Week Two MicroAquarium Observations

 During this week’s observation I saw a large decline in living organisms, though there was a noticeable difference in life surrounding dead organisms.  Around the three dead organisms there was a high concentration of smaller organisms, seemingly eating away at the decomposing bodies.  The larger multi-celled and dead organisms were identified as a Midge (Ward 1918).  This midge was being taken advantage of by dozens of what were identified as Bodos (Patterson 1992). This was all taking place in the lower part of the aquarium and can be seen in the video at the top of this blog posting. Algae were also growing on the mosses and appeared to be healthy, while the mosses were losing color and appearing less healthy than my last observation.  The main other form of life noticed were worm like organisms living within the mosses.  Habitats used were mainly the dirt at the bottom of the container and throughout the aquarium water mosses.  Overall, from the last observation less movement and life was observed, and the number of predominant organisms has gone down.  This left many dead organisms, three observed, floating about in no specifically populated area.  

Identified Organisms:

Midge

Bodos