MicroAquarium Set-up

Last Wednesday, I set up my MicroAquarium in botany lab as the first step in my term project. I chose to use water from Meads Quarry for my aquarium. This area, located at N35 57.162 W83 51.960 880, is a rock quarry with partial shade exposure (McFarland 2012). Since Meads Quarry was previously an active quarry, many minerals have been exposed and likely made their way into the water. I hope this leads to some interesting observations/results throughout the project. Sediment from Meads Quarry was also included and settled at the bottom of the aquarium. I also happened to see a bug darting around in the sample container and managed to capture and put it inside the aquarium as well. 

Next, I installed some plant life within the aquarium. I put a total of 3 plants in the aquarium, 2 Amblestegium sp and 1 Utricularia gibba L (McFarland 2012). I then properly labeled my aquarium so I could easily keep track of it. Once everything was set up nicely I took some time to look at my aquarium through the microscope. I saw many small organisms darting around. Some were swimming or floating around in circles while others were making fairly direct lines to their destination. The organism floating in circles was identified to likely be a diatom by my TA, Marisol. These organisms are single-celled and unique in the fact that they have silica based 'shells'. Over time, the discarded shells of dead diatoms will eventually become silicate sediment. 

I hope to view many more interesting organisms and activity in the coming weeks. Below is a picture of the MicroAquarium on Day 0.