11-11-11 Observation

This will be my final observation of my mirco aquarium. The first thing I notice is that the water is almost half-way gone. I also notice that there are now many carcasses from the organisms that I have mentioned in my past posts. I notice many more Rotifers and, also, I have mistaken another organism for being a Rotifer in my past observations. The organism that I thought was another Rotifer was actually an Ostracod sp., also known as Seed Shrimp. Although they look similar the Ostracod is larger and moves differently that the Rotifer. These are the main organisms that I now see in the microaquarium. However I do still see the other organisms such as, Cyclops sp., Cosmarium sp., and Vorticella sp.

References :
Ostracod sp.
Rainis KG, Russell BJ. 1996. Guide to Microlife. Danbury (CT). A Division of Grolier Publishing. 20 p.  

10-28-11 References

Vorticella sp.
Bick H. 1972. Ciliated Protozoa. Geneva. World Health Organization. 13 p. Figure 4a.

Rotifera sp.
Douglas G.S. 2001. Pennak's Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States. 4th ed. New York (NY): John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 131 p. Figure 7.2 A-C.

Cosmarium sp.
Prescott G.W. 1964. The Freshwater Algae. W.M.C Brown Company Publishers. 85 p. Figure 128.

Cyclops sp.
Moran, Mark. Study of Northern Virginia Ecology [Internet]. [cited 2011 Nov 13]. Available from www.fcps.edu/islandscreeks/ecology.htm

11-4-11 Observation

This is the 3rd time I have observed my micro aquarium. A difference that I am noticing is that the water level has dropped, I am assuming the water is evaporating being under the light. I see many Rotifer sp.; they seem to be running blindly into things. A different organism that I saw this time was a Cladoceran sp. or a "water flea." At first, I mistook them for being stationary; however, they just stay in one place for a long period of time but when they move they move quickly. Another difference in the aquarium was that the plants seem to be dying; especially Plant B.

References:
Cladoceron sp.
Pennak RW. 1989. Fresh-water invertibrates of the United States. 3rd ed. Boulder (CO): John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 370 p. Figure 1.

10-28-11 Observation

This is the 2nd time viewing my micro aquarium. The majority of organisms in the micro aquarium are non-stationary. The first organism I noticed had an oval-shaped body with a tail and what seemed to be antenna. These were recognized as Cyclops sp. (image of this is shown below).

 I saw about four of these, including one dead at the bottom on the aquarium. They had no preference as to location in the aquarium. Some moved more slowly than others. 

A stationary organism that I viewed was a Vorticella sp. They attach themselves to something and remain in that spot. I witnessed a group of Vorticella sp. that were disrupted by tap on the aquarium. After taking moving for a moment they all went back to where they were before the tapping on the glass took place. (this can be seen below)

Another incident that I was able to notice was an individual in the group of Vorticella sp. to be disrupted by another organism, the Rotifer sp. The Rotifer sp. "attacks" the individual and seems to be feeding off of it. (this encounter can be seen below).

The Rotifers were seen many more times throughout the aquarium but more specifically on Plant A and B. Another stationary organism I noticed was a Cosmarium sp; many of these were seen throughout the aquarium. (an image can be seen below).

October 12 Observation

The water source used in my Micro Aquarium came from Dean's Woods. There are two types of plants in my micro aquarium. Plant A is Amblestegium sp. Moss from a natural spring; Plant B is Utricularia gibbs L. flowering carnivorous plant from South Shore of Spain Lake. When observing my micro Aquarium after setting everything up I noticed two different organisms. One was stationary and I saw about 3 of this type. The other was not stationary and it moved quickly. It attached itself to part of Plant B and proceeded to slowly move up the plant and then left from my view. The non stationary organism seemed to have a clear outer layer with a worm-like center.