MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

After getting a moss sample from a friend I kept it in a Tupperware container (no lid) and after 4 days there is so much life swimming around. I also thought it would be a good time to play with my dark field patch stop.

A friend gave me a sample of moss from her garden a few days ago. I put the moss in to a Tupperware container (without the lid) and looked at some of the water under the microscope and all I could see was a nematode. Now, after the sample has been soaking for four days I took a drop of the water and...

Had coffee with a friend and she had a present for me, what do you get a friend who’s an amateur microscopist? She presented me a lovely little box. Inside was a ziplock bag with a big sample of moss from her garden. Best gift I’ve been give. The moss was already wet but when I got home I put it in ...

I think it’s a ciliate from the colony I shared the other day: https://www.microbehunter.com/microsco ... =6&t=19220

Therefore, if anything is past its expiration date, it should not be used. Everything under the microscope makes us worry about our health gorilla tag I’ve become a little paranoid about ‘best by’ dates and keeping everything in the fridge, even the things I’d previously just have kept in the cupbo...

Bruce Taylor wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 04, 2023 6:14 pm

There are ciliates that form reproductive cysts, which are a little like egg sacks.

I will have to read up more on this, it’s all so fascinating, there’s always so much more to learn.

What was the magnification? Stereo microscopes aren't that powerful. I have a zoom stereo microscope, the magnification was somewhere between the 3 and 4. I guess approaching 40x equivalent to compound microscope. I was just using the stereo microscope to do a quick scan of the soil in a Petri dish...

Yeah, the specific petrographic ones tend to be realllllly pricey but don't let it discourage you. Cheap simple polarization will do what you need. I did buy a sheet of linear polarising plastic as well as having two radial polarising filters for my camera. Cutting the plastic sheet into two works ...

Yes, a ciliate feeding frenzy. :) The usual suspect in a scene of this kind would be a histophagous (tissue-eating) Tetrahymena . Just googled them, yes they look very similar. Thank you for the ID. It makes far more sense that a colony of these Tetrahymena should form around a food source than my ...

Thank you, both answers makes sense.

Thanks for info. I’ll keep an eye on eBay.

Most of the discussions centre around biological specimens, who’d have guessed that on a discussion board called ‘Microbehunter.com’? My son asked if we could get some prepared petrographic microscope slides and I was just wondering if anyone knows of an online source I could buy some from. Thanks, ...

I’m always amazed how the microscope can reveal the mysteries of nature. Even the humble cucumber has secrets to reveal under our microscopes. Wonderful!

I took a sample of soil from a new pot plant, I was looking for nematodes under the stereo microscope, didn’t find any but I did spot this. I have no idea what it is, if I didn’t know that ciliates reproduce by mitosis I would swear this is some kind of egg sack producing a bunch of ciliates, althou...

The vendor who locked you ( micropunter) into this cascade of added fees...that vendor should have honestly beforehand noted the added fees. This a total abuse of seller platforms. There really are some unscrupulous sellers out there but I don’t think this one was doing that. I went back and looked...

Not doing so is overly optimistic. More naive than optimistic I’d say. In hindsight I should have anticipated some extra charges but I don’t order things from overseas very often. But this hobby is all about learning new things, it has introduced me to a new world and new way of seeing the old worl...

According to J. B. S. Haldane (British/Indian polymath), cancer is a funny thing. Personally, I didn’t find anything funny about it! But I did like Haldane’s poem: I wish I had the voice of Homer To sing of rectal carcinoma, Which kills a lot more chaps, in fact, Then were bumped off when Troy was s...

And your location is? Sorry, I should have made it clear, although I though the pound sign might have been a clue, but I’m in the UK. I think it would be very useful to discuss such issues as warrantees when buy across international borders. I really didn’t expect a surprise £61 extra charge from c...

I just bought a set of standard 160 DIN plan objectives from America. They had 4x, 10x, 20x, 40x, 60x and 100x but I decided not to get the 20x, so just five others. They were $50 each plus UPS shipping. Sounded like a great deal but I just found out there’s a £61 customs charge to be paid at delive...

I was looking at some prepared histology slides of rat tissues and this rat’s oesophagus strangely resembles a silhouette of Queen Victoria.
(very few rats were harmed in the making of this slide.)

I just discovered a short, free, course offered by the Open University, I believe it is only available to residents of the UK sadly. The course title is: ‘ Histology, microscopy, anatomy and disease’ https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/histology-microscopy-anatomy-and-disease/con...

Yes, Das Leben is a handy little guide. :) Keep in mind, though, that it shows only a tiny fraction of the real diversity in fresh water, and that the taxonomy is outdated. The same goes for most such "field guides," unfortunately. Yes, thank you for pointing that out, it’s a valid point. Even thou...

In several videos, Microbehunter has suggested the German book ‘Das Leben im Wassertropfen’ to aid identification. I recently got a copy from Amazon and it is very good, some of the drawings are beautiful. I speak a little German but much of the book is way beyond my language skills but that doesn’t...

I was watching one of MicrobeHunter’s brilliant videos the other day and he mentioned that you could use blue ink and a white flower. I didn’t have any blue ink, only red and black ink. I also didn’t have a white flower only a red carnation. As the flower was red I decided to use my black ink, just ...

Just to confirm what you said about Brunel microscopes. I have never had anything but fantastic service from them. Yes, Frankie’s, Brunel Microscopes really do offer a fantastic service. Not only do they actually email you back if you ask a question, something some other companies don’t always do, ...

Nice piece of equipment. It is, thanks, the staff at Brunel suggested it after I told them what I wanted. I’m really pleased with it. Microbehunter, in one of his marvellous videos, talked about stereo microscopes and I thought “yep, I want to see that too.” The views through the eyepieces are stun...

Why did you mention: "Olivers sister ", in you post?!! Who are you?!! I was referencing a video were Microbehunter mentioned a visit from his sister and nephew and she said all his prepared slides looked the same and he had to explain why they weren’t all the same. When I look at something under th...

I’m relatively new to microscopy and biology. I haven’t studied biology since my O’ Levels 40 years ago. When I first bought my microscope I also got a couple sets of prepared slides and I loved looking at the pretty pictures under my microscope but, like Oliver’s sister, I didn’t know enough to app...

Just took delivery of a great Brunel BMDZ LED Stand stereo microscope. I have never used a stereo microscope before and I really wasn’t prepared for the incredible sight of a spider through the eyepieces. It was absolutely glorious and the camera view on my computer just can not compare. I had no id...

Sugar crystals seen under the microscope with circular polarisation filters (I’ve just ordered some linear filters as I got the circular ones by mistake).

Kevin