Initial Observation

This blog post should explain my preparation of my Microaquarium and describe pertinent observations from the first day.  We began by simply placing the glass tank on the holder and obtaining our lids.  Next, we each used pipettes to extract water from a water source, of which there were twelve pond samples.  I chose the pond sample "9"  which is from the pond at Sterchi Hills Greenway Trail (Rife Range Rd., Knoxville, TN.  Sheet runoff N36 02.687 W83 57.159 1065 ft).  I filled my tank about 5/8 full and then inserted a thin layer of mud from my pond sample into the bottom of my tank.  The last items to be placed in my tank were a sample of utricularia gibba, labeled "plant A" and fontinalis, "plant B".  We were instructed to examine specifically plant B.  Immediately I noted the presence of moving organisms moving sporadically.  During this first observation I spotted two that had a very thin elongated shape with strands sticking out of the top.  It moved elastically and quickly with visibly exceptional torque, but mad almost no change in location relative to the plant.  It may have been consuming a food source but its movements resembled that of a flapping fish when taken from its water environment. This one organism was multicellular and was not green.  The two specimen of this organism that I spotted were on opposite sides of the plant sample, both dwelling near the top part of plant B.  The other organism was round and very small.  There were two of these and I did not detect any green color.  My hypothesis is that it was multicellular because despite its minuscule size and very simple round shape, it did not resemble other single celled organisms that I have been exposed to.  The two that I spotted were near the middle of the cell.  Their movement was calm.  The body did not visibly move like the first organism, but it did float slowly beside plant B.