New to reef2reef

redfishbluefish · Dec 28, 2017

Welcome @JonB . What part of the country do you teach? I could certainly supply primordial soup from my old tank.

revhtree · Dec 28, 2017

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

We're happy to have you as a part of our reefing family!

JonB · Dec 28, 2017

redfishbluefish said:
Welcome @JonB . What part of the country do you teach? I could certainly supply primordial soup from my old tank.

I am in South Florida. As soon as we get back from winter break I will send you a pm about where a sample can be sent. If it's a water sample then we can stain the microorganisms (bacteria) and take a look and post what we see. We can also take a look at any algae or larger aquarium "bugs" that might be in the sample. Thanks!

JonB · Jan 8, 2018

Now that school is back in session for the semester, I would like to offer anyone interested a chance to send in any samples they want and I will have my students take images (or video) using high quality microscopes (phase contrast) and I will post them or send them your way (I will only post them with your permission but we will give you and your tank credit). These samples can be algae, unknown bacteria (we will stain them for free), cyanobacteria, diatoms, etc... if it is small, we will be happy to take digital images. It could be a small amount of your aquarium water (even 1ml) and/or some sediment, and/or some "slime" or detritus. This is not a retail service and there is no charge- I am using it to help students understand microscopy better and at the same time they would be helping the community. That being said, I cannot promise amazing images or guarantee results. If you ship it to us, we will image it but if it takes a long time to ship then the sample might not represent what is actually in your tank and things might be dead and decaying. You would have to pay for shipping and can determine the best route for you specifically. If interested, send me a PM and I can give you shipping/address info. Let me know if you have any questions and we look forward to helping any way we can!