The Last Stand

This is the last week for the existence of my MA. Sadly, not much has changed from last week. Diatoms are still the majority organism in the MA, and there are still next to no Actinosphaerium. The Euplotes, however, are starting to re-emerge, and almost equal the number of Lecane rotifers and Tachysomas. A few more Coleps have started to appear as well, and the Nostoc cyanobacteria have multiplied in large numbers.

There were only two new features to the MA this week: Nematodes and Cinetochilum. I found two Nematodes, and after a few minutes we discovered that what I thought to be a Euplote was, in fact, a Cinetochilium. Other than that, and the regular growth of algae and plant life, nothing extremely exciting was evident in the MA this week. So we end; on a calm, successful note with a variety of life forms discovered and extinguished, all in 5 weeks.

 

SC

P.s. I have also uploaded pictures for week 1, and edited last week's post for more detailed content.

Rebirth?

In great opposition to last week, the Actinosphaerium and Euplotes have become almost non-existent (I only managed to find one Actinosphaerium). On the other hand, everything else seems to be flourishing. There has been a mass influx of diatoms, vorticella, amoebas, and cyanobacteria. Along with this influx, I saw three new organisms: Coleps, Nostoc (cyanobacteria), and Oscillatory Cyanobacteria. All of these are pictured below, and I am looking forward to seeing if they stick around, or if they mass like the Actinosphaerium and Diatoms.

Until next week,

SC

Tachysoma

Diatoms

Another variety of Diatom

Vorticella

Oscillatory Cyanobacteria

Amoeba

Coleps

Expansion

In the MA (MicroAquarium) this week, an "Atison's Betta Food" pellet was added. Made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104, the ingredients are: 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%.

Because of this pellet, growth in my MA greatly increased. I noticed very rapidly reproducing Actinosphaerium and a large increase in the amount of cyanobacteria and other organisms, especially what I think are Euplotes. I also saw the appearance what I believe to be Vorticella.

Also due to the pellet, the depth of life in my MA has increased. Whereas most organisms last week were able to be seen at one focus level of the microscope, this week the focus could be adjusted to three or four different levels of activity. In that same line of thought, the area of the MA on the opposite side of the pellet saw little to no growth in terms of population and diversity.

Until next week,

SC

Euplotes

Rapid Expanse of Euplotes

Life!

Today was a much more interesting observation day of my MicroAquarium (MA). As you can recall, or simply read, last week I only spotted two simple unicellular organisms. After only a week, life has begun erupting inside of my MA. I have spotted several organisms, both multicellular and unicellular. I saw an organism which, based on it's shape and presence of cilia and flagella, I believe is a rotifer, namely Tachysoma, although I can't be positive at this stage. It moved fairly quickly with the aid of it's flagella and didn't seem to ever pause.

I also spotted an amoeba of some kind. It was clear with black dots, and moved by shifting it's structure and cytoplasm in the direction it wanted to go. It moved rather slowly and looked a spill that was spreading.

While looking around the MA, I spotted several organisms I believe to be Actinosphaerium, based on a book identification (citation to come later). I even got to observe one engulfing another organism, which a happened to get a picture of, and will post once they are fully developed.

Other than these main organisms, I saw the same unicellular organisms as last week, as well as blue-green Cyanobacteria and some form of stationary diatom.

Hopefully next week these organisms will be further developed and more complex as the ecosystem evolves.

Until next week,

SC

The MicroAquarium

Tuesday we started our Term Projects, which would be to build, and observe, a MicroAquarium. A MicroAquarium (MA) is build from two pieces of glass the same thickness as a microscope slide, roughly 3.5" wide and maybe 2.5" tall glued together, but with a gap between them about the same size as the glass' thickness. We then selected a water sample from the provided containers (or we could have brought in our own, but I chose to pick from the ones readily available). My water is from a spring in Carter Mill Park at these coordinates: N36 01.168 W83 42.832 940 ft. We took water from the bottom (mostly soil), the middle of the water, and the surface. This was to mimic what the real environment would be like in nature. We then place small amounts of moss and fern into the water to provide a carbon source for the micro-organisms. The MA sits in a glass base, and has a lid to prevent evaporation. The size and thickness of the MA allows it to be viewed under a microscope, and the surface tension of the water prevents any from leaking out the top of the MA.

Once under the microscope, I noticed a few organisms using the 10x objective of my microscope. I saw a one-celled organism with a slight green color near the fern plant. It seemed to move in a spiraling, twisting motion, and was the only one of its kind living that I saw. It was a circular shape, but the shape wasn't rigid, and changed as the organism moved. I also saw many one-celled organisms in the dirt of my MA that had that generic shape seen in textbooks, kind of like a pill capsule. These organisms did have a more rigid body structure, or at least I never saw one change shape while I was observing it. I couldn't really discern a color, as these were much smaller than the other organism, even with the 10x objective lens. They moved much quicker than the other organism, but didn't seem to stray too far from the dirt.

I look forward to seeing how these organisms develop and if any other organisms appear in my MA. 

Sorry for the blurriness!

Until next week,

SC