Week 3 Observations

At the end of the third week of my MicroAquarium, I made new observations.  The organisms have thrived in both numbers and size.  Like last week, Rotifers are the dominant organisms that I observed, followed by bacteria.  This week, I observed the coolest organism yet, a Philodina rotifer.  The Philodina has a circular attatchment on the front of its body that looks like a saw blade spinning and chopping when it eats (picture 2).  Also this week, a food pellet was added to the MicroAquarium.  Information on the pellet:  "Atison's Betta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. Analysis: Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%.  I observed organisms swarming around the pellet feeding.  It was interesting to see how these organisms interact together.  I did not observe anything that looked like fighting over food or dominance.  I wasn't sure how well the organisms would get with the introduction of food (picture 1).  I will continue my observations next week and report back.