For my final observation of my MicroAquarium, I was really hoping to discover a new organism that I hadn't seen in the previous weeks, unfortunately I only saw organisms that I had already discovered. I couldn't stay disappointed for too long though because these tiny creatures really are fascinating to watch. The annelids still dominate the majority of life within the Aquarium, but there were not quite as many as there were the last time I looked. The ostracod were still hanging around, as they had always been. I was not able to find my "big-boy" seed shrimp again, however there were still several cyclops that I was able to spot. I was also able to get a poor-quality shot of a rotifer that I saw swimming around. It was sad to say good-bye to these little guys, but I will always have a small sense of comfort when I see stagnant water.. and now that I know exactly what is hanging around in H2O, I will think twice about drinking any water thats not been purified!

As the picture above insinuates, the main topic of my blog post today will be the annelid... Oh boy the annelids! Before I could even get my microscope focused in on my aquarium I immediately noticed movement. Once I was able to get a clear view I saw that there were two annelids swimming around plant A. I was able to distinguish exactly what they were from their see-through structure, with red spots covering their body, and hair-like cilia, that apparently aids them with movement. A little further research on these creatures led me to learn that they were scientifically known as Aeolosoma Hemprichi. I watched these two for a moment and then decided to move on to observe some other types of organisms... or so I thought. I didn't get very far when I saw another annelid, and then another, and then even more! I counted twelve different spottings before I even saw another type of organism, which was an ostracod. After a few minutes I concluded that there had to be at least 20 to 25 annelids living in my little world. I moved throughout the top and middle of my aquarium observing a couple ostracod, many annelids :), and even a cyclops. Then I decided to go to the bottom of my MicroAquarium to see what was happening down there. Oh boy was I wrong about 20 to 25 annelids. I could watch the sediment at the bottom as if it were alive because of all the movement. It was hard to get a clear shot due to all of the dirt, but every now and then I saw a clear, red-spotted head (or was it a butt?) poke out into the wide open. There must have been at least 40 annelids in my tank. And then I saw it... the monster of all ostracods! He was a big boy, and boy were his little claws and body moving at spasm-like speed as he was munching on a leaf. Down near the bottom I was also lucky enough to spot a couple more cyclops, and let me tell you, if I was a micro-organism I would be shaking in my tiny micro cells if I encountered a cyclops... Or maybe, if I was a micro-organism I would be a cyclops! They have a scary looking head and a long sharp tail that makes them intimidating. I was very satisfied with my viewing and can't wait to see how my annelids have flourished next time!

While observing my MicroAquarium again I noticed a new organism that I had not previously seen. It was a type of analid, it moved from side to side and front to back, which meant that it had two types of muscles that it could expand and contract for movement. I also observed that this organism had red spots covering the entirety of its body and that its body was transparent. I noticed two of these organisms while looking through my Aquarium, but was unable to find them again when I was attempting to take pictures. I plan to post a picture of them within the next couple of weeks. These organisms tend to hang out near the center of the Aquarium. I also saw several more ostracod.
The ostracod that I saw were either towards the center or bottom of my Aquarium. Along with many more single celled organisms zooming around in this tiny environment I saw another interesting creature. After looking it up from the picture I believe that it is a Bdelloid Rotifer. These are the most common variety of freshwater rotifers and move by extending the head, and latching onto something and then catching up with their feet. They repeat this process to move from place to place.

Astounding After the First Week

The very first observation of my MicroAquarium was more than I had expected; already teeming with life of all sorts of different varities. Then, allowing it to sustain itself after one week of existance, it was hard to believe my eyes when I peered under the microscope again. My tiny copepods were thriving in the environment that I had created. I was able to view them moving along throughout my microscopic world.

Even better than this perhaps, and to my immense pleasure, I was able to view a few ostracod (more commonly known as seed shrimp) habituating themselves inside my aquarium. I even was able to observe one up close for a matter of three to four minutes and watch the movements of its thorax, abdomen, and antennae. I hope to have a video of my observations on this posted in the near future.

After all of my observations I inserted a beta food pellet to my MicroAquarium. This food was specifically "Atison's Betta Food", and 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%.

Setting Up My MicroAquarium

During class we set up and properly labled our MicroAquariums. These will allow us to have an up-close and personal view of the diverse and multifarious nature of the world in which we live. I chose to use a sample of water that was extracted from a water pool found below a spring in Fountain City Park. I made sure to include a small sampling of moss and sediment from the bottom of the water sample to add to mi MicroAquarium. I also added a small amount of Amblystegium varium, which is a type of moss that was collected from a natural spring at Carters Mill Park and a bit of a carnivous plant that was found on the south shore of Spain Lake and grown in the greenhouse in the Hesler biology building.

After completing the set up of my Aquarium, I was eager to take a closer look at its contents. When I viewed it under the microscope, I wasn't quite expecting to see the multitude of organisms that were already thriving in my man-made environment, but there they were, microscopic ciliates and tiny copepods. I am very eager to observe the life that unfolds in my aquarium over the following weeks.