October 23rd Observations

For the first week of observations, I was able to visualize living microorganisms as they went about their daily business. I found two or three rotifers which were quickly moving from one part of the tank to another. These were fast moving and would quickly swim away from the light. The three seed shrimp I observed each stayed mainly around the plant samples in the tank. It looked as if they were picking things off of the plants themselves. I also saw one water fluke, one cladocera, and three cyclops. The three cyclops seemed to lurk around the tank more than anything. I did not see them interact with many other organisms. All of the organisms I saw were transparent and did not seem to interact with each other at the time I was watching them.  All organisms were observed for the first time around 2 o'clock p.m. on October the 23rd, 2014.

Bibliography

Canter-. Lund, Hilda, and John W. G. Lund. Freshwater Algae: The Microscopic World Explored.       Bristol: Biopress, 1995. 38+. Print

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [2014 October 19]. Available from     http://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

Patterson, David J., and Stuart Hedley. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. London: Wolfe, 1992. 107. Print.

Pennak, Robert W. Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States. New York: Ronald, 1953. Print.

Rainis, Kenneth G., and Bruce J. Russell. A Guide to Microlife. New York: Franklin Watts, 1996. Print.

How to Construct the Aquarium

The first step in creating a MicroAquarium is to acquire the MicroAquarium, which comes with a glass tank, a stand holder, and a lid. In order to tell your MicroAquarium apart from others, utilize the color dots given to distinguish your tank by placing the correct stickers in a vertical column on the left-hand side of your tank. The top dot tells which lab section you are in, the middle dot shows which table you sit at, and the third dot portrays the seat upon which you sit. Your initials are to be written on each of the dots  (McFarland, 2014).

After the tank is labeled, the next step is to use the pipet to put the silt and water into the MicroAquarium. A small layer of silt should cover the bottom of the MicroAquarium, do this by using the pipet to pull the silt up with the water and fill the first 1/3 of the tank with water very close to the bottom. Fill the next 1/3 of the tank with water from the middle layer, and finally fill the remaining third with water from the top layer of the sample  (McFarland, 2014).

After this was completed, I put two plant samples into the tank:

Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss.

Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/12/2014

And

Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A

carnivorous 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.

10/12/2014

(McFarland 2014).

After the samples are placed, the tank should be set in its stand and the lid should be placed on top.

Materials: You will need the MicroAwuarium tank, a water sample from a chosen source, a pipet, and dot stickers to color code your tank as well as plant samples to increase the diversity of your project  (McFarland, 2014).

Location of Water Sample

 
11. 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 10/12/2014 (McFarland, 2014).

Due to groundhog activity underneath the pond the water was drained, leaving an algae filled pond absent of water for a time. It is currently filling back up  (McFarland, 2014).