Week #5 MicroAquarium™ Final Observation

Water source: The water I chose for my MicroAquarium™ was drawn from the Holston River along John Sevier Hwy under I 40 Bridge Partial shade exposure Holston River water Shed N36 00.527 W83 49.549 823 ft 10/9/2011. (McFarland, 2012)

This was our final observation week for our MicroAquariums™. Compared to the first week, there was definitely an increase in the amount of organisms in the aquarium. These organisms vary in size, from too small to identify, to very large. The organisms were mostly of the variety shown in previous blogs. There was a high increase in water molds around the plants, and around the remenants of the food pellet paced in the aquarium a few weeks ago (McFarland 2012) there was a multitude of organisms. I did not take any photos this week although I did find some diatoms that I had not previously seen, some were alive, while others were not as was indicated by their clear drum-like structure. (This clear nature represents a loss of chlorophyll in the organism.) (Pennak 1989).

This was overall a very good and successful experiment, and it was interesting to see the growth and changes of the aquarium over time.  

Bibliography: 

1. McFarland K. 2012. Botany 111 Fall. [internet]. September 2012. Available from: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com/

2. Pennak, R. W. (1989). Fresh-water invertebrates of the united states : protozoa to mollusca. New York.

Week #4 MicroAquarium™ Observation

Water source: The water I chose for my MicroAquarium™ was drawn from the Holston River along John Sevier Hwy under I 40 Bridge Partial shade exposure Holston River water Shed N36 00.527 W83 49.549 823 ft 10/9/2011. (McFarland, 2012)

This week in lab, just like the last few weeks, we surveyed our MicroAquarium™ under a microscope to see what changes had taken place in the aquarium over the course of the week. We searched for different organisms and recorded our finds. After we were done, we filled the MicroAquarium™ with a small amount of water to replace what had evaporated.

Two weeks ago a food pellet was put in each of the MicroAquariums™ to increase the growth and production rate of the organisms in the aquariums. The type of food pellet used 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, 2012).

Observations:

There appeared to be an increase in the number of organisms and the amount of activity in my MicroAquarium™ this week. Although the increase was slight enough to suggest that the population growth in the aquarium may be leveling out, perhaps on its way to rapid ecological decline.

Although I saw many different organisms through the microscope this week, most of them were organisms that I had already found and recorded in my blogs. I did manage to obtain a decent picture of one new organism (Fig.1), and a video of a very fast moving flagellate with two flagella (Video 1). 

Fig. 1) Mayorella sp. (Patterson, 1998).  

The above figure is a photo of an amoeba of the Mayorella species. Amoeba are generally shapeless and are unicellular organisms. They feed on plankton and diatoms in the surrounding water and digest them with enzymes present in the amoeba. (Patterson, 1998). 

 Video 1) Flagellate (Patterson, 1998)

The above video is a video of a flagellate I found in my aquarium. While it is unknown exactly what kind of flagellate it is, it is an interesting organism in that it has two flagella and moves with very spastic movements. Flagellates are generally eukaryotic organisms with micro-tubule supported flagella. (Patterson, 1998). 

Bibliography: 

1. McFarland K. 2012. Botany 111 Fall. [internet]. September 2012. Available from: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com/ 

2. Patterson, D.J. (1998) Free-living freshwater protozoa: a colour guide: protozoa to mollusca: New York: Wiley

Week #3 MicroAquarium™ Observation

Water source: The water I chose for my MicroAquarium™ was drawn from the Holston River along John Sevier Hwy under I 40 Bridge Partial shade exposure Holston River water Shed N36 00.527 W83 49.549 823 ft 10/9/2011. (McFarland, 2012) 

After last week’s observations were complete, a food pellet was put in each of the MicroAquariums™ to increase the growth and production rate of the organisms in the aquariums. The type of food pellet used 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, 2012).

Observations: The first thing I did when viewing my MicroAquarium™ was to check in a particular are of the aquarium to see if I could find one of the stationary organisms found last week, the limias rotifer. (Pennak, 1989: fig. 42 J) Just to recap from last week’s blog, this particular rotifer lives in a tube it builds for itself called a corona that it collapses into when aggravated. It also has tiny hairs that appear to be spinning around the organism but are in fact simply moving very quickly in individual circles.(Patterson, 1998). These features are demonstrated in the video bellow. Within the first few seconds the rotifer retreats into it's shell- like structure and then slowly emerges and resumes it's function throughout the rest of the video.

Video.1  Limnias sp. (Pennak, 1989 )

(This organism was first viewed on Oct. 24, 2012)

 Unfortunately, when I went back to check on the rotifer, it had died. All that was left of the organism was its corona as seen in the photo below. 

Fig.1  Limnias sp. (Pennak, 1989 )

(This organism was first viewed on Oct. 24, 2012)

Overall, there was definitely an increase in the number and activity of the organisms in my MicroAquarium™ compared to last week. This is no doubt the work of the food pellet added to it after last week’s observations. This increase allowed for some new discoveries in the inhabitants my aquarium, such as the organisms seen in the photos below. 

Fig.2  Philodina sp. (Pennak, 1989: p.220 )

(This organism was first viewed on Nov. 1, 2012)

This is another rotifer of the Philodina species. As you can see it is stationary as was the limnias rotifer.  

Fig.3 Lecane sp. (Pennak, 1989: p.211 )

(This organism was first viewed on Nov. 1, 2012) 

 The above image is a photo of the Lecane Rotifer. Lecanes are eukaryotic organisms.They move through the use of hair-like cilia that is also used to propell food into the organisms mouth. (Egmond).  

Fig.3 Diatom. (Pennak, 1989)

(This organism was first viewed on Nov. 1, 2012) 

Diatoms are a unicellular group of algae and are considered to be a type of phytoplankton. They are encased in a cell wall of cilica and are producers within the environment (Pennak). 

Bibliography:

1. Egmond, W. V. (n.d.). Microscopy-UK Micscape Microscopy and Microscopes Magazine. Rotifers. Retrieved November 4, 2012, from http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/wimsmall/rotidr.html

2. McFarland K. 2012. Botany 111 Fall. [internet]. September 2012. Available from: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com/

 

3. Patterson, D.J. (1998) Free-living freshwater protozoa: a colour guide: protozoa to mollusca: New York: Wiley 

4. Pennak, R. W. (1989). Fresh-water invertebrates of the United States: protozoa to mollusca. New York: Wiley