Greetings from Iceland!

[snowbear]

Hello everyone! I've been lurking here for a while and I finally got my first compact microscope. It's nothing special but it's trinocular so I can take pictures and post them with my phone. I use an Omano OM36. I really am fond of tardigrades and I hope I can be able to cultivate them. The biggest problem I am facing right now is that winter is upon me and I am finding difficulties in finding things to look at. Also if anyone has tips on how to find/observe microbes with a compound microscope I will be very thankful! I'm just starting out and appreciate any advice on how to proceed in my exploration of the microverse

[75RR]

Hi snowbear, welcome.

The biggest problem I am facing right now is that winter is upon me and I am finding difficulties in finding things to look at.

Starting a couple of aquariums should give you plenty to look at. They do not need to be formal fish keeping ones, large storage jars will do as well.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6605&p=59291&hilit

Also if anyone has tips on how to find/observe microbes with a compound microscope I will be very thankful!

Oliver has some helpful videos for beginners that should get you started on the right road.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpKY8 ... Lug/videos

[snowbear]

Thank you! I'll look into setting up a small aquarium right away!

[Hobbyst46]

Have you tried looking for diatoms on the shore water edge, for example in the top layer of the shore "mud"?
I know nearly nothing about Iceland's geography, however, if the beach sands are of volcanic source, they might be coarse crystalline particles, birefringent (joy for polarization microscopy) and not much silt. Good chance of finding relatively free and clean diatoms. All that is my wild hope and guess, though, I hope it is not nonsense. Besides, in a country that is so rich in water streams and lakes, I would look for diatoms and algae everywhere.

[MicroBob]

Hi,
welcome to the forum.
For a pond aquarium I would suggest 2-3cm of soil, a paper kitchen towel, and on top 2-3cm fine washed gravel 2-5mm. Then aquarium plants, stuck into the gravel. All this in a bright place at the windos. For me (Hamburg, Germany) a west facing bay window works well. Then water from a pond, a little mud, some plants. For my 30l aquarium this works well.
If you tell us your name it is easier to address you.

Bob

[snowbear]

Hi,
Thanks Bob I'll give this a try and post my results! Your project looks super interesting
And ahh yes, my name is Snæbjörn but that literally translates to Snow-bear in English and most of my foreign (mostly English speaking) friends seem to like addressing me as Snowbear so I think that's the easiest route.

Thank you Hobbyst46, and yes that might be a good place to start! I love both algae and diatoms but I have found no diatoms yet, so wish me luck!

[Mintaka]

Welcome snowbear. A cheap 25W aquarium heater may also persuade some critters to hang around longer than they normally would. Something like this in your jar, set to maybe 26 deg C.

https://www.amazon.com/Uniclife-Submers ... B076F2771G

ETA: I had a look at the review of your scope. Its quite a nice instrument! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhecNAt7tFM

[RobBerdan]

HI snowbear - maybe you should consider searching for water bears - they are almost everywhere I have looked for them in moss, lichen, my backyard and in ponds. As for viewing specimens in winter I set up a small invertebrate aquarium so I can view them through the winter - no heater only aeration. Some organisms seem to do better without oxygen. Also if you have a microscope consider photographing snow flakes in winter - we have winter for about 5 months in Calgary so I have started to capture them when I have a chance.

Here is a link to an article I wrote on how to find water bears:
https://www.canadiannaturephotographer. ... bears.html - also see many of the references at the end or other articles on pond organisms.

One day I hope to visit Iceland to photograph the landscape and aurora borealis.

snowflake

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