Wednesday October 16th we were introduced to the Micro Aquariums we would be working with for the next month or so. Dr. McFarland gave us a general overview of what we'd be studying and the background of each of the water sources we could choose from. I choose water source number 8. Dr. McFarland described this water source as "Tennessee river at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plan. Neyland dr. Knox co. Knoxville tn. Full sun exposure. French broad and Holston rivers water shed n35 56.722 w83 55.587 813 ft 10/9/2011".
After choosing our water source, Dr. McFarland instructed us on how to fill our micro aquariums. His specifications included filling the aquarium about three-fourths full of water with a small amount of dirt on the bottom. After we had meet Dr. McFarland's specifications on the dirt and water, we placed three different plant materials from three different locations. One from a natural spring at Carter Mill Park in Knox County Tennessee.
One from the Holsten River along John Sevier Highway under the I-40 bridge.
And finally, one from Spain Lake off of Camp Bella Air Road just east of Sparta, Tennessee. While this vegetation was taken from Spain Lake, it was grown in the water tanks outside of the Hesler Biology Building.
With all three vegetation types in my micro Aquarium, I could move on to observing what organism might be living within. As for now, this is all can see.
Unfortunately, I was only able to observe my aquarium under the microscope for 5-10 minutes. I was able to see what appeared to be water fleas and a few worm-like organisms, but unable to confirm their true identity with Dr. McFarland. I am looking forward to observing these upcoming weeks when I have hours rather than minutes to observe my aquarium and identify it's residents.
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