Week 1: MicroAquarium observations

• The water source I used in setting up my MicroAquarium was number 9, from the pond at Sterchi Hills Greenway Trail. The address for the trail and pond is: Rife Range Road, Knox Co., Knoxville, TN where there is full sun exposure and sheet runoff from N36 02.687 W83 57.159. The elevation is at 1,065 ft and the sample was collected on 10/9/2011. Besides the water and mud I added from the pond at Sterchi Hills Greenway Trail, I added two plants: Amblestegium and Utricularia gibba L. Amblestegium is a moss which was collected from the Natural spring at Carters Mill Park located on Carter Mill Road in Knox Co. TN where there is partial shade exposure at N36 01.168 W83 42.832 which was collected on 10/9/2011. The Utricularia gibba L. is a flowering and also carnivorous plant. The original material was from the south shore of Spaint Lake on Camp Bella Air Road east of Sparta, TN in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of the greenhouse of Hesler Biology Building at the University of Tennessee- Knoxville.
• On 10/16/2012, only two organism were observed moving: two nematodes (roundworms). These nematodes were moving frantically in 'S' curves and were about 0.2-10 mm in size. One other organism observed was a ciliate suctoria colep on the Amblestegium plant. The ciliate suctoria colep had sticky tentacles on it. The mud at the bottom of the tank already contains algae which will grow and provide a potential food source for some of the organisms in the tank. The nematodes must have a habitat preference in the mud at the bottom of the tank because the only time that they were seen was when the tank was first filled with water and mud. The nematodes are multicellular whereas the ciliate is single-celled.