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!