10/13/2009: Upon initial examination of the micro-aquarium under a microscope, I wasn't entirely sure what to find. Due to the small width of these, they can be turned and laid down flat without spilling any liquid. Under the 4x lens, there wasn't much to be seen: dirt on the bottom, a couple of plants stems. Then, moving along to the 10x lens there was much more than the naked eye can see. The were multiple sacks filled with little green chloroplast-looking objects, I saw more than half a dozen tiny worm-like creatures (which seemed to over-all outnumber the rest), flipping and twisting their bodies back and forth to propel themselves. There was a very fast moving mouse-like creature with two horn-esque things towards its front, and a thick flagella propelling it through the water. There were also much slower, smaller, kidney bean-shaped, organisms that had a tendency to hide near the dirt at the bottom of the container.

The point of this blog is to show a personal step-by-step of how to create, follow, and identify a micro-aquarium as required by the University of Tennessee Knoxville's General Botany course.

Procedure: On October 13th, a Micro-Aquarium was obtained which consists of a glass class roughly measuring around 4"x2"x1/4" with a fiberglass stand to keep it upright and lid to prevent anything from getting into said case. These cases are identifiable from one another by 3 colored dots placed along the upper left hand side of the case. The first color representing The class section one is in, the 2nd the table one sits at, and 3rd the specific seat where one sits. For me this was represented by green, red, green, and with my initials over each dots.

The aquariums will contain a small amount of sediment and water (along with micro-organisms of course) from one of various locations chosen around the Knoxville area. My sample was taken from a water pool below a spring at Lynnhurst Cemetery off of Adair Drive. This is a partially shaded exposure spring feed pond located N36 01.357 W83 55.731 958 ft. The sample was taken on October 12th, 2009. A small amount of sediment goes along the bottom of the aquariums where micro-organisms will hang about, but not too much so that they can hide. Then, 3/4 is filled with slightly clearer water with a little bit of debris. Small amounts of two plants labeled Plant A and Plant B were also placed in with the water and sediment. Plant A is a amblystegium varium, which is a moss, taken from Carter's Mill natural spring at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. On October 11th 2009. Located at: N36 01.168 W83 42.832. Plant B is Utricularia Vulgaris from the south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of the greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building. The University of Tennessee.