The Adventure Begins

Week 1: Initial setup

My MicroAquarium was set up using a water sample from the Fountain City Duck Pond. The pond is west of Broadway at Cedar Lane in Knoxville, TN, with full sun exposure, and is spring fed (McFarland 2012).  In addition to the water, I added three aquatic plants to the MicroAquarium: Amblestegium- a moss collected from a natural spring at Carters Mill Park, Utricularia gibba- a flowering, carnivorous plant, which was originally collected from the south shore of Spain Lake, east of Sparta, TN, and then grown in water tanks outside of the greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building, on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, TN, and Myriophyllum spicatum- an aquatic plant collected from the Holston River along John Sevier Hwy (McFarland 2012).

After set up, I observed the contents of the MicroAquarium with a compound microscope. I observed several different organisms moving throughout the aquarium. Within the debris layer, I saw two organisms, relatively large in comparison to their tank-mates, which appeared to be eating the residue- these were tentatively identified as seed shrimp. I also observed a number of small, oval-shaped organisms throughout the tank which moved rapidly. There were also a few organisms, extremely swift, with a ovoid bodies, and flagellate tails- these were tentatively identified as cyclops.

Formal identification of organisms within the MicroAquarium will commence next week. Henceforth, I shall refer to the MicroAquarium as the Normandy.

Bibliography
McFarland, Kenneth. "Botany 111 Fall 2012." [cited 2012 Oct. 21]. Available from: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com