The MicroAquarium: Week Two

The Utricularia gibba seems to be thriving with what appears to be root systems beginning to form. The worm-like organisms that were observed upon the creation of the aquarium do not seem present anymore. There also seems to be a lot of activity surrounding this plant and towards to bottom of the aquarium. This activity seems to be comprised of tight groupings of single cell organisms forming in linear clusters around the stems of the plant.

There was also one large crustacean-like organism roaming at the bottom of the aquarium in the dirt which I later discovered was an Ostracod Seed Shrimp. This organism was spotted roaming across the top of the sediment at the bottom of the aquarium. I also noticed that it seemed to be collecting food by filtering the water, sucking in the water in a stream.

1. Ostracod Seed Shrimp. (Rainis and Russel, pg. 210).


One beta pellet was also added to the aquarium on Friday, October 25th, 2013. "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%" (McFarland, 2013).

Post 1: The Beginning of a MicroAquarium

"What is a MicroAquarium, anyways?" 

Don't worry, I was asking myself the exact same question when I heard in my Botany lab that we would be creating these little environments. MicroAquariums are exactly that they sound like they are; aquariums, only about one-hundred times smaller. These little containers allow you to observe a kind of microenvironment assembled from an array of pieces and organisms from the larger environments of the world. 

Of course, assembling these little creations is a process in itself. You must first acquire a MicroAquarium. This consists of a small tank, stand, and lid. The class then labeled their tank in order for identification by class, table, and individual person at the table. Each person then extracted water from the desired locations provided. I took the water for my aquarium from Meads Quarry along Island Home Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee.

1. Meads Quarry, Island Home Ave, Knox Co. Tennessee Partial shade exposure Rock Quarry N35 57.162 W83 51.960 880 10/13/2013 (McFarland, 2013)

The water was collected and used to fill my aquarium one-third of the way with the water from the bottom of the container, collecting some of the sediment also. Water was then collected from the middle level of the container and the aquarium was filled another third of the way. Water was then collected from surface of the container and the aquarium was filled the rest of the way. 

I then filled the container with some of the provided plants: Utricularia gibba, which is a flowering, carnivorous plant collected from Spain Lake in White County, Tennessee; Fontinalis, which is a moss collected from the Holston River along John Sevier Highway in Knoxville, Tennessee; and Amblestegium varium, which is also a moss collected from a natural spring at Carters Mill Park in Knox County, Tennessee. 

In observation of my newly created aquarium, I noticed that there seemed to be little movement and activity which can be expected to increase in the weeks to come. Some movement, though, seemed to take place mainly in the Utricularia gibba where I observed some transparent worm-like creatures moving around in a fluid motion, intertwining and wrapping around the stems of the plant.