Day 8

There had been a lot of change to the microaquarium the past week.  The aquarium was observed under a light microscope.  There were several different types of the organisms seen, some of which pictures were taken of.  Also noticed in the aquarium was the small production of air bubbles, meaning something has been producing some kind of gas in the tank.

The first major organism spotted in the tank was an Annelida.  The specific species has yet to be determined, but will be after a bit of research.  This species was spotted along the bottom of the tank and moved very quickly, however several good pictures were managed.

Annelida (Rainis and Russell 1996)

All over the tank, threadlike cyanobacteria was seen, along with non-moving diatoms.  The next major species spotted was Philodina.  Several of these organisms were congregated upon one of the plants.  Because they remain in the same location, a video was also made of this species.

Philodina (Rundle et al. 2002)

The next species seen swimming about was that of Vorticella.  This one moved quite quickly, but I finally managed a good picture.

Vorticella (Thorp and Covich 2010)

Last but not least, Chydoridae was spotted eating away on one of the plants.  He kept on moving up and down this one plant.

Chydoridae (Rundle et al. 2002)

___________________________________________

Rainis, KG and Russell, BJ. 1996. Guide to Microlife. Danbury (CT): Franklin Watts.

Rundle, SD, Robertson, AL, Schmid-Araya, JM. 2002. Freshwater Meiofauna Biology and Ecology. Leiden: Backhuys Publishers.

Thorp, JH and Covich, AP. 2010. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates.  Boston (MA): Elsevier Academic Press.

Day 1

Initial setup

Water source used was:

5. Meads Quarry, Island Home Ave

Meads Quarry, Island Home Ave, 

Knox Co. Tennessee 

Partial shade exposure Rock Quarry 

N35 57.162 W83 51.960 880 10/10/2010

McFarland K. 2010. Botany 111 2010. [Online]. Available from: http://botany1112010.blogspot.com/. Accessed 2010 October 12.

A pipet was used to extract water from a container in the lab containing water and sediment from this source.  An extraction was made which contained water and substrate from the bottom, middle, and top layer of the sample.  These extractions were used to fill the MicroAquarium tank.  Also put into the tank were two different plants to help aid in oxygen production in the tank.

Plant A

Fontinalis sp. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/10/2010 

Plant B

Utricularia gibba 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.

McFarland K. 2010. Botany 111 2010. [Online]. Available from: http://botany1112010.blogspot.com/. Accessed 2010 October 12.  

Upon initial setup, the tank was put underneath a microscope where several different types of organisms were observed at different levels of the tank.

Day 1: After setup