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.