These are my final observations for the term project. The water level in the micro-aquarium is down by approximately half. In previous weeks the water had only dropped by about a quarter, which makes this much water loss seem strange. The red filamentous growth on the Amblestegium sp. is now visible to the unaided eye. Strangely enough, the growth only appears on the living sections of the plant. Also, the food pellet is almost entirely gone, leaving behind only a small amount of nearly-dissolved residue.
The Utricularia gibba is entirely dead and has even begun to deteriorate. The death of this carnivorous plant could possibly be attributed to the steady decline of overall protist activity with in the aquarium. With the exception of several remaining Seed Shrimp (Ostracoda) there is little activity of any kind. I witnessed 4 to 5 larger Ostracoda with in the substrate and 7 to 10 smaller ones just above the substrate surface. Strangely enough, I noticed no living Vorticella in the aquarium. This is unusual given their previous levels of abundance. The remains of several organisms, primarily Seed Shrimp, can be found with in the tangled plant remains. As I mentioned previously, there are little to no other living creatures left in the micro-aquarium. This rapid decline does raise some questions such as:
What caused the decrease in activity?
Why did the Utricularia gibba die so rapidly?
Is this related to the decline in other organims?
What has allowed the Ostracoda to continue on?
What happened to the overly abundant Vorticella?
Is it possible the beta food pellet was too much food for the fragile miniature ecosystem?
After observing I placed the micro-aquarium back on they tray. I did not worry to refill it as the experiment is now complete.
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