Micro Aquarium Week Two

I viewed my Micro Aquarium for the second time on Thursday October 25th at 11 am. This time, I got a lot of good pictures to share, and found a lot of really awesome changes to my organisms.

First off- the sac of eggs turned out to be Snails, not frog eggs. A couple have hatched so far and are growing and moving quickly.One can observe that they are feeding on the sides of the tank, as it is possible to see their mouths suck things up.

The Snails in the eggs (mollusks), that have not hatched yet, have grown much larger than they were a week prior. There is now a definite shape to the mollusk, and it is possible to now conclude that they are in fact snail eggs. 

Also, the snails that have hatched since last observed, have grown significantly, and hold a very distinct shape. They also have a very unique pattern on their shell, almost swirl- like bands going around their bodies.

 This is a view of a snail from its underside.

One can observe the snail's distinct pattern on its shell. The amazing thing about the snails is how many have hatched since just last week. I could hypothesize and say that by next week, the aquarium will be full of them.

The fully grown Snail (or snail shell) remains about the same as before. It appears there is nothing inside of it, as it has stayed in the same place since last observed, and has not seemed to make any more development or progress.

Next, the Midge has grown significantly longer. Here, one can observe how much larger it has gotten. 

In addition to all of these observations, I also encountered a Cyclops! It is a pretty ordinary cyclops. It swims around very fast, has small hairs poking out from it, and two sections on the back end of it which can be determined as mobilizers for the cyclops (something to help it move).

To get these pictures and observe the things I did, I used two different microscopes with two different cameras attached to them.
The first was a microscope with an Infinity 2, which uses a self-directed light source and captures a much more magnified picture.

The second was a Laborlux 11, with a sony camera attached to capture images.

So, what I observed this week is:

- The sac of eggs are snail eggs.

- Some of the eggs have hatched and I was able to observe the snails

- The snail shell is barren

- The Midge has gotten bigger!

- A new organism, the cyclops!!