On Thurday November the 10th I went to observe my mini aquarium for the last time. I was really worried when I got there and found that half of the water had evaporated from the tank. I expected to see at least as many organisms as I did last week if not more until I saw how much water had evaporated.
I expected to see less of everthing but surprisingly that wasn't the case. The thing that surprised me the most is I only saw 2 rotifers that week. At the begining of this project, the majority of organisms in my aquarium were rotifers. I think the decrese in the number of rotifers has to do with the inceasing number of coleps. The number of coleps I saw had also diminished from the previous week probably due to the evaporation.
Eventhough two of the four groups of organisms in my aquarium had diminished, the cyclops' were still thriving. I saw twice as many baby cyclops' than I saw adults. I also saw two more flat worms this week.
I am missing some important information in my blogs like my sorces and info about my water source so here it is:
I found all of the organisms in my aquarium by looking in Freeliving Fresh Water Protozoa by D.J. Patterson published by Wolfe Publishing Ltd. in 1992.
My water source is water source #7:Pond at University of Tennessee Hospital. Cherokee Trail. Knox Co. Knoxville TN Full sun exposure. Storm sewer sediment pond N35 56.305 W83 56.717 850 ft 10/9/2011 Chara sp. Green alga in Family Characeae.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Survival of the fittest
On Thursday November 4 I went to visit my aquarium for the 4th time. Alot of big changes happended since the last time I was there. Eveything had been reproducing and I think a bit of competition is going on.
The first thing I saw that was drastically different than last time was the number of cyclopses in the aquarium. I saw at least seven adult cyclopses and seven baby cyclopses which I had never seen in there before.
I also saw a dramatic increase in the number of voticelle in the aquarium. I found at least ten where usually I would only see about three of four.
The most shocking thing I saw in my tank this week was the amount of coleps I saw. This was schoking to me because I hadn't noticed any before the tanks were fed and now there are hundreds of them all over the aquarium. I noticed that they like to stick together because where I found one there were always at least ten others with it. I even noticed them attaching to and eating an organism. I really hope that the organism, which looked like a rotifer, was dead before the coleps got to it. The coleps seemed to be very hungry because every time I saw a clump of them they were eating something. I think the coleps have been either eating the rotifers or eating the same thing rotifers eat because there seems to be less of them.
I also found a new little friend in my aquarium; he is a flat worm. He truly is the king of the aquarium because he would run into other organisms and they would all swim away in fear.
I think there is some kind of algae growing in my aquarium becase a large number of green dots have appeared on the aquarium.
I can't wait to go back and see what has changed since then.
The first thing I saw that was drastically different than last time was the number of cyclopses in the aquarium. I saw at least seven adult cyclopses and seven baby cyclopses which I had never seen in there before.
I also saw a dramatic increase in the number of voticelle in the aquarium. I found at least ten where usually I would only see about three of four.
The most shocking thing I saw in my tank this week was the amount of coleps I saw. This was schoking to me because I hadn't noticed any before the tanks were fed and now there are hundreds of them all over the aquarium. I noticed that they like to stick together because where I found one there were always at least ten others with it. I even noticed them attaching to and eating an organism. I really hope that the organism, which looked like a rotifer, was dead before the coleps got to it. The coleps seemed to be very hungry because every time I saw a clump of them they were eating something. I think the coleps have been either eating the rotifers or eating the same thing rotifers eat because there seems to be less of them.
I also found a new little friend in my aquarium; he is a flat worm. He truly is the king of the aquarium because he would run into other organisms and they would all swim away in fear.
I think there is some kind of algae growing in my aquarium becase a large number of green dots have appeared on the aquarium.
I can't wait to go back and see what has changed since then.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Week 2: attack of the organisms!
On October 27 I went to observe my aquarium for the second time. When I got there I expcted that some of my water would have evaporated again but surprisingly it didn't.
The second strage thing I noticed was that I had an easier time finding organisms than usual; instead of hunting for them with the microscope, I could leave the aquarium still and many organisms would swim by. At first I thought this was weird until I found out that our aquariums had been fed. Our aquariums were given one beta food pellet ("Atison's Beta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americans, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, Ut, 84104. Ingredients: fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamis and preservatives. Analysis: crude protein 36%, crude fat 4.5%, crude fiber 3.5% moisture 8% and ash 15%).
Eventhough I wasn't able to stay long becuase of a doctors appointment I had, I was still able to see some amazing things. The most interesting things I saw were these two really fast cyclopses. I had to chase them forever with the microscope to even get a look at them. Hopefully I will be able to get a picture of them this week. There were also many organsims in the soil of my aquarium that I wasn't able to get a good look at yet.
I was also able to observe the dragonfly larva carcus and was surprised to find that none of the organisms were interested in it anymore.
This week I plan to spend more time with the aquarium and finally upload some pictures :)
The second strage thing I noticed was that I had an easier time finding organisms than usual; instead of hunting for them with the microscope, I could leave the aquarium still and many organisms would swim by. At first I thought this was weird until I found out that our aquariums had been fed. Our aquariums were given one beta food pellet ("Atison's Beta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americans, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, Ut, 84104. Ingredients: fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamis and preservatives. Analysis: crude protein 36%, crude fat 4.5%, crude fiber 3.5% moisture 8% and ash 15%).
Eventhough I wasn't able to stay long becuase of a doctors appointment I had, I was still able to see some amazing things. The most interesting things I saw were these two really fast cyclopses. I had to chase them forever with the microscope to even get a look at them. Hopefully I will be able to get a picture of them this week. There were also many organsims in the soil of my aquarium that I wasn't able to get a good look at yet.
I was also able to observe the dragonfly larva carcus and was surprised to find that none of the organisms were interested in it anymore.
This week I plan to spend more time with the aquarium and finally upload some pictures :)
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