On Thursday, October 20th, I made my way to observe my aquarium to observe my aquarium for the first time since we set them up. The first thing I discovered about my aquarium this week was that a good 1/3 of the water had evaporated out of it. My first thought was about my poor organisms that live in there; I was afraid that alot of them died because of the loss of water but i was pleasently surprised when I found out this wasn't the case.
This week, we were supposed to focus specifically on the diversity of our aquariums. Eventhough there are many organisms living in my aquarium, sadly there is not much diversity among them. The most abundant species in my aquarium are rotifers. Just in this one observvation session I found 7 of them. I found them at many differnt locations in the tank but more specifically around plant A feeding. When I was observing the surface of the soil in my tank, I found two triangular shaped organisms that looked like mini tornados. I found out that these orgaisms were called vorticella and they looked like tornados because of their cilia. I also saw one cyclopse in the aquarium.
As for the dragonfly larva carcus, it is still there. There are not many organisms feeding on it anymore. There may also be a second dead dragonfly larva in the aquarium.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Beginning
On Wednesday October 12, 2011, we began our botany projects.
The first thing we had to do to set up our aquariums was choose the water that we would be observing for the next four weeks. I chose water sample number seven which was from the little pond in front of UT medical center. I chose that water because I live down the road from it and it would be cool to see what organisms live in it. For the second step, we added two plants to our aquariums. The third and final step was to observe our aquariums under the microscope for the first time.
I was amazed out how many microorganism I saw because I was only expecting to find a couple. There were many different varieties of movment of the organisms I observed. The organisms I found swimming around the middle of the aquarium either moved in a circular motion or in a regular linear path. Unfrotunately those organisms swam too fast so I wasn't able to get a closer up view of them. When I took a closer look at the soil in my aquarium I noiced some really interesting thigs. The first thing I saw was an organism that was pulsating and sucking in little specks around it, which meant that it was eating. When I increased the magnification I could see its organs. I later found out that that orginism was called a seed shrimp. By far the most interesting thing I saw was also along the soil of my tank. Along the top of the soil was what looks like a dead dragonfly larva. When I increased the magnification I saw several little organisms feeding on it.
I am excited to observe this aquarium over the next few weeks and especially to see what happens to the dragonfly larva.
The first thing we had to do to set up our aquariums was choose the water that we would be observing for the next four weeks. I chose water sample number seven which was from the little pond in front of UT medical center. I chose that water because I live down the road from it and it would be cool to see what organisms live in it. For the second step, we added two plants to our aquariums. The third and final step was to observe our aquariums under the microscope for the first time.
I was amazed out how many microorganism I saw because I was only expecting to find a couple. There were many different varieties of movment of the organisms I observed. The organisms I found swimming around the middle of the aquarium either moved in a circular motion or in a regular linear path. Unfrotunately those organisms swam too fast so I wasn't able to get a closer up view of them. When I took a closer look at the soil in my aquarium I noiced some really interesting thigs. The first thing I saw was an organism that was pulsating and sucking in little specks around it, which meant that it was eating. When I increased the magnification I could see its organs. I later found out that that orginism was called a seed shrimp. By far the most interesting thing I saw was also along the soil of my tank. Along the top of the soil was what looks like a dead dragonfly larva. When I increased the magnification I saw several little organisms feeding on it.
I am excited to observe this aquarium over the next few weeks and especially to see what happens to the dragonfly larva.
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