Paramecium in the dirted tank

I just started a 20 gal dirted tank 3 weeks ago. For the past couple of weeks a cloudy haze, looked like fog, was covering some areas in the gravel. I assumed that it was the clay that was in the soil settling ( I only have a sponge filter in the tank). I took a closer look at it today with a 15x magnifying glass and saw that this "cloud" looked like tiny creatures in a school. I looked closer under a microscope and they were in fact paramecium. Just wondering if anyone else has had anything similar. I thought it was pretty interesting. The tank is planted right now and has no fish/inverts.

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by GSP on February 27, 2012 at 2:03am

Thats pretty interesting indeed! In the aquarium hobby, these would generally be called infusoria instead. One of the first thing breeders use to feed species with extremely small egg-hatched fish fry.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jurdak on February 27, 2012 at 12:53pm

Exactly. Infusoria is a collection of aquatic creatures, including paramecia, and unicellular algae. I am regularly making infusoria for my fry, but this is the purest culture of just parameciums I have seen. The "schooling" behavior is fascinating to watch. I can actually observe thousands deciding to dive into the substrate all at once. It looks like rolling smoke. Taking a closer look, the ones at the front of the surge curl to the back of the group. Very neat.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lewie on February 27, 2012 at 9:41pm

That is so interesting! I don't know if you have the capabilities but if so, would you want to post a video of them moving? That just sounds really cool. If not possibly a picture or two?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jurdak on February 28, 2012 at 6:28pm

I will try to get a video together. I can get an image under 15x magnification so you can get a close up of what I am talking about.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jurdak on March 3, 2012 at 9:21am

Here is the video. The first part of the video is under 15x magnification. If you look closely you can see the "dust particles" or paramecium flow down then curl to the back of the group.

http://youtu.be/CRBgUrvu1G8

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by GSP on March 3, 2012 at 4:25pm

wow thats really strange and interesting. Looks like you should breed a fish I guess, lol!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lewie on March 3, 2012 at 4:28pm

That is really awesome! Do you have any idea how it happened in the first place? I want to try lol.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jurdak on March 3, 2012 at 5:33pm

It is a 20 gallon tank, I put miracle grow organic potting soil in, didn't wet it down, capped it with black aquarium rocks, placed two small pieces of drift wood, java moss crypts, ludwigia, rotala indica, and dwarf sag. Have a sponge filter and temperature set for 72 degrees. That was my recipe. The pH seemed to stay around 6.5 to 6.6 as well.

I will be breeding some of my rainbows very soon, once my pH stabilizes a little bit.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on March 4, 2012 at 9:17am

I'm very impressed that you took the trouble to look at them under a microscope. Curiosity is a big part of what makes the aquarium hobby so much fun. And you've given me one more reason to love dirted tanks.

Speaking of curiosity... how did you know they were paramecium? From a picture you remembered in biology class?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jurdak on March 4, 2012 at 7:23pm

One of my family members is a lab tech and has a lot of biology books. I was able to get my hands on a pretty good microscope that their lab was going to toss out. Also, there is a lot of info on the internet as well.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on March 4, 2012 at 7:44pm

I love the scientific aspect of the hobby but I lose patience easily if the research bogs me down or takes me into a million different directions. I love your science though. Excellent stuff Jurdak.