Fifth and Final Observation

This week in my MicroAquarium, I saw some great stuff. Microstuff. 

Epilaxus sp. (Patterson p. 141 figure 311)

Pediastrum sp. (Canter-Lund p. 30 figure 31)

These guys were everywhere, on every level of the water.

Pinnularia sp. (Canter-Lund p. 119 figure 207)

Merismopedia sp. (Forest p. 373 figure 574)

I found this guy close to the dirt in the bottom of my MicroAquarium, and this was the only one (that I found, at least).

     

Water Mite (Rainis p. 240)

Notosolenus sp. (Patterson p. 54 figure 80)

I am so proud of my blanket algae, and the Pediastrum is also pretty special. This is my last observation post. Goodbye, my MicroFriends. 

Observation the Fourth

Here's what I found in my MicroAquarium this week, lots of cool stuff:
Spirogyra (Lund p.109 figure 193)

Difflugia (Patterson p. 95 figure 186)

Euplotes (Patterson p. 124 figure 261)

I also found the Euplotes while dividing:

Litnotus

I also found a diatoms of the genus Navicula, some Flagellaria, and an insect larvae trapped in the bottom corner of the MicroAquarium. The  larvae could be seen clearly without a microscope. 

Bibliography

Patterson, D.J. 2003. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa: a color guide. 2nd ed. ASM Press. 223 pages.

Rainis, K.G. and Russell, B.J. 1996. A Guide to Microlife. Frank Watts. 287 pages.

Forest, H.S. 1954. Handbook of Algae. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. 467 pages.

Canter-Lund, H. 1995. Freshwater Algae: their microscopic world explored. Illustrated edition. Bio press Limited. 360 pages.

Third MicroAquarium Observation

This past week in my MicroAquarium, I saw a lot of microlife, and even got some pictures. I was able to identify the following creatures:

Closterium sp., found in free water close to the dirt

Cyclidium and Bodo swarming the new food pellet

an analid worm called Chaetogaster sp.

I also found some unidentified cyano bacteria, a Lecane rotifer, and a Water Mite (Acarina).

On 10/25/13, Dr. McFarland added one food pellet to my MicroAquarium. The food pellet was  "Atison's Betta Food" 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% (McFarland, 2013).All information on the food pellet is provided by Dr. Mcfarland in the Botany 111 Fall 2013 blog under the blog post "Beta Food Pellet added to each MicroAquarium." http://botany1112013.blogspot.com/

To identify the Cyclidium, Dr. McFarland and I used D.J. Patterson's "Free-Living Fresh Water Protozoa."

Plants in my MicroAquarium

A little update, something I've left out before is what two plants are in my MicroAquarium. Fontinalis sp. (the fuzzy plant) and Utricularia gibba L. (the flowering plant). Fontinalis is a moss that was collected from the Holston River along John Sevier Hwy under I 40 Bridge with partial shade exposure. The Utricularia gibba L. is a flowering and carnivorous plant originally from the South shore of Spain Lake on Camp Bella Air Rd. It was grown outside of the greenhouse of the Hesler Biology Building in water tanks at the University of Tennessee. All of this information on these plants comes from the "Mother Blog" by Dr. Ken McFarland. it can be found at http://botany1112013.blogspot.com/ under the post "Plants Added to MicroAquarium."

Observation #2

My MicroAquarium has a lot of life in it, and it's harder than I thought to identify all of it. Here's what I've seen so far:
Flatworm: (Platyhulminthes) Found on the fuzzy of the rwo plants in the middle water, this flatworm has a defined head. I positively ID'd it using Pennak's "Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the U.S."
Spirostomum: (a Ciliate) Found in the dirt at the bottom. I positively ID'd it using Rainis's "Guide to Microlife."
Euglena: Found near both soil and plants. It's dark green,with an open spot in the center, with a red dot in the "head." It moves slowly, and folds over itself to change direction.  Dr. McFarland identified that one for me, and I read up on it in various books.

An Introduction to My MicroAquarium

During class time this past Tuesday (10/15/22) we set up our MicroAquariums. The water I used to create my MicroAquarium was collected from French Broad River in Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge. The MicroAquariums provided have three parts; a large enclosed slide (or little "tank"), a base, and a slide-on lid. I filled the tank with water from the bottom, the middle, and the surface of the container of water provided. The bottom includes a layer of dirt, so the bottom of my MicroAquarium has about 1.5 mm of dirt from the bottom of the French Broads River. Once I had included water from all levels of the holding container, I added 2 types of plants to the tank. I wasn't able to observe much this week, but supposedly there will be more to see once all the little organisms get settled in their new home.

Every week, I will be observing the MicroAquarium and blogging about the microorganisms I observe!