MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Hi,
I have almost no experience with good microscopes, but my son just needs to find tardigrade. A friend gave me this amazing dual head AO 110:
Maybe not the best tool to see tardigrades however we are incredibly excited about all the things we’ll be able to see!

It’s missing a couple of things, needs a thorough cleaning, and some minor repairs. It’s a good thing that I love restoring stuff. We are excited to learn how to get the best results and explore the micro-world!

I posted a couple of questions here:
https://www.microbehunter.com/microscop ... =5&t=18999

-w0den

This scope should be perfectly fine to observe tardigrades. You can find them in moss that you find on tree trunks, even if it is dry. Just place some moss in a dish and add some spring water. You really only need to get it moist. After about 1 hr, try squeezing out the moss into a dish and start looking. You will probably find tardigrades, rotifers and nematodes. Good luck!

For sources to help you identify what you find, check out these free sources:
http://www.wfoissner.at/data_prot/Kreut ... _1-267.pdf
realmicrolife.com

Tim

Thanks! My understanding is that the difficulty is getting the tardigrades onto a slide. Do you tend to find them in every drop, or do you have to isolate them first?

Thanks!

Transfer a drop of the water squeezed from the moss onto a slide and scan the slide using the low power lens on your scope (usually a 2.5x or 4x objective lens). You should be able to locate some "water bears." From my experience, they are usually twisting, turning and clawing around so you should be able to notice them. Once you find some, you can look at them with your higher power objectives.