Hay Infusion after 3 years

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einman
Posts: 1508
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:03 am

Hay Infusion after 3 years

#1 Post by einman » Sat Jan 13, 2018 8:08 pm



This is a video of a water sample taken from a 3 year old hay infusion. It is starting to wind down as most of the hay has decomposed and been consumed. There is some algae which I recently began promoting via an LED lamp. This set up has no photo lens between the camera and the scope. Subsequently magnification is significantly less than that observed through the eyepieces. I will post additional videos using an intermediary lens. I have a 2.5x and a 5x but neither are satisfactory.

charlie g
Posts: 1831
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:54 pm

Re: Hay Infusion after 3 years

#2 Post by charlie g » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:40 pm

Thanks for this video clip, einman. The idea of keeping a standing volume of water with organic materials to enjoy as a microcosm for periodic microscopy observations..well for me it's a variation on: 'a zoo on my window sill'...or anyother type of maintained collection of habitats. I use widemouth jars cradeled on a slant...cover lid loose. All sorts of stable communities take hold..with the plants and snails, and larger waterflea inhabitants visible to naked eyes. Give such 'bottled communities' a periodic light cycle...avoid heat or direct sunlight..and you are steward of so many phyla of plants and animals! Charlie guevara

einman
Posts: 1508
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:03 am

Re: Hay Infusion after 3 years

#3 Post by einman » Wed Jan 17, 2018 2:22 am

Yes I have watched this gallon "pickle" jar cycle through various stages over the last 3 years. I started by cramming the jar full of dry hay. I then filled it with distilled water, added an air stone and let it "cook" so to speak. It is amazing the creatures which come to life after you "just add water". Recently I have found a huge number of water mites popped up in one of my collembola containers! I have had this container propagating for about 2 years. The water mites appeared and are flourishing on the surface of the charcoal I use in the container. They appear to be from the family Hydrachnidae:Hydrachna, based on initial observations. Proper identification requires dissection and mounting on slides. They can be predatory and could potentially explain why that particular container has not been producing as well lately. Although they also appear to be eating the food given the collembola, so it could simply be a case of the collembola population being restricted by food supply.
I am preparing to start making permanent slide mounts of invertebrates soon. Once I get my lab re-arranged and cleaned -up i have a list of projects.

I am also setting up an African Cichlid tank which is also consuming some of my time.

All very interesting!

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