MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I came across the Micro Safari company last year and subscribed to their email newsletter when they were in the process of developing a new secret product. Their first product (now discontinued) was a giant acrylic slide filled with active compost that had soil organisms living inside. It could be opened up to add food and water as necessary. Now they have a micro aquarium that prevents evaporation while still being spacious enough for seed shrimps. Current pricing is 5 slides for approximately $30 US. What do all of you think?

https://microsafari.org/

This one looks promising, if the claims (film being porous for air but water tight, ect) are true. It is not optical equivalent to 0.17 mm cover glass though, so as the web page says, higher NA objectives may not work well.

I wonder what is thickness of that film and what is its glass equivalent thickness though? Also is that film optically clear and clean and would it remain that way after repeated use?

I think it is 2 to 3 pieces of acrylic glued together and a resealable film of LDPE to allow gas exchange while holding in water vapor. I don't know if this can be used with polarized light microscopy. Also, flushing it out with peroxide would be safer than using alcohol as alcohol destroys acrylic.

I got to test one of these MicroSafari Aqua slides a few weeks ago. It is intended that the sample is observed through the 1 mm thick acrylic face, which is initially protected by a peel-off film. Maximum magnification is a 10x objective, limited by the working distance and aberrations. The gas-exchange film works well. A sample of pond water still has dinoflagellates and rotifers swimming around after 2 weeks - the slide sat on a windowsill between observations. Only about 5% of the water had evaporated, and it could be topped up by peeling back the film from one of the entry ports. I think this chamber is good for outreach demonstrations and also seeing what eggs hatch into. The slide cannot be used with polarizers, but is OK with darkfield. The acrylic surface is easily scratched. Maybe a version with a 0.15 mm glass coverslip surface would be better for imaging (but not so kid-proof).

zzffnn wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 22, 2023 4:32 am

This one looks promising, if the claims (film being porous for air but water tight, ect) are true. It is not optical equivalent to 0.17 mm cover glass though, so as the web page says, higher NA objectives may not work well.

I wonder what is thickness of that film and what is its glass equivalent thickness though? Also is that film optically clear and clean and would it remain that way after repeated use?

The acrylic will scratch. No good way to clean it. Can't use it with DIC or polarization. It would be very easy to make the product yourself, though, especially if you have access to a laser cutter.

I suspect the squared glass capillaries I mention in another thread would give better results just because they are glass, not acrylic. Perhaps one could seal them with a gas-permeable silicone glue of the type used, for example, to glue medical devices onto skin?