11/11/2011

today was the fifth and final observation of my microaquarium.  most all organisms i found in my microaquarium were identified today with the help of Dr. McFarland.  I did not discover any new organisms living in the aquarium today, but i was able to capture images of organisms of most importance. these images are listed below:

                       

11/4/2011

today was the fourth observation of my micoraquarium.  prior in the week, a beta food pellet was added to the aquarium.  upon observing the area around the pellet, i noticed that several organisms were feeding on it.  i noticed a new, larger sized organism feeding on the pellet as well.  it appeared thick and worm-like and moved by means of several flagella.

10/28/2011

Today was the third observation of my microaquarium.  it appeared as though most all the smaller organisms that i observed last week were now dead at the bottom of the tank.  the nematodes looked to be alive, and appeared more numerous this week.  also, i observed a cluster of thin, green, stringy material forming toward the base of the tank.  it is unclear at this time what the structure is, but appears to be plant-like. 

10/21/2011

today was my second microscopic observation of my micro aquarium.  Unlike the first observation, there were several more microorganisms clearly visible under the 100x lens, as i anticipated.  most notably, the majority of the organisms were observed at or near the silt layer at the bottom of my tank.  of these organisms, several i was able to identify including, parameciums, nematodes, desmids, euglenoids, a rotifer, a couple epistylish, and some actinosphaerium.

10/12/2011

today we created our micro aquariums for biology lab.  we began by gathering the materials for our tanks which included the container, a base, and a lid.  we then filled the aquarium with water from one of 12 sources from around the knoxville area.  i chose number 10 to use in my aquarium which was water taken from a pool below a spring at Lynnhurst cemetery.  To ensure that all forms of miroorganisms were added to our tanks, we extracted water from the top and middle of the water profile, as well as sediment from the very bottom of the sample.  once the water and sediments were added, we then placed two types of aquatic vegetation to the tank.  one of the plants was named Amblestegium sp., a moss taken from a spring at Carters Mill Park.  the other was Utricularia gibba L. which is a carnivorous plant grown in the greenhouses outside the hesler biology building on campus.  after everything was added to the aquarium we were able to inspect the contents for signs of life using the microscopes. 

upon initial investigation, any definitive evidence for the presence of  microorganisms was not observed.  A few very tiny organisms appeared to be swimming in the water, but I was unable to focus on any one organism long enough for a thorough analysis of its structure.  I am hoping more will appear in the time to come.