Final micro aquriam

On November 12, 2014, I made my last observation for my micro aquarium. This week was probably the most active of all. Some of the organisms I could identify on my own. I seen some very interesting organisms and algae that Dr. McFarland help me identify.

The first organism I seen was a Philodina  sp. (Pennak 1989 pg.172 fig.3). This organism had a very unique structure. It looked like it had a spinning fan attached.Its body movement reminded me of a leech of some type of worm.

The second organism we identified was a Chrooccus sp. (Lund 1995 pg.197-198 fig.377). It was pretty boring due to the lack of movement.The color of this bacteria is very interesting. I found out that it is a type of cyanobacteria.













While Dr. McFarland and I were searching for more organisms, we found a few dead seed shrimp. It looked like there was some type of bacteria feeding off the dead organism.

This is a green algae called Oedogonium sp. (Bellinger,Sigee 2010 pg. 157 fig.4.17).
















The last organism we identified was a Chaetonotus sp. (Pennak 1989 pg.165 fig.7).

Canter-Lund, Hilda, and John W. G. Lund. Freshwater Algae: Their Microscopic World Explored. Bristol, England: Biopress, 1995. Print.


Bellinger, E., & Sigee, D. (2010). Freshwater Algae Identification and Use as Bioindicators. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Pennak RW.  1989.  Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States.  New York (NY): The Ronald Press Company

Micro aquarium blog 4

My fourth lab observation took place on 11/6/2014. At first, I didn't see as many organisms I usually see. I decided to add water to my micro aquarium. That helped a lot b/c more organisms started to come out.  Some of the organisms I haven't seen yet.


The first organism I seen was a Halteria sp. (Patterson 1996 p.139 fig. 304). This organism moved very fast. It was really hard to capture a photo. One unique thing about this organism is the spherical shape it has.

The next organism I observed was a Tachysoma sp. (Patterson p.125 fig.264). This organism was moving very slowly. Dr. McFarland told me that these organisms can divide.

The most interesting organism I observed was a Phacus sp. (Patterson p.71 fig.123). When i first seen the organism, I though it was a floating leaf. It has a really bright green color. Dr. McFarland said that was the first time he has seen it this semester.

Bibliography

 Patterson DJ.  1996.  Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa.  London (UK): Manson Publishing Ltd. 

Micro aquarium blog 3

On October 24, 2014, something was inserted into my micro-aquarium. It was "Atison's Betta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104.The ingredients are fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. The analysis of the food is Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%  (McFarland, 2014). 

Since the food has been added, their has been a lot more activity. Majority of the organisms were moving pretty fast. I seen some organisms that were oval shaped. They all stayed very closed to each other. I think they were some type of bacteria. I also seen a Nematode. Dr. McFarland and I tried to capture a few pictures but they wasn't visible. During that process, he helped me identify some more organisms. 

The first organism was a Euchlanis sp.(Pennak 1989 p. 171 fig. 2 ). The organism was moving very quickly through the micro-aquarium. I found out that it has two strong toes used for swimming.

 The second organism was a Euplotes sp. (Patterson 1996 p.124 fig. 260).  This organism has a very unique shape. It was also calm, not as active like the others.

Some of the other organisms were a Coleps sp. (Patterson 1996 p. 162 fig. 375) and a Difflugia sp. (Patterson 1996 p. 95 fig. 186).  

 McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [November 3,2014]. Available fromhttp://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

 Pennak RW.  1989.  Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States.  New York (NY): The Ronald Press Company.  .

 Patterson DJ.  1996.  Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa.  London (UK): Manson Publishing Ltd. 

Micro-aquarium blog 2

On 10/23/2014, i got the chance to study my micro-aquarium for a few hours. A lot has changed since the last time I've seen it. I seen a lot more organisms and movement in the micro-aqurium.  There was a lot of movement in the soil layer and leaves. At first I couldn't see anything but, Dr. McFarland helped me identify some of the organisms. We used a book called "Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa" by D.J. Patterson.

The first organism we discovered was the Epalxis sp. It was found on page 141, figure 311. This was the most common organism I seen in my micro-aquarium. They were moving around very fast. It was difficult trying to take pictures.

The Peranema sp. was very interesting. I got to take numerous pictures of this organism. Looking through the microscope, it seemed like it eating off a piece bacteria. It stayed in that particular for a few minutes. This organism was found on page 50 figures 67-69.

The other organism I found was the Anisonema sp.

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [October 28,2014]. Available fromhttp://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

Blog 1: Micro-aquarium setup

Water source I used for my micro-aquarium: Tennessee River at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plant. The boat ramp is located on Neyland Dr in Knoxville TN. Full sun exposure. French Broad And Holston Rivers water sheds N35 56. 722 W83 55.587 ft 10/9/2011

The steps setting up my micro-aquarium:

• the micro-aquarium  included a glass tank, a stand holder and lid.
• used pipette extract to water/soil from the water source (filled  ⅓ bottom layer with soil, filled the middle layer and last layer with water)
• added plant sources to the tank (Amblestegium barium)

Plant Information: Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg Moss. Collected from Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/13/2013

The first observation occurred after the setup which was 10/14/2014 around 2:30pm. We also put our micro aquariums under the microscopes. I seen a lot organisms moving around. They were moving very fast which was hard to recognize them. Some of the organisms had a oval body shape. It also seemed like the organisms were eating small particles from the and in the water. There were some green particles floating. It could be bacteria or some other kind of organisms. 


McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [October 28,2014]. Available fromhttp://botany1112014.blogspot.com/