Microaquarium 5

Well the time has finally arrived for my last blog posting on the microaquarium. Last Weds. I went to see it for the last time. As usual, I signed in, collected my aquarium, and selected a microscope. Dr. McFarland helped me with the microscope and pictures, we noted many different types of rotifers and micro organisms. The water has become pretty saturated with organisms and is pretty dirty, giving the organisms more food. The last two organisms I will post pictures of are the micro organisms anisonema sp. and colpidium sp. After we finished taking pictures, I bid farewell to my microaquarium and but it in the tub to be disposed of.

Anisonema sp.

Figure 77, Page 54

 

Colpidium sp.

Figure 337, Page 151

 



 

 

Microaquarium 4

The last visit to the aquarium went well. The biggest difference I have noticed is that the water has started to become more cloudy. There is also a lot more microorganisms swimming around and feeding. I can no longer find my rotifers from the first post. They have either moved or have died. The organism for this week is a Euplotes sp. which was confirmed by Dr. McFarland using Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide, fig. 261, pg. 124.

 

Fig. 261

 

 

I also had to add water to the aquarium this week, it was super low. 

Microaquarium 3

Week 2 of the microaquarium was much the same as the first one. I started by signing into the lab and picking up my aquarium. While Dr. McFarlane set up the camera microscope, I used a regular microscope to search for anything different in the water. I noticed it seemed to be harder to find diatoms then it was last week. I looked at the feed pellet that was added and noticed that there was a lot of different organisms swimming around and feeding on it. I also checked on my rotifers from last week and they were still thriving pretty good. The picture I took this week was a Vorticella sp. that was identified by Dr. McFarland and confirmed with Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide (Fig. 232 Pg. 113). It was just sitting there with no sign of movement, which is strange as it is a living organism.

 

 

Figure 232, Page 113.

Patterson, David J., and Stuart Hedley. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. London: Wolfe, 1992. Print.

 

 

 

Microaquarium post 2

 

 

 

 

 





With this post I am going to be a little more informal and use first person. It is much easier to explain the days in the lab in this way than it is to use 3rd person. We will see how it goes, if I feel it is not professional enough I will go back to 3rd person.

 

On October 23rd was the day I decided on visiting my microaquarium for the first time. The first thing I had to do when I got there was sign in. After signing in I picked up my aquarium and used a standard microscope to begin looking for organisms while I waited for my turn to use a recording microscope. While using the standard microscope, I found some organisms and noted their locations in the aquarium, to make them easy to find when I moved to the recording microscope. After a short wait it was my turn. The first organism I found was the rotifer Limnias, which was confirmed by Dr. McFarland, who cross referenced his book to confirm it. I also found several other organisms, such as diatoms, a flatworm, and cyanobacteria. But those are for another day. The following is the picture I snapped of the rotifer Limnias. It was easy to see why they were named rotifers, since they were spinning and sucking in things in like a vacuum cleaner.

 

 

 

After the pictures were taken, Dr. McFarland helped me edit my pictures and send them to a file he created for them. Then I placed the microaquarium back in the bin and called it a day. Overall, it was a long, but interesting day looking at the microaquarium, and it will be cool to see the progression over the next few weeks.

Works Cited
Patterson, David J., and Stuart Hedley. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. London: Wolfe, 1992. Print.

Bibliography

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. 27 Oct. 2014. Available from         http://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

Patterson, David J., and Stuart Hedley. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. London: Wolfe, 1992. Print.

Day 1 of Microaquarium

On Tuesday the 14th of October, we set up our Microaquariums. This was a fairly simple and straight forward process. We were offered many different water sources, of these I chose the water from the spring below Lynnhurst Cemetary. After the water source was chosen, a microaquarium, lid, and base were selected. Sediment from the source was added to the bottom of the aquarium first, then water was added to the top. After the water was set, Amblestegium varium and Utricularia gibba were collected and added to the water. When everything was done, it was then viewed under a microscope at 100x. There was what appeared to be diatoms swimming around, but this cannot be verified until I have material too confirm it.

Source Materials:

Water Source. Water pool below spring. Lynnhurst Cemetery off of Adair Drive. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Partial shade exposure Spring Feed Pond N36 01.357 W83 55.731 958 ft 10/12/2014

Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss.
Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/12/2014

Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A
carnivorous 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.
10/12/2014