I have been meaning to post details on this for a while now, so I have finally got round to it.
@dansreef Created a topic on how useful having a microscope is in identifying potential issues and I couldn't agree more.
So often we see a photo of a sand bed with the question what is this brown stuff? Diatoms? Dinoflagellates? Cyanobacteria? Frankly who knows without taking a sample and examining under a microscope.
I picked up this cheap USB microscope for £12.53 from China. My thought process at the time was, it cost next to nothing so if it does turn out to be junk I wouldn't be upset about it.
The first problem I encountered was the fact that the software came on a small CD and I no longer have a computer with a CD/DVD drive on.
So with a bit of hunting around, I managed to download the software, which was called Gaosuo.
My next challenge came with installing the darn software! After a bit more googling, I discovered that I needed to change the system locale to Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan) and reboot.
Note that I am using Windows 7 still and I imagine there would be compatibility issues with other later versions of Windows and I don't have a clue about Mac OS compatibility.
After the reboot, I went ahead and installed the software successfully and was able to start using my microscope.
This first screenshots are at the lowest magnification level and this is what the software looks like from a GUI perspective.
The sample chosen here is a small piece of live rock, suspended in some of my tank water. As you can see we have a small tuft of algae and some spirorbis.
The next pictures are at maximum magnification and focusing of the algae strands and the spirorbis.
As you can see, we are able to see the individual stands and the spirorbis' extending its filter feeding tenticles.
So to summarise, this cheap little microscope, isn't the best in the world, but for what I need with regards my reef, it serves a purpose and does the job it was intended for, so gets a thumbs up from me and was well worth the £12.53 I spent on it.
@dansreef Created a topic on how useful having a microscope is in identifying potential issues and I couldn't agree more.
So often we see a photo of a sand bed with the question what is this brown stuff? Diatoms? Dinoflagellates? Cyanobacteria? Frankly who knows without taking a sample and examining under a microscope.
I picked up this cheap USB microscope for £12.53 from China. My thought process at the time was, it cost next to nothing so if it does turn out to be junk I wouldn't be upset about it.
The first problem I encountered was the fact that the software came on a small CD and I no longer have a computer with a CD/DVD drive on.
So with a bit of hunting around, I managed to download the software, which was called Gaosuo.
My next challenge came with installing the darn software! After a bit more googling, I discovered that I needed to change the system locale to Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan) and reboot.
Note that I am using Windows 7 still and I imagine there would be compatibility issues with other later versions of Windows and I don't have a clue about Mac OS compatibility.
After the reboot, I went ahead and installed the software successfully and was able to start using my microscope.
This first screenshots are at the lowest magnification level and this is what the software looks like from a GUI perspective.
The sample chosen here is a small piece of live rock, suspended in some of my tank water. As you can see we have a small tuft of algae and some spirorbis.
The next pictures are at maximum magnification and focusing of the algae strands and the spirorbis.
As you can see, we are able to see the individual stands and the spirorbis' extending its filter feeding tenticles.
So to summarise, this cheap little microscope, isn't the best in the world, but for what I need with regards my reef, it serves a purpose and does the job it was intended for, so gets a thumbs up from me and was well worth the £12.53 I spent on it.
