MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

It's clearly a heterotrich, so definitely not Geleia or Tracheloraphis . Freshwater or salt? Anigsteinia & Gruberia are marine genera. If this was found in freshwater, my first suspicion would be Pseudoblepharisma . If it's a Spirostomum , it's not a mature specimen (body proportions are wrong, and...

I've had pretty good luck with "ROR" (Residual Oil Remover) lens cleaner. MSDS on it shows a tiny bit of ammonia (.775%), a fair small amount (just over 4%) of isopropyl alcohol, 9% soaps (maybe the same as above), distilled water, and a tiny bit of sodium chloride. The salt is a puzzle to me. Does...

For cleaning I am a big fan of using ultra pure water. For grease and oil petroleum ether. Very rarely I would use isopropanol.

Thanks Jan, I was thinking about one of the following: Grubberia, Anigsteinia, Geleia and Tracheloraphis.


edit: I think you got it right, it has features very reminiscent of Spirostomum

Any idea what species this is?

Beautiful fluorescent images of Paramecium - bravo. Cheers RB Thank your Rob! I have to remember to follow your advice regarding fluorescence microscopy and shoot in raw format next time. I recall you posting at some point about how one could mimic deconvolution by shooting in raw and then altering...

Thank you hkv!

Thank you everyone for the interest and kind comments. Can you give me any idea (order of magnitude: minutes, hours, days) of how long it takes from completion of conjugation to completion of the programmed nuclear death process - i.e. complete resorption of the fragments of the old MAC? I wasn't su...

Cool video. I've always wanted to find this organism. What kind of pond or ditch you found it at?

Ciliates exhibit what is known as nuclear dimorphism where usually two (or more) nuclei co-exist. One, the micronucleus (MIC) is transcriptionally silent and acts as a germline carrier i.e. carries all the information required to make a new organism. The macronucleus (MAC) on the other hand, develop...

The Junior was my first microscope and I have very fond memories of it. Its built like a tank and will probably outlast you, very robust design and quality optics.

Have fun with your new scope

The regular shutter cycle of my Canon 50D produces a terrible mess but it has an electronic shutter with live view shooting option. Even then the live preview is a tad bit sharper than the final image (which is why I've been thinking about uncoupling the camera from the microscope but haven't gotten...

I wouldn't buy that microscope. It doesn't appear to be in a very good condition. I do see the seller set the objectives on the surface threaded side up instead of down. Every time I see objectives resting on their front lens I cringe a bit and generally assume the seller is not particularly compete...

Be careful with old lenses and oil. The cement holding the front lens gets old and could leak oil inside your lens. Wes, I tore down and cleaned about a half dozen B&L oil immersion lenses from the early to mid 20th century and I found those pretty well sealed. Maybe I got lucky! This particular on...

mrsonchus wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 28, 2020 9:11 pm

I think it goes between the specimen and the analyser. On my BX50 it sits under the analyser and may be slid in/out.

By design yes but you get the same effect if you put it between the polarizer and specimen.

Great documentation! These are calcium sulfate crystals that jiggle around due to Brownian motion.

No wonder you crashed into your slide I actually was reaching for the condenser to move it out of the way without looking. I accidentally grabbed and turned the course focus knob. I had been working with it for a while and still had room. I use my oil imm. a lot so I'm very comfortable with little ...

Maryfox wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 28, 2020 8:28 pm

where do I put it?

Somewhere between the polarizer and analyser.

Really nice!

Whats the overlap between the stacked shots that you stitch together?

Most kind KD and Sabatini. Thank you for you interest and reply.

Thank you janvangastel and Kirby

Element 56 wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 26, 2020 7:24 pm

What stacking software are you using?

Here I used Photoshop to stack the three images.

A fossil diatom from the island of Mors (Denmark) that I mounted in pleurax. A stack of 3 images.

Thanks 75', its good to see people being interested in this technique.

Thank you very much for the ID Bruce. From my brief search Tetrahymena rostrata seems to be commonly found in dead rotifers. Is this common for other Tetrahymena species as well. Yes, many Tetrahymena species are at least somewhat "histophagous", which is to say they eat tissues of dead or failing ...

Thank you janvangastel. The colorful contrast is merely a side effect of this technique, the intended method of use involves monochromatic light.

Thanks for the kind remark Tom.

Nice video and interesting specimen. How do you go about identification? You seem to nail a lot of these.

Thank you very much for the ID Bruce.

From my brief search Tetrahymena rostrata seems to be commonly found in dead rotifers. Is this common for other Tetrahymena species as well.

abednego1995 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:35 am

Brilliant movie!
Jamin-Lebedev interference?

Thanks abednego1995. Yes, JL interference contrast.