And so it begins...

Let it be know to the world that on October 15, 2013, Hunter Herrin began his MicroAqarium, and it. was. awesome.

It all started when we were taken to the top floor of Hesler and given a glass tank with a holder and a lid. I took three dots and put them in the top left corner one under the other. These dots represent my lab section, table, and seat number. Then I wrote my initial on the dots. (They're HCH so don't mess with my aquarium... OR ELSE)

Using a pipet, I took water from the container nearest to me and began to put it in my aquarium. The container contained water and dirt from the Tennessee River at the boat ramp across from the sewer plant (McFarland 2013). The first third of my aquarium consisted of water and dirt from the bottom layer of the container. The next third was from the middle layer of water, and the last third was from the top layer of water.
I put the tank on its stand and began to decorate it with plant parts. I used Amblystgium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg, a moss collected from a natural spring at Carter's Mill Park, and Fontinalis spp, a moss collected from Holston River along the John Sevier Hwy under the I-40 bridge (McFarland 2013). Then I put the lid on the container, and took a look at what was going to be my project for the next four weeks.

Next thing to do was look at it under the microscope. I took of the lid and stand and gently laid it down on the microscope stage. At first all I could see were the plants I put in and the dirt from the bottom of the tank. I couldn't see anything moving. So, I upped the intensity of the microscope. Finally, I started seeing things. I could see a lot of algae by the dirt or actually on it. Then, I saw something that resembled a protozoa that was attached to some of the moss. It had hairs around it and they were moving very fast, and moving the water around it. As, I was looking at the protozoa, something hit it. It was really fast, and I could only see it in my view for an instant. I tried to follow it, but it was too fast. Finally, I got to see a better look at it. I'm not entirely sure what it was, but I believe it was some kind of rotifer. Last, but not least I saw a clear bug hanging out in the dirt. It moved fast too, but I think it was some sort of mite.

DAY ONE DOWN!!!! Four more weeks to go! Join me next time as I explore the wondrous worlds that lay in my aquarium in WEEK 2. Get hyped.