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 where I also added this video)​

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!

 

[EnterName]

Cyanobacteria
(Family: Oscillatoriales?)​

I ordered a small amount of live rock to see what I would find on rocks coming from a different tank. This is one of the first things I found that was actually willing to let me get a decent recording of it. It's a fairly large filamentous cyanobacteria colony compared to the ones I showed in post #52 on page 3.

Going by size, shape, and movement, I can only assume that it belongs to the Oscillatoriales family, but bacteria identification is really tough and I haven't looked too deeply into it. You can clearly see the individual segments the colony is made of.

Common Name	Cyanos / Cyanobacteria
Classification	Family: Oscillatoriales?
Verdict	Attention (harmful when the population explodes)
Size	50μm - 500μm (length), 3μm - 12μm (diameter)
Found	Substrate, Rockwork, Decaying coral tissue
Rarity	Obligatory/Pest (depending on tank rare, common, or abundant)

(x1000 magnification with new PL APO objective)​

 

[RobertK]

Look what I found crawling around among the diatoms and ciliates in my sandbed. I do believe it is another tardigrade! Caught this one on video at 400X.

 

[EnterName]

Look what I found crawling around among the diatoms and ciliates in my sandbed. I do believe it is another tardigrade! Caught this one on video at 400X.

Cute little fella . I was confused by the "antennae" at first but some tardigrades actually have sensory "cirri" and "clavae". Never saw one before that has them. They appear to be very rare in my tank so I never recorded them but if I find one I Will definitely need a dedicated post.

 

[EnterName]

Cryptic Sponge
(Phylum: Porifera)
​

Another cryptic sponge. This one grew on my tank's piping where there is almost no light. Most of the sponges in my tank are more or less colorless, so I immediately noticed that this might be a different variety. Judging from the spicule shape (see images below), I hadn't put one of these under my microscope before, so I thought I'd document my discovery, even if I'm not able to say much about its classification.

(Yellow/Orange sponge)
​

Common Name	Sponge
Calssification	Phylum: Porifera
Verdict	Unknown, but cryptic sponges won't overgrow corals, so their toxin production is the only potential danger I can see.
Size	Unknown, this one approx. 1cm (0.4") diameter
Found	Cryptic zones (e.g. filter sump)
Rarity	Unknown

(Needle-like sponge spicules "Subtylostyle" or "Tylostyle")​

With this shape I might actually be able to narrow down the classification a bit in the future, but usually the "microscleres" (basically a secondary set of spicules that's much smaller) help a lot more with identification. I didn't go through the whole process of dissolving the sponge to check for any microscleres, though.

I found quite a few of these blobs in the sponge. I'm not yet sure what they are. Maybe oocytes, a new developing sponge, larvae, I don't know.

The very small "heads" with long flagella make me think these are male sponge gametes, but I couldn't confirm it. I just weren't able to find any decent comparison images. My browser history looks like SpongeBob just discovered adult films, but I still have not found any references...

As you can see, I'll have to revisit this post someday, since there are too many unknowns and I haven't had enough time to look more deeply into it (and it would also require another specimen to perform the necessary tests).

 

[RobertK]

Found this little guy on a microscope slide I left on my sandbed for a couple days (your Submerged Microscopy Slide Test from post #201 - great technique and highly recommended for anyone with a scope - thanks for the tip @Dan_P and @EnterName!). Anyway this one looked different from any other worm I've seen so I thought it was worth posting. This is 200X.

 

[Dan_P]

IFound this little guy on a microscope slide I left on my sandbed for a couple days (your Submerged Microscopy Slide Test from post #201 - great technique and highly recommended for anyone with a scope - thanks for the tip @Dan_P and @EnterName!). Anyway this one looked different from any other worm I've seen so I thought it was worth posting. This is 200X.

Great photo!

 

[EnterName]

Found this little guy on a microscope slide I left on my sandbed for a couple days (your Submerged Microscopy Slide Test from post #201 - great technique and highly recommended for anyone with a scope - thanks for the tip @Dan_P and @EnterName!). Anyway this one looked different from any other worm I've seen so I thought it was worth posting. This is 200X.

Ah, a familiar face

Page 1, Post #12:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/microscopy-thread.1138845/post-14059270