, with the rest of the aquarium being filled with water from the surface of the sample. Then two plant samples were added to the aquarium. Plant A was a Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/11/2009. Plant B was a 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.


Looking under a microscope at 4 x magnification the only organism seen at first were a few quick moving specks across the lens. This was until I looked at one of the plants and saw a group Annelids (worms). The group had a few small quickly moving members, and one who was extremely long and girth took up a third of the lens. The Annelids where multicellular, and under magnification you could see what seemed like cardiovascular flow within them.
Under 10 x magnifications, I saw able to see three other organisms, two of which were freely moving about the water. The first was a clear, single celled organism that seemed to dart from place to place. The movement of the organism was to quick for me to get a look at how it was moving. The second was a chlorophyll green single celled organism. The organism moved almost by spinning around, yet almost as if the axis was at the back end. Organism seems to be green algae, identified by using the microscopy-uk website at http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html

The final organism was found in the spore of one of the plants. They seemed to be chlorophyll green, yet this could be because of the color of the spore. They seemed to move by spinning around, yet not sure because there was a large amount in a very small area.