Week 2

  one week later and the aquarium is teeming with life. This time I had a better idea of what to do and look for. There is a variety of organisms. I've identified a string of Nostic from the group Cyanobacteria, 3 Colsterium of the group Green Algae just in a single corner of the aquarium, and they are spread out throughout the aquarium, too many to count. Also there were little round Rotifers with a single stubby whip flagella they reminded me of microscopic tadpoles. Lots of Arcelia Protozoa with Pseudopodia were moving rapidly around. Also there were organisms that darted across too quickle to identify. In total about 6 kinds of micro organisms.

On Oct 21 an "Atison's Betta Food" pellet made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104, was inserted into the aquarium consisting of the following 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 one

 I set up my botany 111 aquarium using a sample consisting of a mixture of fluid from the water plant tanks behind Hesler and beside the greenhouses.

The aquarium consisted of two 2-inch by 3-inch glass slides glued together at the sides and bottom with Aquarium Silica glue. The glue was thick enough to create a narrow space between the glass creating an area to inject fluids and plant pieces. Using a pipet we filled this space to within a cm of the top with cloudy liquid from the water sample we had collected from the tanks. Finally we pushed Utricularia plant material into the aquarium using a dissecting needle. 

Looking at the aquarium under the microscope revealed a variety of substances and organisms.

Diversity and number.

Numerous ciliates and flagellates swam and swirled through the water. They Congregated most densely in the soil residue at the bottom of the aquarium.