Aquatic ecosystems lab week 4

As week 4 came upon my micro aquarium it became evident that life still survived, be it plant, animal, or microorganism. Perhaps the most interesting turn of events was the discovery that the large red midge, which was consuming many of the smaller organisms in the aquarium, was in fact dead and lying in the tank in two peaces. The organism probably died as a result of a lack of food. Even if the midge did manage to turn into a fly, as it would have in the wild, it would have most likely died due to the fact that my aquarium was sealed at the top. Life flourished near the midges corpse, many organisms were feeding off of its dead body such as Rotifers and Lycrymarias. The green plant life was still alive, due to ample H2O and its exposure to sunlight as per its placement near the window. The largest population explosion occured in the Rotifers, there were several hundred swimming around the midges corpse as well as several amoebas. there was a drastic decrease in the population of larger organisms such as nematodes or small multicelled creatures. Despite the large amount of decay occuring in the tank, life is still thriving. Though this microaquarium is only a small example of what an aquatic ecosystem may be like I believe that it has been a wonderful example of what a stagnant body of water's ecosystem may be like.