After one week of our MicroAquariam experiment I finally found some life forms in my Third Creek water sample. Living among the plant life in my tank was
both an Euchlanis Rotifer (Thorp and Couich 2010) and a Cyclopse sp. (Rains and Russell 1996). These organisms were only seen once each but I expect to see them and many more as the weeks continue.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Blog Entry 1
We began our term project on Wednesday October 16th. The term project is the observation of a MicroAquariam, using a specific water source out of the 8 samples collected from around East Tennessee by Dr. Kenneth McFarland, and to add different plant parts so that we may observe the different organisms in the MicroAquariam and their actions.
To set up this experiment used a MicroAquariam consisting of a tank, lid and holder. We marked them with different colored dot stickers to identify which one was ours, depending on the lab section, table and seat position at the table. For further identification we initialed the seat position dot. Following this we took some water and sediment from one of the 8 sources, mine being from sample number seven, which is water from Third Creek in Tyson Park right near campus. We divided the sample into thirds, bottom, middle and top, and used a bit from each third respectively to fill our MicroAquariam tank. Soil from the bottom of the sample container was added to the bottom of the tank as well. After this we added some plants to the tank. Three different plants were added. Utricularia gibba, Fontinalis sp. and Anblesteguia varium were the three plants that were placed into the MicroAquariam. We next used a microscope to observe and try to identify any organisms within the tank. I had trouble observing any organisms. I did observe plenty of debris, most likely bacteria floating throughout the water and what I am pretty sure was a Rotifer, which was a very fast moving bug like organism. Unable to keep a good eye on the prospective Rotifer due to its quick movement and it's hiding in the plant I look forward to getting some individual time on Thursday with Dr. McFarland to further investigate this and other organisms that might be living in my MicroAquariam.
To set up this experiment used a MicroAquariam consisting of a tank, lid and holder. We marked them with different colored dot stickers to identify which one was ours, depending on the lab section, table and seat position at the table. For further identification we initialed the seat position dot. Following this we took some water and sediment from one of the 8 sources, mine being from sample number seven, which is water from Third Creek in Tyson Park right near campus. We divided the sample into thirds, bottom, middle and top, and used a bit from each third respectively to fill our MicroAquariam tank. Soil from the bottom of the sample container was added to the bottom of the tank as well. After this we added some plants to the tank. Three different plants were added. Utricularia gibba, Fontinalis sp. and Anblesteguia varium were the three plants that were placed into the MicroAquariam. We next used a microscope to observe and try to identify any organisms within the tank. I had trouble observing any organisms. I did observe plenty of debris, most likely bacteria floating throughout the water and what I am pretty sure was a Rotifer, which was a very fast moving bug like organism. Unable to keep a good eye on the prospective Rotifer due to its quick movement and it's hiding in the plant I look forward to getting some individual time on Thursday with Dr. McFarland to further investigate this and other organisms that might be living in my MicroAquariam.
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