Week 5 (Final week)

So this is the final week for our research projects. My microaquarium I learned evaporates water all the time and as a result the TA's or Professors fill up the aquariums every week. So that solved that mystery. Luckily this week my aquarium was bustling with activity despite a few inactive weeks. The water was quite clearer and as a result I was able to see much more. The algae, first off, was clean compared to the past few weeks where the sacs had been full of dead organisms. My theory on this is that the parasites ate all of the organisms' remains and cleaned out the sacs and water. There were many tiny organisms swimming around inside the different layers of water and were feeding off the sediment and each other. What I found to be really cool is that I noticed the Rhizoids forming from the algae and it was interesting since we just now learned about them in lecture. It is really cool to see them up close as compared to just sitting in lecture hearing about them. The Midge and cyclops were also there and had changed quite a bit from the past few weeks. The Midge had shed its exoskeleton (which I found) and was a clearer color. I took a picture of him feeding on sediment (as you can see in the picture). It had also grown considerably and no longer fully fit in camera view. The cyclops was very active this week and it took me much time to catch up to and take a picture of it. I learned it reacts to the light from the microscope and as a result it fled when I got it in view. Physically I did not notice much change in the cyclops except that it was very active this week.

Sadly this is the last week and I am disappointed. It has been an awesome and interesting learning experience for me. I did not ever think about the tiny organisms that inhabit the water and sediment all over the place and invisible to the naked eye. Next time I jump in a creek I expect the first thing I think about will be "I wonder what organisms are in this one."

Week 4 (Changes)

Today was a sad day when I got to my Microaquarium. Whether by human error, evaporation or some other unfortunate event, half of the water in my project was gone. Meaning, some of the organisms in my aquarium were missing. I did however find my main two organisms, the Cyclops and Midge. Several things had changed since last week but mainly everything was the same as it usually is. For one, there were more Cyclopses since last week and they were much bigger, in fact with my naked eye I could see them moving around in the water. Two, the Midge had obviously gotten much bigger, since it is growing at a great rate ever since I started the project. Three, a majority of my water was missing which is really making me wonder what happened.

Many things have also stayed the same for the most part. Water clarity is still good, sediment is at a low level but still remains, and the algae are alive and well. The one alga has continued to catch and kill organisms and the parasites are still eating away at the dead ones. There is not much else to report since the loss of water sort of threw everything into disarray. I am missing a majority of my smaller organisms and I am thinking the loss of those feeder organisms may slow down the growth process in my aquarium.

Week 3 (Changes)

This week I noticed significant changes in my MicroAquarium. Many organisms have gotten bigger and are much more easily recognized now. Two of the more prominent organisms that have dominated the MicroA are the Chironomidae (Midge) and Cyclops. The chironomidae is definitely the dominant organism in the Control. It seems to be omnivorous, eating everything from sediment to other organisms such as the cyclops. It is a wormlike larvae and is clearish yellow in detail (see attached pictures). I have attached pictures of the chironomidae eating sediment and a dead cyclops body. Also in the aquarium are smaller organisms that serve mainly as a feeding mechanism for larger organisms. Plant 2 has been catching many of the smaller organisms and has many full sacs in which now other organisms have come in and are eating the dead bodies (see picture). The water is still very clear and the sediment is reduced slightly. Mainly everything else is still the same as normal from week 1. See below for Sources of information for the above quoted organisms.

Chironomidae, Figure 1384. Ward and Whipple. Fresh-Water Biology. John Whiley and Sons, Inc. New York; 1918.

Cyclops, Figure 1235. Ward and Whipple. Fresh- Water Biology. John Whiley and Sons, Inc. New York; 1918.

Week 2 (Growth)

This week I noticed some definite changes in my MicroAquarium. To start with, the water was considerably clearer. Now the water I used was from #7, which is from the "Pond at University of Tennessee Hospital. Cherokee Trail. Knox Co. Knoxville TN Full sun exposure. Storm sewer sediment pond N35 56.305 W83 56.717 850 ft 10/11/2009." The second thing I noticed was that the midge larvae from the week before had become fewer and bigger. The ones that I could find were also not active at the time. Then I noticed that many more smaller clear like organisms had appeared in the water and were eating all different types of sediment. Plant B had eaten many of the organisms because I noticed the sacs on the plant were large and purple color inside. Finally I fed the aquarium "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%." Included with this post is a picture of the aquarium from the outside showing the clearer water and less sediment.

Week 1 (Set up)

Today, Wednesday Oct. 14, I set up my microaquarium project in lab. First I took my glass slide and filled it with sediment from the bottom of the #7 water container. Then I added water, two different types of plant samples, and capped it off with water. I put the slide under the microscope and examined it. The first thing I noticed was the sediment and what was in it. gliding around inside the sediment was a clear wormlike insect larva that Dr. Mcfarland described as what he thought was a Midge. It was eating the sediment and slowing writhing around. I then moved the slide over to examine the other parts of the microaquarium. Looking at the plants and water I noticed smaller organisms moving around inside the layers of water. There was several different types of organisms but the ones that stood out most were a water mite and a some sort of interesting creature with a bright red dot in its center. I have added a picture of my microaquarium (above) as a whole from my cell phone and I will have detailed photos later.