After many attempts to make it to the lab, i was able to observe my micro aquarium a few days ago. By the time i got there to observe it much had changed. The few plants which i added to the aquarium are were beginning to decay, and there was an obvious decrease in the amount of heterotrophic organisms from when i began this experiment; this may be due tho the lack of fresh oxygin. A decrease in the number of living organisms does not mean that their is no life, on the contrary, there was still a large number of living organisms to observe and green plant mater still existed. i did however encounter many nematodes which lived primarily in the muck. Nematodes are extremely common metazoans, which have along thin shape and move by writhing or gliding through the water (fig 18, pg. 28, Free-living Freshwater Protozoa).
Perhapse the most interesting creature i saw while observing my microaquarium was Lycrymaria, spindle shaped cells which probe for food with an extendable neck (figure 301, pg 138. Free-living Freshwater Protozoa). I encountered this cell snatching materials out of the surrounding area with its long neck like protrusion.
The most common heterotrophic organisms i saw were Rotifers, which use cilia in the collection of food, which passes into the gut via two stout grinding plates called mastaz (Fig 15, pg 27 Freeliving Freshwater Protozoa).
In conclusion, it is obviouse that life will survive in even the most stressful environmants, i am looking forward to my next report.
