An additional Closterium picture

Dr. Mcfarland was able to take this picture for me. it is a real good shot. The terminal vacuoles at the cell tips hold vibrating crystals of barium or calcium sulfate, the function of which are unknown. Brownian motion causes these microscopic particles to move erratically due to the impacts of collisions with the surrounding liquid molecules in which they are suspended. This explanation is from a page of Connecticut College's website. It is describing the red ball of crystals at the end of this desmid.

Other Images Taken

Changes from Beginning to End

There have been many changes from when I first started the microaquarium until now. New organisms have seemed to appear, while others died off. While examining the bottom of the tank I found numerous dead organisms. A big change I noticed was the amount of cyclops found in the tank. When I started, there were only two or three, but at the end, there were atleast fifteen in the tank. Some of which were females with egg sacks. Another change I noticed were the amount of protists suspended in the water. In the first couple of weeks, this was not really visible. After the feeding, the amount of protists in the aquarium multiplied tremendously. The picture shows the great amount of protists suspended in the water. The other organism is a rotifer.

gastrotricha

Gastrotricha is a multi celled moving organism. It is not photosynthetic. There are a few in the microaquarium. This was found near the bottom of the tank in the corner.

The above is Vorticella. This organism is very abundant in my micro aquarium. They can be found anywhere; top, middle, or bottom. They are a moving protozoa with a very long flagella. It is also a single celled organism. It does not have chloroplasts and is not photosynthetic.

Fragilaria

The above are Fragiliaria. They are surface water algae. It appears to be a stationary organism. It is multicellular. The algae is shaped like a ribbon but forms bricks over time. It is photosynthetic. There are numerous Fragilaria spotted in my micro aquarium. They are mostly found around the plant that has been placed in the water.

Cyclops pictures

The cyclops have already been covered on this blog, but I thought I would post these additional pictures. The one on the bottom is very interesting. It is of a female cyclops with egg sacks. You would never think or realize organisms like this are present in the water we swim in. Very interesting

Closterium

This organism is a diatom called closterium. Notice the red crystal in the end of it. It is a multicellular organism. The closterium is also phlorophyll green and photosynthetic. There are several that have been spotted in the microaquarium. For the most part, they seem to prefer the bottom of the tank near the dirt, although they can be found almost anywhere.

Findings from Thursday, November 1

One can easily tell that the micro aquarium has just recently been fed. the amount of active life now is a considerable amount more than previously. I found and was able to identify a very interesting organism. This organism is a protozoa with cilia according to the manual, and the specific name is stentor polymorphus.

Stentor Polymorphus is a funnel shaped multicellular organism. It appears as though the skinny tail end wags in a circular motion in order for the organism to move. It is a green organism. The stentor appears to prefer the bottom of the aquarium in the dirt. If you look closely in the dirt, you can see several wiggling in the dirt.

A picture is pending and will be posted on the next post. Too many people were in line for the camera last time.

Feeding Time

This was taken directly from an email sent on October 29th.

On Thursday October 25, 2007 one pellet of "Atison's Betta Food" was added to each Micro Aquaria. It is 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%.

The micro aquarium was fed. This should mean that the aquarium should be up and running with more life and activity than ever. The organisms have fresh food to eat, so will be more active and can reproduce more organisms.