Week 4

Well, this has been a cool assignment! It's been great getting to observe the micro-aquariums. This last time I didn't see anything I hadn't seen before. Just the same critters I'd seen in my last observation. I spent a few minutes watching the long strands of cyano-bacteria snaking along. So I've seen Rotifers. Amoeba. Fragilaria. Epalxella. Paranema. Arcella. as well as a few other creatures in my aquarium, like the diatoms. So these are a few of the organisms that are living and growing in the tanks behind Hesler here at UTK.The diatoms are my favorites because they look so neat, like tiny stars or moving jewels.  

Fig 1. Reference used to identify organisms: D.J. Patterson. Free-Living Freshwater  Protozoa. A Colour Guide.

Fig 2. Reference used to identify organisms: D.J. Patterson. Free-Living Freshwater  Protozoa. A Colour Guide.

Fig 3.  Cluster of 3 Diatoms. Reference used to identify organisms: D.J. Patterson. Free-Living Freshwater  Protozoa. A Colour Guide.

Reference used:  D.J. Patterson. Free-Living Freshwater  Protozoa. A Colour Guide. Note the strand of cyanobacteria it's swimming over.

Week 3

So this post is a bit late in coming since I've had to identify the organisms in photos. It was really neat being able to hook the microscope up to the computer and watch it on the computer screen rather then straining to see  through the microscope lens. The highlight of the experience was watching what I originally thought was a strand of green algae. I zoomed in on it to see if I could identify it, then realized it was moving. Over a period of about 5 minutes I watched the strand of green "beads" separate into what turned out to be an amoeba. The amoeba was ingesting part of the cyanobacterium filament. I was lucky enough to get a sequence of pictures documenting the phenomenon (See figures 3-10). Epalxella (see fig 11) was zooming around in the aquarium and since it moves very fast the picture is a bit blurry. If you look carefully you can just see the identifying "hook" on it (tip of the arrow).  One of the most distinct was the beautiful golden box-shaped diatom Fragilaria (see fig 1).

Figure 1. A Colonial Diatom. Reference used to identify organism: The Algae of Illinois. by Lewis Hanford Tiffany and Max Edwin Britton. Pg 232.

Figure 2. Paranema.  Reference used to identify organism:  D.J. Patterson. Free-living Freshwater Protozoa. A Colour Guide. 

 Figure 3. Amoeba ingesting cyanobacteria.

Figure 4. Amoeba ingesting cyanobacteria. Reference used to identify organism (the same organism is in figures 3-10): Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa.
 A Colour Guide by D.J. Patterson.

Figure 5. Amoeba. Note the movement of the green "beads" from a straight line to curved after being ingested. 

Figure 6. Note how Amoeba is starting to separate from the Cyanobacteria strand. 

Figure 7.  The organism has separated and is moving away.

Figure 8.

Figure 9. 

Figure 10. 

Figure.  11. Epalxella. Reference used to identify organism: D.J. Patterson. Free-living Freshwater Protozoa. A Colour Guide. The two other dots are algae. 

Figure 12. Identified using  D.J. Patterson. Free-Living Freshwater  Protozoa. A Colour Guide. 

Figure 13. Rotifer. Identified with the aid of D.J. Patterson. Free-Living Freshwater  Protozoa. A Colour Guide.

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.