Week Five: THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!

So, it's crazy to think that observations for my blog are coming to an end, but, truth is...THEY ARE!!!

In this last blog, I have posted tons of remaining pictures that have come from my microaquarium. They include flatworms, amoeba, and even some unidentifiable organisms. To the left is a picture of my Centropyxis sp. A Centropyxis is a type of amoeba that has already been shelled, and usually seems brown to yellow in color. To the right is a picture of one of the two flatworrms that I had in microaquarium of the Stenostomum sp. After researching more into this organism, it has a very useful existence for my aquarium. Flatworms are known to feed off of debris in freshwater systems as well as rotifers, protozoa, and other smaller Stenostomum sp.

Citations:
1. Buonanno F (2005) Variations in the efficiency of ciliate extrusomal toxins against a common ciliate predator, the catenulid Stenostomum sphagnetorum. Ital J Zool 72: 293–295

Week Four: A New Awakening!

Wow! So I finally think that my microaquarium has finally come to life!!! In the prior weeks, I had been seeing the same events going on in my microaquarium: nematodes, paramecium and rotifers. To the left are the pictures of the microorganisms that I have seen in the past. Top left is a Nematode and below that is a rotifer, which is of the Euchlanis sp.1 But low and behold: this week I came back and found a plethra of new different microbes and bacterium! One of the first things that I saw was a Coleochaete sp. with the help of Dr. McFarland.2 The coleochate sp. are a type of green algae that are haploid and reproduce asexually in many freshwater sources around the world.3 To the left are two different pictures of two different species of this algae from Coleochaetaceae family. In addition to that, I was also able to discover and get a better glimpse of my paramecium as well. The final picture of this located at the bottom.
file:///C:/Users/Whitney/Pictures/BIO/Paramecium.Raphidocystis


Citations:
1. Patterson, D J. 2009. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press. 206 p.

2. McFarland, Kenneth.  2010 November 10. Head of biology research labs.

3. Pennak R W. 1989. Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States: 
Protozoa to Molluska 3rd Edition. New York, NY: New Life Books Press. 
600 p.  

Week Three: And...

Low and behold, it is now the third week and I can already tell a major difference in my aquarium! There are numerous of tiny paramecium floating and weaving their way around my aquarium, as well as a few Euplotes--another type of protozoa with cilia attached. Therefore, I had to reduce the amount of light that I was using so that they would not move out of my range of view. I was also able to find an organism that I believe to be a peranema. It is a type of protozoa with flagella attached to it. There was also another unidentifiable object that I had, that I believe to have been a Midge, a type of insect larvae.

Week Two Continued...

Dr. McFarland sent us an email about our Beta Food that was added to our microaquariums after I made my last post. Here is the information about the additives that were included in the aquarium.  "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%.

Week Two: Observations

Week two already, and time to make my first observations since beginning this project outside of the initial setup. I have already noticed several changes to my microaquarium, being that there are different organisms and more movement in the microaquarium. One of the first things that I noticed was Vorticella. Dr. McFarland helped me to identify this. This organism is a protozoa that has a very vaselike structure with cilia attached to it. I also noticed a difflugia. This had a very unique shape to it. It almost looked like a spore, with the hole taken out of it. Below, I have attached all of the organisms that I have discovered as well as a picture of my microaquarium.

First week--MicroAquarium Setup

This past Tuesday (October 12, 2010), I set up my MicroAquarium for my term project. I was given a glass tank, a stand holder, and lid. I then placed three colored dots on the top left corner of the tank: one for my lab section (red), one for my lab table (blue), and the other for my seat (blue). I then proceeded to fill 1/3 of the tank with mostly water--from the bottom, top and middle layers of the source--and a little dirt at the bottom from water source 4, which is from the Holston River along John Sevier Hwy under the I-40 Bridge here in Knoxville, TN. Also in my tank, I placed one plant source and an algae source, so that any living organism found in my microaquarium could survive. Above is a photo courtesy of Ken McFarland of where my source was taken from.

After setting up my microaquarium, I briefly looked at it under a microscope to look for any living organisms and to get familiar with what was going on in the aquarium. Until the end of November, I will periodically checking on my microaquarium and looking for the following items: living/non living organisms, single-celled and/or multi cellular organisms, chlorophyll green and non-green organisms, habitat occurrences, and an overall trend. I will update this blog at least once a week to record my observations, notes and other thoughts relating to this project.

SOURCE: McFarland, Ken. "Botany 111 2010". http://botany1112010.blogspot.com/ 4 October, 2010. Web.