MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I was wondering if anyone has experience with Diatom Shop (www.diatomshop.com) and specifically their general strew slides. How would you rate the quality? The test slides get good reviews, so I'm curious if the strews are as good but unsorted / un-arranged.

Interested in strew slide quality as well (the test slide is excellent)

I too would like to know about the quality of the strew slide compared to the test slides. I see on their website in both cases they're mounted directly to the coverglass. Hoping someone here has ordered one (or perhaps both) and can shed some light on the subject. I plan on placing an order myself, but am a little unsure of which to get.

Sir wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:12 pm

I see on their website in both cases they're mounted directly to the coverglass.

Have no actual experience of Diatom Shop, but would like to say that the blurb (which includes the above mounting information) is not as unique in terms of technique as is made out.

That is not to say they are not well made, just that as in when buying a car, mention that it has an engine and four wheels should not necessarily sway us.

My only experience was an eMail exchange, when I asked for advice about extracting radiolarians from Barbados earth.
The answer was [reasonably enough] that his method was his intellectual property.

MichaelG.

No direct experience here but he seems to act quite business like.

@Michael: Do you need a starting point how to go ahead with you radiolaria block?

Bob

MicroBob wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 8:44 pm

@Michael: Do you need a starting point how to go ahead with you radiolaria block?

.

Yes please, Bob ... anything that you can offer using relatively non-hazardous chemicals

I have ‘disintegrated’ a few pieces using strong Acetic Acid, but have yet to devise a protocol for separating the radiolaria, and cleaning them any further.

MichaelG.

An alternative to vinegar is citric acid, found among spices on the Supermarket shelf.
None of them is as good as hydrochloric acid, though. Anyway, the freeze-thaw cycling is more appealing.

Zuul wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 08, 2020 12:33 am

I was wondering if anyone has experience with Diatom Shop (www.diatomshop.com) and specifically their general strew slides. How would you rate the quality? The test slides get good reviews, so I'm curious if the strews are as good but unsorted / un-arranged.

I can finally shed some light on this! Got myself a test slide and a strew slide. The labels confirm they are all mounted to the cover glass, but they appear to use different mountants. The test slide is diatom It is mounted perfectly flat, centered, and is a very clean sample. The strew slide has varying depths and a variety of whole and partial diatoms, but is also very clean. Both are excellent quality, with the strew being great value for money, and the test slide being ideal for consistent and repeatable tests.

I took some quick photos. Please forgive the quality, it's unedited and I was careful not to change the camera and aperture settings when comparing the slides. Imaged in brightfield using a 4x & 60x objective.