MicroAquarium

  Today, November 12, 2010 I went to go observe my aquarium for the last time...or at least for the last time it counts. The insect larvae I discovered last week seems to be growing quickly. It has a lot of thing in its tummy and its always eating everytime I see it. Also, I've noticed a gathering of different organisms on the plants. Usually they are more dispersed and harder to find but today they all seemed to be in one area. There are also a few dead organisms at the bottom of my Aquarium. Its sad to see the little creatures die off so quickly but that's life, survival of the fittest! There are new algea that have been produced and that are probably producing as I type. Also my nematode has been missing in action for a while but I saw again today. It is very very long. I never knew there was so much going on in the microworld. Well you learn something everyday. Here are a few pictures of the things I have discovered:

MicroAquarium

Today, November 5, 2010 I discovered a new organism. It was fairly large and moved very quickly. Dr. McFarland identified it as a Midge, a part of the Chironomidae family. The midge is a developing insect larvae. I also saw many small Diatoms, brown cells with symmetrical sillica shells, the ones I discovered were identified as Pinnularia. 

MicroAquarium

 On friday, October 22, 2010 one beta food pellet was inserted into my microaqurium. The food was a product of "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%. My microaquarium has changed significantly since that day. The biggest change I've seen so far is the presence of algea. Today I discovered the growth of many algea which were classified as desmids. I also discovered three new organisms today which are the Tachysoma, the Euplotes sp. and the Vorticella. The Tachysoma is an organism that has hairs around its surface which allows it to consume things. My organism had some green particles in its stomach meaning it had eaten sum algea. The other organism I discovered, the Euplote, is a single celled organism that has rows of fused cilia on its body. I also discovered a Vorticella which is a genus of protozoa. It has a stalked ciliate with an inverted bell shape. It sometimes looked as if the top part of the organism was spinning rapidly in circles.

MicroAquarium

 Today, October 22, 2010 Dr. McFarland helped me discover and identify more organisms in my MicroAquarium. The first thing I observed was a small round organism with short tentacles excreting something out of its body. It was later identified as an ostrocoda. The next thing I saw was a juvenile coleps. It was sometimes hard to get a good look at it because it jumped around a lot. I will keep tabs on this organism in particular to see how it grows and matures over the next few weeks. I also saw a dead body of a more mature coleps. I then came across a free living flatworm that look liked it was a part of dance dance revolution. It wiggled and jolted its body back and forth in an odd manner. Dr. Mcfarland identified it as a turbellaria. The last thing I observed was a Tachysoma. I thought it was dead because it was being very still but I must have been wrong because when went back to find it it was in an entirely different spot than it was before.

MicroAquarium

Tuesday October 12, 2010 my classmates and I set up a MicroAquarium to observe for Botany 111 lab.  My aquarium contains contents from container number seven. I placed a small layer of soil at the bottom, filled it with water, and placed two different types of plants in the aquarium. When I looked through the microscope to observe I saw a small bug like critter swimming around. I also saw something that looked like a worm. My teacher told me it was a nematode.