Week 5

Since my last observation there has been even more of an increase in organisms. Inevitably, there is also an increased of dead organisms. The microaquarium seems more busy, and also slightly more messy. There is also an increase in the cyanobacteria that was spreading across my aquarium last week

Week 4

Here is a video of Litonotus sp. that I found in my microaquarium. There were several of these little guys. This one appeared slightly different than the others because it had recently eaten, and you can see its meal in its stomach. Another interesting thing to notice is the vacuole that opens and closes.

Here is a pretty good picture of the Litonotus sp. featured in the video above. You can see that there are several cilia along its long neck. In this image its vacuole is open.

Patterson, D.J. 2003. Free-living freshwater protozoa: a colour guide. Washington, DC: ASM Press. 132-133 p. 

Week 3

Since last observing my microaquarium, a thin layer of filamentous algae has appeared. The algae is primarily under the plant at the top, and it is denser towards the bottom of the aquarium. The number of organisms has increased, and there are a few dead organisms in the bottom layer of the tank. 


On Friday October 21, 2011 "ONE" Beta Food Pellet was inserted into my microaquarium. The product is named "Atison's Betta Food," and is made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients include: 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%.

Week 2

With Dr. McFarland's help I discovered Vorticella sp. in my microaquarium.

Below is an image of the specimen. Notice that it is open to "eat" organisms; also notice the lines at the top, cilia and flagella, that allow this organism to move.  I discovered that the organism was also timid, tapping the microaquarium resulted it hiding in some of the plant life. After a few seconds, it would make its way out, extend itself, and then open at the top

Below is the video I was able to capture of it

Arbur, Rosemarie. Tale of the telotroch. Microscopy UK [Internet]. 2002 [cited 2011 November 14]. Available from: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/

Week 1

To set up this project, Dr. McFarland and I went to the tanks outside of Hessler.  I'm afraid I didn't set my microaquarium up with the rest of the group, so I'm not sure which sources correspond with these tanks. He added the water, and then added 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]. I then went to the lab to explore this new habitat with a microscope.