The second look at my microaquarium didn't produce many interesting results. There just wasn't much activity found in the water, for some reason. Finally, Dr. McFarland had to take over my search, and even he couldn't find much. Pictures of the few creatures/organisms found are posted below.
The first interesting thing Dr. McFarland found was a small group of cyanobacteria (image 1). Then a rotifer (image 2) darted across the screen, with one tail behind it controlling its movements. Third was a group of flagellates. These were hard to focus in on because of their small size, and after observing them for a while, it was concluded that they possessed two flagella: one behind them and one whip-like flagella in front of them. This and the fact that no distinct digestive apparatus could be seen led us to believe that they were Anisonema-like (image 3). Finally, a protist (image 4) with a hook at its front and a distinct black spot in its body believed to be a contractual vacuole was discovered, and is most like a litonotus (Patterson ex. 285).
Because there was not much activity found in the microaqarium, Dr. McFarland suggested the addition of water from water source #13: a plastic bird bath pool found 0.9 mile from Fountain City Pond on Fountain Road Knoxville, Tennesee. I will go observe my microaquarium again after it has settled some to see if there are more interesting creatures in that water source!

1 2 3 4

Aquarium Set-Up

To set up my microaquarium, I used a sample from Spring Creek, which is part of the Tennessee River watershed. I placed water and soil from the creek into the tiny aquarium, and afterwards, chose two types of plants to inhabit the space.

My initial observation under the microscope (40x) provided no interesting results. After a few minutes and much searching, however, I saw a strange looking creature fly by one of the plants. I searched for it, and finally found it trying to hide in the soil particles. It was now moving very slowly and carefully, which made it much easier to observe. It had six legs and a football-shaped body. It appeared to be ingesting some of the particles of soil. I believe it was some type of mite.

I then decided to move on, and found another interesting creature near some of the moss. It was long and thin, almost worm-like, and moved by convulsing its body like a whip. It was slightly disturbing to watch, so i decided to find something else a little more interesting.

But, upon careful searching, I found nothing else moving. Perhaps next week will bring more discoveries!