Week 2

This week, I was only able to observe my Micro Aquarium for a short amount of time.

I noticed the continued presence of innumerable green football like organisms, which tend to cluster around other creatures as well as around plants.

I again saw a flea-like creature, swimming around chasing food.

I also noticed some new creatures. Several were just oblong shapes that moved around. They were brownish gray in color. I also saw some circular creatures swimming about as well; they were the same color as the oblong creatures.

I will be doing more detailed descriptions of the creatures this week, as well as including pictures if possible.

I did add a Betta Fish pellet to the Micro-Aquarium as food. The information on that pellet is as follows:
"Atison's Betta Food" 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%.

Week 1- Addendum

Oops! I forgot to put this information about the two plants I put in the Micro-Aquarium.


Plant A . Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Lindb. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/11/2009Plant B. Utricularia vulgaris 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.

There we go...

Week 1: Set-Up and Observation

We set up our Micro Aquariums this week. I used water from source number 11, the Fountain City Duck Pond:

Fountain City Duck Pond. West of Broadway at Cedar Lane. Knox Co. Knoxville TN Full sun exposure. Spring Feed Pond N36 02.087 W83 55.967 963 ft 10/12/2009

After filling the Micro Aquarium with different layers of water from the sample, I added two plants and then placed the Micro Aquarium under the microscope to observe.

I saw probably thousands of tiny green organisms, shaped like footballs, that flitted around in the water, typically near the plants. They could move side to side as well as forward and backward, and they could also spin.

I saw one creature that looked like a flea. It had six legs, and it was shaped like a seed. It moved only when the Micro Aquarium was moved, but it was definitely alive. It also was near the plant life.

One creature I saw resembled a circle with a crooked tail coming from it. The tail moved around to move the creature. It was black, and it moved rapidly.

Finally, I saw one very strange creature. At first, I thought it was part of the plant I was observing; I was confused by the heartbeat-like pulsations however. It was a cell-like structure, with filled with brown material. The creature released a mass of the brown goop (for lack of a better word). There were many of the little football creatures surrounding it. As I continued to observe the creature, it released the remaining brown goop and darted away. I could not find it again.

I did not observe any other creatures of note.

Biology 111 Term Project

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