Thursday November 13

On Thursday, November 13th, I made my final microaquarium observation.

The first thing I noticed about the aquarium was that it was covered with colonial algae which caused some problems viewing the other organisms.
In previous blogs I mentioned that there was a large number of Tubelleria,and last week was surprised the number had lowered.During this observation,I noticed there were only a few Tubelleria.
I also stated last week there was an organism, which I could not identify, that was green and shaped like a footprint. This week there were many more this week so I asked Mr. McFarland if he could identify specifically what these organisms were. We gathered that they were actually Parameciums that had incorporated green algae into thier body.The algae incoporated is single celled algae named Chlorella. This also gives cause to the small amount of Paramecium that I thought there were,but in fact the Parameciums had just taken on a new shape and color.There were still a few of Parameciums without the incorporated algae.
During my first observation,I observed a Ostracod that wasn't visible in the following weeks.I didn't know if the Ostracod had died and the debris was hidden in the dirt at the bottom or if the Ostracod was just hidden. It turns out it must have been hidden in the dirt because I spotted it during this observation,and it has gotten much larger.
There were still a large number of Rotifers as there were in previous weeks,the size and movement was identical to previous weeks.
I spotted some Euplotes,but nothing in comparison of previous weeks. The size and movement seemed to be the same as in previous weeks as well.

There was only one somewhat new organism that I identified this week, the Paramecium that had incorporated algae into its body.I found this to be the most interesting case in the Microaquarium observation. All the organisms were familiar to me,but the most obvious change in the aquarium was the algae.

Thursday Nov. 6th

On thursday November 6th I made my 3rd observation of my Microaquarium. I was glad to see that I could identify most of the organisms without a book or help because most were the same from previous weeks.
One thing I did notice instantly by looking through the lens was that the tank is being taken over by algae. Presently the algae isn't large,but is large in quantity and I expect to see growth by next week.
I spoted the Rotifers instantly,but were not new organisms. They seem to be a bit larger than previously and the movement looked slower.

There were about the same about of amount of Euplotes,but far less Paramecium. There still hasn't been a visible dead organism anywhere,but the cyclops as well as the Ostrapods are no longer in the aqauarium.The only thing I can conclude is that the debris is hidden in the dirt.

I did see one new interesting organism,Blepharisma, but there were very few of these. They were easily identified from the book because they have many visible food vacuoles,and cilia. The Blepharisma were very small,and had a floating or bobbing movement.They were long and slender with cilia all around the body.

October 30th Observation

On Thursdsay October 3oth I observed many changes in my microaquarium. In the picture shows a Euplotes,which was the first organism I spotted. The Euplotes were many in number and were transparent with cirri which helped them to walk along the plants. They would move swifty and then stop as I saw thier vacuum like mouth suction in food.

While watching the Euplotes,I also spotted many Paramecium swiftly move across the aquarium.The Parameciums were what I saw more than any other organism. They looked similar to the Tubelleria I saw in the previous week,but the Paramecium were much bigger and without eye socket indentions. On the back of the Paramecium I noticed black spots,and when research,realized were food vacuoles.

Perhaps, the most interesting organism I have seen in my aquarium observation is the Urocentrum. They spin around in circles like a top,and feed on bacteria. I tried to take a picture because they were so fascinating,but they moved too fast to capture thier essentric behavior.

The last organism I noticed was the shelled Rotifer,which were a moderate size, but not small in quantity.I would best describe thier shape as like a corn kernal with a tadpole like tail,and they move at a moderate pace.

In conclusion: I was a bit confused why I could spot any of the previously spotted organisms,and couldn't see dead organisms at the bottom of the tank. It could be possibly that they were hidden in the dirt at the bottom of the aquarium.