Aquarium Observation Friday October 24, 2010

Today I noticed a large growth in organisms, especially with larger sized organisms.  I noticed 9 different organisms this time which is a much more considering I saw about two different kinds last observation.  The first organism I saw was what I think is a Actinospaerium which was a green ball with green tentacle looking things protruding from it.  The next was a larger organism which I believe to be a Daphnia, which resembled something almost like a crab.  It seemed to feed along the edges of the aquarium, mostly around the bottom soil level.  The next organism that I observed was a pod shaped one that had hair like growth from it.  These were the same organisms that I observed last time, but were larger and more numerous than before.  I noticed many of them along the dirt and especially on the plants in which they seemed to be feeding on those.  These moved very quickly around.  The next organism that I saw was shaped like a small ball and moved in a very jolt-like way.  These were noticed in a large quantity around the bottom corner of the tank where the dirt had moved away.  The next organism that I observed was what I believe to be a Euglena, which was pod shaped and had a tail like thing.  These seemed to have a worm-like movement.  Another organism that I observed was what I believe to be a Rotifer, which moved in a twitching way and seemed to be concentrated along the side of the tank where there was some green growth beginning.  One organism that I saw looked pill form and was a vibrant darker green color, but I was only able to see one of these.  Another organism that I observed was a Cyclops, which appeared to have a moustache looking appendage on it.  The last organism I observed was the same worm-like organism that that stayed pretty well hidden in the soil at the bottom of the tank.  A thing to note is that there were several brown spots appearing on the plants, which could possible be a result of the organisms using them as a food source.  Another thing to note is that there were a few air bubbles present which show that some form of respiration is occuring whether it's from the plants going through photosynthesis or through microbial respiration.

Setting up the Micro-aquarium

Setting up the aquarium required following several steps.  The aquarium itself was put together from 3 pieces, a base, tank, and top.  These were coded with 3 colored dots placed on the left side of the tank which are used to distinguish between individual tanks.  My dots sequence ended up being red, green, red.  The next step required choosing a water source to add to the aquariums from a list provided.  The water source that I choose was from the Fountain City Duck Pond which had a corresponding number of 11(full description is provided below).  Along with adding the water, a thin layer of soil was added to the bottom of the tank which was also taken from the place of the water source.  I then added the two different plants that were provided to the tank, which upon next lab I will update this post with the name of those.  I then observed this aquarium under a microscope.  I noticed several moving objects which were very interesting.  There was one green elongated egg shaped one that kind of moved in a worm like motion.  Another organism I observed was a large, fast moving, and pod shaped.  It seemed to dart around all over the place.  The third organism that I observed was hiding in the soil.  This appeared to look and act very similar to a common earthworm, and it was much larger than the other organisms in the tank.  

11. Fountain City Duck Pond. West of Broadway at Cedar Lane. Knox Co. Knoxville TN Full sun exposure. Spring Feed Pond N36 02.087 W83 55.967 963 ft 10/10/2010