Start up of MicroAquarium

Creating a microaquarium was very interesting and very simple. I obtained water from dish two, which was from the French Braod River, some sediment, and two small masses of algea from dish two along with a few small peices of plant B. Immediately after setting the tank up and letting the sediment settle to the bottum I observed it under the microscope at 400x magnification. The first organisims that I noticed were parameciums and very small single celled oragnisims that wirled in circles and others zooming past the observing area with great speed. I also noticed two nematodes which looked like transparent worms wiggling through the sediment at the bottum of the tank. There were some stationary green organisms which I hypothised contained chloroiphyl. Probably the most interesting of the organisms that I oberserved was the rotifer which was stationary on plant B filter feeding, with what looked like two spinning propellers the spun very fast (Donner 1-71 ). It sucked debris toward and pushed some away with the propellers and ungulfed, what it prefered as food, into what looked like its mouth. The particles that it engulfed could be seen through its transparent body whirling around in its insides. This orgamism intriuged me very much and I'm sure it did and will to anyone else who veiws it in there aquarium.

Reference:
Donner, Josef. Rotifers. New York: Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd, 1966.