3rd and 4th Observations

On my third observation, I saw more of the same. The same organisms were were doing more of the same actions. There seemed to be smaller amounts of the larger organisms. I had to look harder and longer to find specimens in my tank.

Although there were smaller amounts of larger organisms, there was an emerging number of smaller oragnisms. More green plant life seemed to be growing around the inside of the tank as well. I did observe several rotifers.

On the fourth observation, there was a large number of smaller organisms. The larger organisms were next to impossible to find. It did not seem that my tank had lost any water, but I found it interesting that the organisms that were there before were not there at the fourth observation. I was only able to find one large organism on the last observation. I believe the snake-like organism that I observed in an earlier sitting was a Midge Larvae. It was dead in this last observation. I could not tell if it had gotten stuck to the side of the tank but it was not moving and seemed to have no life left.The piture below is the Midge Larvae.

The large number of smaller organisms seemed to be a type of flagellated protozoa. These organisms seemed to make up the majority of organisms in this last observation. The rest of the organisms seemed to have "vanished" in a sense.

Second Observation

My second observation was a bit more diverse in organism activity. A little less than a fourth of the water I had added to my tank had been lost. I added more water from a bottle in the lab and observed my tank underneath the microscope lens once again.

The first organism I observed was a Juvenile Cyclops. Its "body" was a round shape with several appendages. The appendages seemed to have "tendrils" coming off of them to help in movement.

This is the adult stage of the cyclops.

I observed several other organisms during this time, but was not able to classify them at that time. I will search more and update this information next time I post. I will say that one did look like a snake. Ha. Next post coming soon. Get excited. Pictures are coming.

Week One

In week one, I added water from the tank labeled number ten. I then added plants A and B. I observed my little fish tank under a microscope for several minutes afterwards. I found few organisms at first. I observed only two on the first day.

One of the organisms was an Ostracod. It would pause for a moment, acting as if it was sifting through the dirt in the tank, then would speed off. Second, I observed a Daphnia. A smaller, rounder organism than the Ostracod, it was also faster moving than the first.
This is an example of an Ostracod.

It was interesting to be able to see the insides of these oragnisms working while the organisms were still. It almost seemed as if their insides were gyrating. I then placed the lid on my little fish tank and put it away.