Week Five Observation

This week was interesting- not because there was a whole lot of activity, but because of the lack of activity. There are now three midges that have grown so much that they can be observed without a microscope. They are a pale white, have a brown spot in their anterior, and have hair or cilia- like structures around their bodies. It seems that they have eaten nearly everything except for a the diatoms, cyanobacteria, and the plants which are all still in abundance. I have really enjoyed watching these midges grow and develop and essentially take over the MicroAquarium. It has been really interesteing to observe their impact on their environment as they have matured.

Week Four Observation

This week, several mature cyclopses were found in various areas in the tank. The midge has grown quite a bit, and its color is now more of a golden brown. It was moving more slowly this week near the plants. A few diatoms and cyanobacteria colonies were observed. The newest discovery this week was the Ammelid- Aeolosoma sp. (Pennack). It was large, light brown, and appeared to be slimy. It was weaving around the plants. This sums up the observations for this week. Hopefully, next week will be a little more exciting.

Week Three Observation

On Friday, October 25, a food pellet was added to my MicroAquarium. "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%.


This week in my MicroAquarium, I observed more Cyanobacteria and diatoms. I also discovered a midge or insect larvae- Chrinomus sp., a flatworm Stenostomum sp., and a Euchlanis sp. Many of these organisms were observed near the food pellet.

The midge was moving around spastically as in the following video.

 

(Pennack)

The flatworm was interesting. It was weaving around the plants in the tank. It was in the beginning stages of reproduction. In the picture below, you can see its divisions where it is about to divide in to a few new worms.

(Thorp and Covich)

The Euchlanis sp. was moving about using its flagellum.

(Patterson)