Water Source

6. Dean's Woods - SpringCreek

 6. Spring Creek off Woodson Dr runing throught Dean's Woods Road frontage., Knox Co. Tennessee. Partial shade exposure. Tennessee River water Shed N35 55.274 W083 56.888 848 ft 10/9/2011 Fissidens fontanus moss in stream

picture from  An inquiry into the dynamic microorganisms in our environment Botany 111 2011

 

 

 

 

Week of November 7

This week was the last for my MicroAquarium and I, which is actually really sad! It kind of turned into my little pet over the past couple weeks.  When I went and observed this week there were Euchlanis sp. EVERYWHERE.  They were taking over and clearly had doubled in numbers.  I also saw a few Chaetonotus but not nearly as many as Euchlanis.  There was also a mite that I had never seen before which was really gross.  Most of the other organisms I saw at the beginning were no longer present and if they were there was not that many of them.  There was some sort of green algae that was new and after some research I think it was a Closterium.  I used the books Free Living Freshwater Protozoa A colour guide by D.J. Patterson and Guide to Microlife by Kenneth G Rainis and Bruce J Russel. 

Week of October 31st

My MicroAquarium was teeming with organisms this week, due to the food pellet being adding last week.  It made the organisms reproduce like crazy.  Although many organisms were flourishing, my bug Carlos was dead, which was very sad.  I looked up what kind of bug he could have been and I decided it looked most like a damselfly larva.  Not only was Carlos dead, but I also noticed another dead larva of some sort that I had not seen previously. Even though the larva did not survive, The organisms I had observed in the previous weeks had grown and flourished. I saw many Hateria that were everywhere.  I noticed that they were bouncing around and according to the text Fresh Water Protozoa, this is a distinctive characteristic of Hateria.  I saw one Closterium and two Litonotus that I had not seen before.  As I scanned the bottom I noticed a worm going crazy which I was told was a Nimatoad.  I saw some micratic and a wheel animalcules called philodina roscola.  That was interesting because I could see the wheels moving, which I thought was fascinating. 

This week was a lot similar to the last.  The water was evaporating so I added some water to fill it back up to the top.  Carlos is still alive and well.  There were most of the same critters that I saw before with similar amount of numbers, if not maybe a few less.  The organisms still like to be around the plants, and that is were I saw the majority of them. 


On Friday October 21, 2011 "ONE" Beta Food Pellet was inserted into each microaquarium.
"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%.

Thursday October 20th

Last Thursday I went for my first observation.  I was able to look on the microscope connected to the computer which made my MicroAquarium look huge.  I found that my plants were now a dark green or brown.  I had also lost a lot of water, now only 1/3 of the tank filled.  There were a lot of organisms near plant B, but not nearly as many around the plant I received from the sample.  Carlos, my insect, was still alive and was eating, and trying to escape as usual.  Here are a few of the critters I observed.  I did not have time to get all of my pictures on the blog, but they will come soon.
  

(Sleigh, Figure 5.18 f)

 

Arcella sp. 
Patterson 1996, Figure 173.

according to tolweb.org arcella is mostly found in dry mosses and are mainly herbivores. (http://tolweb.org/Arcella/124482)

  (Patterson, Figure 15)

Euchlanis is a Rotifer and according to accociatedcontent.com they are related to worms.  They are very small animals.  (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1434961/facts_about_rotifers_the_freshwater.html)

\Vorticella sp. Patterson 1996, Figure 233.

  Sources :

1st, 3rd, and 5th image- Pennak, Robert W. 1953. Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States. New York (NY).  The Ronald Press Company.

Patterson, DJ. 1992. Free Living Freshwaterater Protozoa: A Color Guide. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press, Inc. 223 p.

Raven, Peter. 1999. Biology of Plants. 6th ed. New York (NY): WH Freeman and Company. 944 p.

 
 

Happy Birthday to My Very Own MicroAquarium!

Last Wednesday in lab we finally made our MicroAquariums, which was actually quite exciting.  Here are the steps we followed in making our very own MicroAquariums.

First- The materials required to make the aquarium were provided, which included a thin, clear, plastic compartment and two thinner ones to close up the two ends.  Sticky Tac was also provided in order to seal the compartment.  I labeled my initials on the plastic then was ready to actually make the aquarium come to live.

Second-  We chose which water we wanted to be watching for the next four weeks.  I went with choice number six (mainly because no one else did and I did not feel like waiting in line), but also because it is from Deans Woods Springcreek off Woodson Dr. runing through Dean's Woods Road frontage, Knox Co. Tennessee, and I thought it would be interesting to see what is in the environment my childhood was revolved around.   First a sample was taken from the bottom of the bucket, gathering as much dirt as possible into the vile.  It was then placed into the compartment and filled the entire bottom of the aquarium, and then up 1/3 of the way.  The next sample was taken from the middle layer.  I also filled the 1/3 of the aquarium, and then the 1/3 left I put a sample from the top of the creek water.

Third- After filling my aquarium with water, I took a piece of the plant in the bucket of creek water  and put it in the aquarium, along with the plant labeled "sample b" on my table.  So in the end I have two different types of plants inside the aquarium.

Plant B. Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A carnivous 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. 

After finishing making the aquarium I placed it under the microscope to see what different things I could find.  At first I observed what the plants looked like.  I then scanned the bottom where the dirt is, because that is were critters like to stay.  There I saw plenty of one celled organisms which looked like they were trying to escape.  Little did they know this strange, small compartment was their new home.  As I was looking at the rest of the aquarium a large mass darted into my screen! It actually made me jump.  I found it again and sketched a picture of the little bug then named it Carlos. Pictures are to follow.