Week 1: Setup

Tuesday, October 14, 2009

Today we setup our Micro Aquariums. I filled mine with water 12 which is water from a water pool below a spring in Foutain City Park; moreover, when I filled it I made sure to include some of the algae and sediment floating in the water. I also added a small piece of plant A {Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Lindb. Moss} and plant B (Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Lindb. Moss) ( Utricularia vulgaris L. Flowering) ; however, I made sure when I placed them in my Micro Aquarium that I keep each plant as separated as possible so that in the future I may be able to distinguish which organisms prefer to hang out were. After we complete forming the environment of our Micro Aquariums, we looked at them under a microscope. I was amazed when I saw my first glimpse of life in my aquarium. I saw a transparent worm-like organism that was actually visible to the naked eye. As I watch him, it seemed to me that he was eating on the dirt and algae. I could see his intestinal tract contracting to pull his food through his body where it accumulated at the body's end. I also saw a small transparent tear-shaped organism that moved by spinning and spiraling in circles. The third and final organism I spotted was a transparent oval organism that I could see two organs with in although they were too small to determine their function. This organism never turned around to move instead it would back up and move forward again to change direction. Just like when trying to turn a car around in a very tight spot.