Microscopy Thread

[EnterName]

Submerged Microscopy Slide Test
(48 hours)​

Edit: This post isn't correctly displayed in the app, use a browser instead!

Dan_P told me about a really interesting approach to see what kind of organisms are establishing on new surface area. It's very simple: you submerge a clean microscope slide in your tank and take a closer look from time to time. This is what I found after the first 48h:

(I assume it's some Trachelocercidae? ciliate surrounded by diatoms and some green micro algae, see page 6, post #93)​

I also found more cf. Amphidinium cells in resting cysts. Some of them didn't move at all, while others slowly rotated like I've observed before.

(cf. Amphidinium in resting cyst? See page 1, post #3)
​

Attached to the microscope slide I saw some encrusting algae starting to appear (see page 10, post #184) and what appears to be cyanobacteria, though I'm not entirely sure yet.

What I found most interesting were the potential Tetraselmis cells on the slide. I'm currently culturing Tetraselmis suecica (see page 10, post #190) and would be very pleasantly surprised if plankton actually managed to survive for multiple days in significant numbers in my tank. Usually I get the feeling that most of the phytoplankton we add gets instantly removed by the skimmer or eaten. Tetraselmis's ability to actively move with its flagella might give it an advantage here, letting it swim to the bottom of the tank where it won't get driven into the overflow, as long as it attaches to something or stays in a low flow area.

(cf. Tetraselmis)​

 

[RobertK]

Submerged Microscopy Slide Test
(48 hours)​

Edit: This post isn't correctly displayed in the app, use a browser instead!

Dan_P told me about a really interesting approach to see what kind of organisms are establishing on new surface area. It's very simple: you submerge a clean microscope slide in your tank and take a closer look from time to time. This is what I found after the first 48h:

(I assume it's some Trachelocercidae? ciliate surrounded by diatoms and some green micro algae, see page 6, post #93)​

I also found more cf. Amphidinium cells in resting cysts. Some of them didn't move at all, while others slowly rotated like I've observed before.

(cf. Amphidinium in resting cyst? See page 1, post #3)
​

Attached to the microscope slide I saw some encrusting algae starting to appear (see page 10, post #184) and what appears to be cyanobacteria, though I'm not entirely sure yet.

What I found most interesting were the potential Tetraselmis cells on the slide. I'm currently culturing Tetraselmis suecica (see page 10, post #190) and would be very pleasantly surprised if plankton actually managed to survive for multiple days in significant numbers in my tank. Usually I get the feeling that most of the phytoplankton we add gets instantly removed by the skimmer or eaten. Tetraselmis's ability to actively move with its flagella might give it an advantage here, letting it swim to the bottom of the tank where it won't get driven into the overflow, as long as it attaches to something or stays in a low flow area.

(cf. Tetraselmis)​

What a great idea. I'm going to try this!