Patterson, DJ. 1996

Smith, DG. 2001

Smith, DG. 2001

Smith, DG. 2001

Thorp, J. 1991

Rains, KG. 1996

Above are the organisms that I found throughout my microaquarium experience. The final time I went to check on my aquarium there was a large mix of living and dead organisms. Many of the Vorticella sp. had died out and both of my plants had turned brown. I finally found out that the organism in my soil was a Midge larva aswell. It will grow into an insect. The amount of rotifers had not really died down much in my water at this last viewing. I enjoyed seeing the different things that grew and died throughout this experience and it was really interesting.

Patterson DJ. 1996. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. London (UK): Manson Publishing Ltd. 223p.

Rains KG, Russell BJ. 1996. Guide to Microlife. Canada. Franklin Watts.

Smith, DG. 2001. Pennak's Freshwater Invertabrates of the United States. New York (NY): John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Thorp JH, Covich AP. 1991. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertabrates. San Diego (CA): Academic Press.



MicroAquarium

This last time when I went to check on my aquarium, I noticed the water levels had fallen some due to evaporation. There was almost no life in these parts except for a very little amount around the plants in that area. Also some fungi had begun to grow on my plants. There were hyphae forming a mycellium almost all throughtout the bottom layer of my aquarium. The fast pace at which this mycellium formed makes me think that it may soon take over the whole aquarium.

New things

This past time I checked my microaquarium, it was alot different. First of all, a food pellet was added on Friday October 1, 2011. It 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%. Also there was alot more movement than I had ever seen previously. In the water and around the plants there were alot of protista. Also the two pieces of the food pellet had alot of action going on around them. Many small organism were eating in them and around them including Epistylis and more paramecium. Also i saw some Rotifers moving around with thier foot. Also I think there may be a Philodina, which is also a rotifer, in my dirt, but I could not tell exactly. I look forward to figuring out what this organism is. Hopefully next week will also bring more exciting creatures to my MicroAquarium!

Setting up my MicroAquarium

Setting up the MicroAquarium was an interesting experience. We placed water and two plants in between to pieces that are close enough to not let the water out. We used Amblestegium 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. 10/9/2011 as plant A. For plant B we used 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.
The water I decided to use for my project was from Water pool below spring. Fountain City Park west of Broadway at Hotel Ave. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Full shade exposure Spring Feed Pond N36 02.253 W83 55.986 990 ft 10/9/2011
Looking at the aquarium under a microscope, I did not see too much movement, but I could see some organisms in and around the soil moving around.  I look forward to seeing what other organisms will be in my tiny aquarium.