Microscopy Thread

[EnterName]

Post #51 shows a hydroid in its medusa form (jellyfish-like).
I was fortunate enough to find a different hydroid form in my tank today. Usually it is impossible to find these things in older tanks, but since I have upgraded tanks these things pop up again.

You might have seen these white or transparent tentacles in your tank. They like to attach to reef rock and irritate corals:

(Semi-Transparent "tentacle" moving in the current)
​

Bulkreefsupply has a better image which they attribute to Reef2Reef, but I did not find the original source yet.

(The very same tentacle under a microscope)​

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Certainly not the most impressive image, but I feel like documenting different algae types is a decent idea so people can compare what they have found on their live rock. This is a piece of macro algae (Halymenia durvillei to be specific). It's a quite nice looking red macro algae that is growing in my sump. As my tank has very low nutrient levels I don't really need macro algae, but I'm keeping this one because it looks nice.

(Branched Halymenia - Halymenia durvillei - "Dragon's breath")​

I'm always a fan of this sort of documentation (even with species that the documentation already exists for); it's a lot of work, but I always appreciate when I find sites or studies with pics of a species at a few different levels of closeness: like one of the full algae; one of a single "leaf" of the algae; one of any macroscopic specific unusual features common to the species; general microscopic features; specific microscopic features, etc.

 

[EnterName]

Certainly not the most impressive image, but I feel like documenting different algae types is a decent idea so people can compare what they have found on their live rock. This is a piece of macro algae (Halymenia durvillei to be specific). It's a quite nice looking red macro algae that is growing in my sump. As my tank has very low nutrient levels I don't really need macro algae, but I'm keeping this one because it looks nice.

(Branched Halymenia - Halymenia durvillei - "Dragon's breath")​

I'm always a fan of this sort of documentation (even with species that the documentation already exists for); it's a lot of work, but I always appreciate when I find sites or studies with pics of a species at a few different levels of closeness: like one of the full algae; one of a single "leaf" of the algae; one of any macroscopic specific unusual features common to the species; general microscopic features; specific microscopic features, etc.

Thank you,

I'm aware that I'm not doing anything new or of actual scientific value here, but I think posts like the "common hitchhiker guide" or "dinoflagellate identification guide" are more accessible to reef keepers than studies or huge books (often behind paywalls) for which you already have to know what you are looking at in order to find what you just discovered in your tank.

Maybe some day I can summarize this thread into a guide as well. I would be really happy if people started using my images for identification purposes just like the hitchhiker and dinoflagellate guide

Maybe I should include bright-field images for every post as DIC won't be available to most

 

[Alexraptor]

Cool thread! The sharpest microscope image I've managed to capture, is one of this polychaete-larvae that was swarming in one of my tanks, a few years ago. No idea what it actually is.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Thank you,

I'm aware that I'm not doing anything new or of actual scientific value here, but I think posts like the "common hitchhiker guide" or "dinoflagellate identification guide" are more accessible to reef keepers than studies or huge books (often behind paywalls) for which you already have to know what you are looking at in order to find what you just discovered in your tank.

Maybe some day I can summarize this thread into a guide as well. I would be really happy if people started using my images for identification purposes just like the hitchhiker and dinoflagellate guide

Maybe I should include bright-field images for every post as DIC won't be available to most

I actually think including both would make it even more useful. DIC images are fantastic for revealing detail but having the corresponding bright field image gives people something they can realistically compare with what they see through a standard microscope.

 

[EnterName]

Thank you,

I'm aware that I'm not doing anything new or of actual scientific value here, but I think posts like the "common hitchhiker guide" or "dinoflagellate identification guide" are more accessible to reef keepers than studies or huge books (often behind paywalls) for which you already have to know what you are looking at in order to find what you just discovered in your tank.

Maybe some day I can summarize this thread into a guide as well. I would be really happy if people started using my images for identification purposes just like the hitchhiker and dinoflagellate guide

Maybe I should include bright-field images for every post as DIC won't be available to most

I actually think including both would make it even more useful. DIC images are fantastic for revealing detail but having the corresponding bright field image gives people something they can realistically compare with what they see through a standard microscope.

Yes, if I post bright-field images I most certainly will still include DIC. It just looks so much better