First off, I observed my tank with my naked eye, I didn't notice any changes from last week. I could see a few Paramecium sp. but that is all I could see without using a microscope. Comparing my aquarium to the first week, I can say that some of major changes would be the sediment like I refered to last week. It is a lot more fuzzy than it was during week one. I asked Dr. McFarland if he thought it was waste from the living organism, and that was his best guess at what It could be. The water clarity, has stayed pretty much the same throughout these 5 weeks. The plant life I added, has turned yellow in some places. I believe it is on its last leg, and probably wouldn't last to many more weeks.
Next, I observed my aquarium under a compound microscope. The first think I noticed, was that there were a large amount of diatoms, the population has grown tremendously from last week. I noted a few new organisms, that I had not seen in previous weeks. One, was a Halteria sp. According to the book: Free-living Freshwater Protozoa, it said that these are one of the most important herbivores in the aquatic ecosystem. They are number one, in the food chain, providing food for many of organisms. I have included a photograph of one below. They can be indentified by their circular shape, and flagella which radiate out like sun rays. I would say that the overall activity of organisms has decreased some this week. I would say that out of all five weeks, that week three had the most activity. Right around the time I added additional food. Although I would say that organisms that obtain food through photosynthesis, like Cynobacteria and Diatoms have increased in population. One type of cyanobacteria that I have seen a lot of is, Oscillatoria sp. According to the book: Freshwater Algae, by G. Prescott, they are one of the most common cyanobacteria, and are called Oscillatoria, because they slowly oscillate using small flagella. I have also included a photo of this species below. There was one organism, that I have seen quite frequently, but It has always been to quick to observe it under the microscope or take a photo of it. That organism is a Nematode sp. or commonly known as a roundworm. I have seen dozens of these in my aquarium over the past five weeks, which is kind of disconcerting thinking how many of these live in lakes and rivers that I may swim in.
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| by Todd Williams , 11-16-2012 |
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| by Todd Williams, 11-16-2012 |
There were a lot of organisms that looked very interesting, but moved to quickly for me to view under a microscope. This got me thinking, that it would be great if I could introduce a paralytic into the water to paralize the organisms, and make it easier to view them. This led me to conduct a quick experiment before I disposed of my aquarium at the end of my viewing session. On the next post I will tell you exactly what I did.
Sources:
-Conversation on 11/16/2012 with Dr. McFarland
-Patterson, D.J., "Halteria sp." Freeliving Freshwater Protazoa. New York. 2003
-Prescott, G,. "Oscillatoria sp." Freshwater Algae. McBrown Company. Iowa. 1996. p.123
-Photo of Halteria sp. by Todd Williams
-Photo of Oscillatoria sp. by Todd Williams
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