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.