Observation #2

So...Here I am on week two of our MicroAquarium observations. The number and type of organisms within my aquarium have greatly increased and it was exciting to look at them under the microscope! I was in the laboratory for over an hour and by the time that I had to leave I still had a ton of stuff that I did not get to look at for long .

The first thing thing I noticed when I viewed my Aquarium under the microscope, were small organisms moving around, quickly eating just about whatever particle came their way, including plant material. Dr. McFarland helped me to define them as rotifers. They were moving with spinning 'tails'. The photograph above is from www.microscopyu.com. These are most likely lecane rotifers. They 'swam' throughout the aquarium, and moved throughout the bottom, middle, and top sections. I saw what may have been another rotifer when I was viewing the plant material. They were eating, moving very quickly up and down the carnivorous plant. However, these organisms had two tails.

As far as the plant material goes, it was obvious that the carnivorous plant had begun to spread itself out some as it looked for organisms to devour. Around the plant material I was able to see filamentous algae. I was not able to use the microscope with the camera so I do not have any pictures. I will take some this next week.

Throughout the entire aquarium I saw small circular/oval organisms moving around - I have absolutely no idea what they are.

I was, however, able to identify Vorticella, the classic peritrich ciliate. According to Micrographia.com they are one of the more common microscopic creatures in freshwater. They are attached by a contractile stalk, and have a bell shape when fully extended. The cilia are seen at the edges of the bell shape. I found this photograph which is exactly like the organism I saw in my aquarium. This image is from www.micrographia.com. I saw only one colony of 4 organisms. They seemed to be attached to the side of the aquarium within the middle section of the aquarium. These ciliates were stationary, though the bell-shaped portion of the organism moved slightly with the movement of the water. I did not see them ingest any other organisms or plant material.

I took only a quick glance at the area surrounding the food pellet that was inserted into the aquarium.

On Thursday October 4, 2008 one pellet of "Atison's Betta Food" was added to each Micro Aquarium. It is 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%.

It was quickly being engulfed by the hundreds of round/oval organisms that I have not yet identified.

So that's it for week two. Hopefully I will be able to take some pictures this week and identify more of the organisms that I've seen.