Video

Video of a rotifer:

Cited from: Hoop JH, Covich AP. 1991. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. Academic Press. Fig 8.3.

Observation 2

Without using a microscope, I noticed that the MicroAquarium had more debris floating at the top (mostly white colored). There also seemed to be less movement. Around Plant A I noticed more single-celled organisms than in the previous observation. There were about 20 in one field of view (under 10X). Around Plant B I saw a clear, fat worm and there was only 1 (it could be a midge larvae). Around the bottom layer I noticed a green amoeba-like blob and one stationary spiral worm. In the last observation, however, I saw a few moving spiraling worms. Even though I saw less movement in the MicroAquarium, I did not see any dead organisms in the bottom.

Observation 1

In order to first view our MicroAquarium, we initially had to set it up. I chose water from source #1 (Tommy Schumpert Pond, Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge), and I allowed for a thin layer of murk to settle on the bottom of the glass tank. I also put in two types of plants: Plant A is a moss (Amblystegium varium) collected at Carters Mill Park, and Plant B is a carnivorous plant. After seeing that the plants spread out in the tank, I filled the rest of it with water from the same source.

After I filled the tank, I looked at my MicroAquarium through a microscope. I noticed that Plant A had very fine, green leaves on its stem, whereas Plant B seemed very "hairy". The first organism I noticed was around Plant A (in the middle of the tank); there seemed to be about 3 of them, and they moved very fast. They had antennae with long, thin legs, and I could also see little legs coming out when it got near another small organism. Other organisms I observed were tiny blobs that moved like a fish. These organisms (about 3 in a group) were around Plant B in the middle of the tank. The final organism I saw was a tiny spiraling, but stationary, worm. There were a couple near the bottom layer of the tank.