What I Found in Alley Pond

A little pond in Alley Pond park, near Grand Central Pkway, gets my attention on August 25th, 2019.

My son found some frogs here.

 I take samples from that pond.

The sample of water comes with seed shrimp, cyclops, and daphnia that I recognize right away.

I also pick some plants with dirt.
Different tiny critters like to rest on plants.

 So, picking plants is a sure way to get those critters ;)

Most tiny critters are attracted to light.
That is where algae grows.

So, I keep nurseries with critters on a windowsill exposed to direct sunlight.

Cover it to reduce evaporation.

Here is a closeup view of a daphnia.
 It is scared by a seed shrimp.
 Okay, here is another one.

 I move the sample into a larger nursery.

Add dechlorinated water.

The plant in this sample comes with filamentous algae.
It's very difficult to remove filamentous algae from an aquarium.

 I add a pinch of homemade fish food flakes to boost algae growth.

 I notice something that looks like a nymph or larvae of some insect.

Nymphs eat other nymphs and whatever small critters they can catch.

 Here is a closeup view of the nymph.
There are a lot of critters for the nymph to eat.

I add a mulberry leaf on September 1st.

September 3rd.
Aulophorus vaga aquatic case-carrying worms show themselves in the past week.

September 14th, 2019
The filamentous algae is already taking over the entire nursery.
It's great for critters, but...well...I don't need filamentous algae in my aquariums.

I use a pipette to move some critters into another nursery avoiding filamentous algae.
 I should have it done it the first day when I got this sample.
It would be simpler then.
The rest of the sample has to be discarded.

 September 26th, 2019
It's been about a month since I took the sample.
There are no signs of filamentous algae.

Now I can build a larger nursery to culture daphnia and seed shrimp.
In the mean time, I add some common green algae to feed all those critters.

 Here you can see a case-carrying worm.
 There are a lot of seed shrimp.
Seed shrimp feed on any organic materials.
 They are ultimate survivalists.

Let's see if I can show you daphnia.
Aha, right here!
Daphnia feeds mostly on common green algae.

Here is the nursery 2 days later on September 28th with crystal clear water.

Have fun and happy aquariums :)