Works Cited

Britton ME, Tiffany LH. 1952. The Algae of Illinois. The University of Chicago Press. 182p.

Hartmut, Bick. 1972. Ciliated Protozoa. World Health Organization. 79p.

Leidy, Joseph. 1879. Fresh-Water Rhizopods of North America. Washington Government Printing Office. Page Not Numbered.                                                

Rainis KG, Russell BJ. 1996. Guide to Microlife. Franklin Watts. 179, 200, 204, 209, 230p.

Smith DG. 2001. Pennak's Freshwater Invertebrates of the U.S. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 126p.

Final Observation

This past Thursday, I made the final observations of my micro aquarium. As I had suspected based off of last week's observations, microbial activity in the aquarium had deteriorated even further. More stationary skeletons could be seen resting on the soil surface, and fewer species were present. Whereas previously I had been able to pick out multiple varieties of species, there was an overwhelming presence of Seed Shrimp and Cyclops in the final observation. I came across one organism that I did not recognize, which had four legs and antenna. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a mite; Dr. McFarland suspected that some had found their way into the aquariums and were traveling from one to the next. On the up-side though I was able to find one new species that I had not yet seen before! It was a Nematode, which destroy arthropod pests. The Nematodes locate, burrow, and release bacteria that terminates them (Rainis, Russell 1996). I had a lot of observing my micro aquarium and think that it made a great final project.

Week 4

This past Tuesday after class, I went to the lab to observe my micro aquarium and was very disappointed. Thus far, the aquatic activity inside the aquarium has bolstered, revealing new organism species and algae. However, this was the first week that I have found a decrease in micro organism activity. I surveyed my aquarium for the better part of an hour simply trying to find something that I had yet to identify but to no avail. Unfortunately, what I did find was motionless carcasses of my organisms resting near the soil line. From this point on, I can only assume that activity within the aquarium will continue to decrease unless possibly another food source is implemented.

Week 3

(Fig. 1)-Colpidium-(Hartmut 1972)
p. 79 

This week I was able to notice even more activity taking place in my microaquarium. Last week, we received an email from Dr. McFarland stating that a food pellet of  "Atison's Betta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. 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% had been placed inside the aquariums, which seems to explain the increase in activity. The first new organism I noticed was identified as a cilliate and more specifically a Colpidium, which eat bacteria and small flagellates (Fig. 1) (Bick 1972). I then noticed several new objects swimming around, which were identified as amiboi organisms, and more specifically, Difflugia pyriformis (Fig. 2) (Leidy 1879). These organisms swim and ingest granules from around it. Finally, I viewed a slender, slug like organism moving about, which I was able to identify as a Gastrotricha (Fig. 3) (Smith 2001).

(Fig. 2)-Difflugia pyriformis-(Leidy 1879)
page not numbered 

(Fig. 3)-Gastrotricha-(Smith 2001)
p.126