Week 4 Observation

I did my last observation on Wednesday, November 10, 2010.  I didn't notice any changes since the previous week.  There were still quite a few Tachysomas throughout the MicroAquarium, as well as several Seed Shrimp and Cyclopses.  I was finally able to spot a Nematoda, which may be the mysterious organism I kept spotting but not being able to see clearly enough to identify.

Nematoda (identified from Thorp and Covich 1991)

Tachysoma

Citations:

Thorp, James, and Alan Covich. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. 1991.  San Diego, New York, Boston, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto: Academic Press, Inc. p. 250

Week 3 Observation

This week I didn't plan to take any pictures, but I found some interesting activity in my MicroAquarium when I observed it on Wednesday, November 3.  First, I noticed that there were a lot of dead seed shrimp inside the bladders of the Utricularia giba bladder.  Then, I found that there was a live cyclops trapped inside one of the bladders.  When I first began observing the cyclops, it was moving rather frantically around the bladder, but by the time I started video taping, it had settled down.  In the video, you can see it kick its legs and then be still again.  I was also able to video tape some other cypcloses and some trachyosomas swimming in the area around the bladder.  Unfortunately, my video editing skills are not very good, but if I have a chance later, I will try again to improve the video quality.

Week 2 Observation

I observed my MicroAquarium under the microscope on Wednesday, October 27.  I observed several of the same organisms that I had seen the previous week.  Several of the seed shrimp had died and settled near the bottom of the tank.

The previous Friday, one Beta Food Pellet had been inserted into the microaquarium.  The Beta Food Pellet was "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%. (McFarland 2010).

There were quite a few trachyosomas in the area around the Beta Food.  I also observed a few cyclopses in the area.  I think they were probably feeding on the trachyosomas.

cyclops (identified from Rains and Russell 1996)

seed shrimp (identified from Rains and Russell 1996)

Citations:

McFarland Ken. “Botany 111 2010.” http://botany1112010.blogspot.com/.  University of Tennessee/Botany 111. 10/04/2010.

Rains Kenneth G, Russell Bruce J.  1996.  Guide to Microlife.  Franklin Watts.  p. 204, 209.