In the beginning...

...there was life. Inside a tiny aquarium. Comprised of two sheets of glass and some silicone.

Ok, enough nonsense. This past Wednesday, our lab class set up Microaquariums (Microaquarii?). These are basically aquariums for the study of microscopic organisms, and while I stupidly thought that we'd be receiving a 5 gallon aquarium with some Neon Tetras, it turns out that you need to be able to stick this thing onto a microscope stage (which probably doesn't work so well with a 5 gallon aquarium).

The way that we did this was to:

1.      Obtain a MicroAquarium™.  It will have a glass tank, a stand holder and lid.
2.      Using the color dots provided, code your tank as follows.
a.       On the left hand side edge, place three colored dots in a vertical column as follows
                                                              i.      The top dot will be the color designated for your lab section.
                                                            ii.      The second dot will indicate the table you sit at during lab.
                                                          iii.      The third dot will be the seat number at your table.
b.      Now write your initials on the three colored dots.
3.      Using a pipette, extract water from one of the containers on the lab bench or from water sources in the greenhouse or from the extraction you have created.
a.       Extract enough water from the bottom of the container to fill the MicroAquarium™ tank about 1/3 full.
b.      Extract the next 1/3 of water for your tank from the middle layer.
c.       Then fill the rest of your tank with water from the surface.
4.      Place your tank in its stand, then decorate it with some plant parts or mosses or other objects provided. 

I chose water from the pond at the UT Hospital, which is apparently some sort of storm sewer sediment pond. The reason I chose it was because Dr. McFarland said that it had been treated with copper sulfate (an algacide) , giving it a bluish cast, yet it still had loads of algae growing in it, specifically Chara sp., a green alga in the family Characeae. The pond is located near Cherokee Trail in Knox County, Knoxville. It gets full sun exposure. The GPS coordinates are N35 56.305 W83 56.717, elevation 850 ft. The water sample was extracted on 10/9/2012 (McFarland, 2012).
I then proceeded to put three types of plants into the little tank. I had a nice little layer of sediment in there, so I decided to draw upon my extensive experience as an amateur aquarist (read: goldfish killer) and setup the plants just right so that it looked like a teensy forest.
First, I added Amblastegium sp., a moss, which was collected at a natural spring in Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Rd, Knox County. This site has a partial shade exposure and is located at N36 01.168 W83 42.832. It was grabbed at 10/9/2012 (McFarland, 2012). This plant was beautiful and looked like a miniature Anacharis. It is the far right plant in the above photograph.
The next plant added (all the way on the left in the above image) was Utricularia gibba, a flowering carnivorous plant, common name bladder wort. It was originally collected at the south shore of Spain Lake (N36055 12.35 W088020 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd., which is east of Sparta, TN in White County, but apparently mine came from the tanks behind Hesler Biology Building (McFarland, 2012). I don't care, because BLADDER WORT EATS THINGS!! It's like the plant from "Little Shop of Horrors", only it does a LOT less singing. I do wish Steve Martin would make a guest appearance though.
The third plant I put into my Tank of Doom was a Myriophyllum Spicatum, or Parrot Feather. They are the two little feathery plants in the middle of the tank in the above image. M. Spicatum was found in the Holston River along John Sevier Highway under the I40 Bridge, with partial shade exposure in the Holston River watershed at N36 00.527 W83 49.549, 823 ft. elevation on 10/29/2011 (McFarland, 2012).
I am excited about this project. I looked at this under the microscope and saw a world of life invisible to the naked eye. An epic life or death battle was being waged at microscopic level. I saw several little organisms with flagella flying around like angry space invaders, some organisms which were just spinning in place, and I even saw an organism that looked like a jewel-encrusted crown. The bladder wort had apparently been hungry, because its bellies were full of sad little creatures trying to get out, desperately banging against the cilia-coated walls of their fleshy prison. I watched this (with glee) and wondered at the wisdom of being a tiny organism and swimming into a dark hole when there are just so many other places to go.

I can't wait to see more, and to take photographs and video.

Bibliography:

1. McFarland, Ken [Internet]. Botany 111 Fall 2012; 2012. [cited October 2012] Available from: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com/