Observation: October 26

I observed my MicroAquarium again today. It looked like things had settled down since I moved all of material into a new slide. Dr. McFarland had added a food pellet to the aquariums before the weekend, and I noticed a lot more movement. There were many small bacteria swimming about crazily, and I found some larger organisms as well, such as an annelid named Aeolosoma sp. This worm spent most of its time buried in the sediment at the bottom of the tank, and when it emerged it would flare a group of hair-like projections outward.

In: Thorp J H, Covich A P, editors. Ecology and classification of North American freshwater invertebrates. San Diego (CA): Academic Press, Inc; 1991. 1056 p.
Figure 12.7

The food pellet that was added has the following information:

"Atison's Betta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. Analysis: Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%.

I also found an Anisonema sp., which appeared to be probing other objects in the tank with a long flagella. It whipped around crazily before settling on one unidentified object.

Patterson, D J. Free-living freshwater protozoa: a colour guide. Washington, DC: ASM Press, 1996. 54.

Figure 77