Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

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KurtM
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Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#1 Post by KurtM » Mon Aug 06, 2018 3:05 am

In anticipation of a new inverted microscope due to arrive this week, I collected a pond sample today and used it to fill one of my micro-aquariums that had been sitting empty for too long. Here it is, waiting to settle out. At present it's a thick, rich soup of countless tiny alga filaments plus a disappointingly sparse population of wee beasties.
freshly filed microquarium.JPG
freshly filed microquarium.JPG (387.65 KiB) Viewed 4841 times


But I'm far from despondent, as the sample contains a plethora of statoblasts, and what can be more fun than a tiny tank full of bryozoans? Of course that's counting your lophophores before they hatch, so here's to hoping for a good crop!

Statoblasts through the 4x objective, epi lighting, AO 120:
bryozoan statoblast thru 4x.JPG
bryozoan statoblast thru 4x.JPG (76.51 KiB) Viewed 4841 times


Then through the 10x objective, epi + transmitted darkfield lighting, AO 120, slightly sloppy job of stacking:
bryozoan statoblast thru 10x.JPG
bryozoan statoblast thru 10x.JPG (71.04 KiB) Viewed 4841 times


And then through the 16x objective on the Zeiss WL, with transmitted DIC augmented by, you guessed it, more epi lighting. They tend to make silhouettes otherwise.
bryozoan statoblast thru 16x.JPG
bryozoan statoblast thru 16x.JPG (333.69 KiB) Viewed 4841 times


Finally, a seriously horrid image of a Chydorus sp. -- but it's what I got, and you get what you pay for around here. This soupy sample hosts some Cladocera, which appear to be mostly of the Chydorus variety, and quite a lot of Copepods in the Cyclopidae family which I look forward to narrowing down on the new inverted scope. Haven't seen much else, but again, still waiting for it to settle out and will take another good long look tomorrow. But I'm excited to have Bryozoan again (if they hatch).
Chydorus sp.JPG
Chydorus sp.JPG (317.71 KiB) Viewed 4841 times
Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67904872@ ... 912223623/

GaryB
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#2 Post by GaryB » Mon Aug 06, 2018 3:29 am

Very nice, I suspect you'll have a bumper crop of wee beasties before long.
Sadly my last 'pond' was discovered by mozzies and I had a bumper crop of nasty blood sucking vampires. I tried remaking the pond via diy methods, unfortunately it turned out more biohazard than pond :(

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75RR
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#3 Post by 75RR » Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:24 am

That is going to be a lot of fun!
Look forward to seeing images of your inverted microscope + group photos of happy bryozoans

Have you given any thought to what kind of petri dish to use?

a quote from an article in micscape: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... vert2.html
"note that plastic disposable petri dishes are usually more suitable than most glass petri dishes because they are thinner, more uniform and therefore optically superior to the standard glass dish"
+ Adding link to some that are probably more expensive than your inverted microscope :) hoping that you can DIY somthing.

https://www.tedpella.com/section_html/p ... dishes.htm

+ article by Richard L. Howey on how he DIYed coverslips to the bottom of petri dishes - unfortunately no photos
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... vert2.html
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

Hobbyst46
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#4 Post by Hobbyst46 » Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:22 pm

75RR wrote:...Have you given any thought to what kind of petri dish to use?...
There are commercial plastic petri dishes with coverslip bottoms (pun :lol: ), for use with high-mag inverted microscopes and confocal microscopes. They are excellent, though expensive. The trick is to reuse them - contrary to the purpose of the manufacturer of course... I did so. Being made of polystyrene, they cannot be cleaned with acetone or other strong solvents, but easily cleaned with soap and water or even very dilute caustic soda. Then rinse with water and ethanol.
I have seen people make their own petri-dishes with coverslip bottom; the results are not good. Cements can be hazardous to organisms an, even worse, there are leaks. Dripping liquids from the DIY petri dish onto your precious objectives of the inverted scope is not fun.

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KurtM
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#5 Post by KurtM » Mon Aug 06, 2018 3:26 pm

Lots of interesting discussion popping up!

GaryB, funny you should mention it, I just began investigating feasibility of a garden pond. Due to my climate here on the upper Texas gulf coast, it would certainly end up like a large outdoor aquarium where mechanical and biological filtration, plus some sort of cover, would be necessary. So until/unless I learn something new, it's more than I care to tackle. But I will look at putting in a simple birdbath, or maybe even a drip feature, since I dig birds too.

75RR & Hobbyst46, thank you -- the subject of dishes suitable for observing through on inverted scopes is one I intended to bring up. I will eagerly look into any and all suggestions, advice, recommendations, etc. My new scope, a 110% complete Reichert-Jung 1820 (essentially an updated AO 1820) is coming from a practicing, knowledgeable microscopy enthusiast who is including some samples of the dishes he uses. The big brown truck with the big box o' goodies is due to arrive tomorrow. Yes, I will issue a report!
Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67904872@ ... 912223623/

billbillt
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#6 Post by billbillt » Mon Aug 06, 2018 4:33 pm

hi Kurt,

You photos are wonderful.. I thought you already had an AO inverted stand?.. I guess I was mistaken...

Regards,
BillT

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KurtM
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#7 Post by KurtM » Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:02 pm

Yes, I currently own an AO 1810, unusual in that it's complete with phase contrast and mechanical stage. But it has limitations which ultimately cause it to go unused, such as inability to accept 40x objective or camera. The 1810 is from the Series 10/20 era, and the 1820 is 110/120 timeframe.
Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67904872@ ... 912223623/

billbillt
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#8 Post by billbillt » Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:30 pm

KurtM wrote:Yes, I currently own an AO 1810, unusual in that it's complete with phase contrast and mechanical stage. But it has limitations which ultimately cause it to go unused, such as inability to accept 40x objective or camera. The 1810 is from the Series 10/20 era, and the 1820 is 110/120 timeframe.
Thanks for the quick reply!... What is the new one you are getting?.. I always had an interest in inverted stands...

Thanks!
BillT

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coominya
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#9 Post by coominya » Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:37 pm

GaryB wrote:Very nice, I suspect you'll have a bumper crop of wee beasties before long.
Sadly my last 'pond' was discovered by mozzies and I had a bumper crop of nasty blood sucking vampires. I tried remaking the pond via diy methods, unfortunately it turned out more biohazard than pond :(
This post of yours brings back memories Gary, very recent memories :lol:

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vasselle
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#10 Post by vasselle » Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:21 pm

Bonjour
Très belle images
Microscope Leitz Laborlux k
Boitier EOS 1200D + EOS 1100D

einman
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Re: Freshly Established Micro-Aquarium

#11 Post by einman » Sat Aug 25, 2018 5:45 pm

very nice images

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