JoeQ 36g Journal, notes & random pictures

[JoeQ]

Unposted pic, major trim was a few weeks later.

Unposted

Starting point

 

After (current)

 

 

[JoeQ]

Eviction #3

 

[JoeQ]

The 3 evicted chilling in my bros cichlid tank.

[NanoFishNut]

On 2/28/2024 at 12:12 PM, JoeQ said:

 

Hey! Sorry, I don't get onto this forum (or any forum, really) very often, but I'm always glad to see another person taking up microscopy! It can be a really addicting hobby and aquariums give us a *ton* of fun things to look at, right in our homes.

The first image doesn't have much that's identifiable, those clear things are bits of damaged cellular tissue/detritus. It can also sometimes be an artifact of plastic slides, be sure to get some proper glass slides with glass cover slips if you haven't already, they have as big of an impact on the quality of image as the quality of the microscope itself, but for a lot less money. The dark lines running through the sample look like fibers, from a cloth or something along those lines. Not many things in nature look like that, though it could also be something that's desiccated, or the detached antenna of a Cladoceran or something.

The second image shows some diatoms (the brownish spike-looking things, probably Pinnularia sp., though there are tons of options)

And the third image just shows some general detritus. At 1,000x you probably noticed some tiny squiggles and dots that flicker spastically... those are bacteria which really can't be identified with optical microscopy, but are interesting to note as a kind of background bustle in 800x and above

You can find 3D printed darkfield and oblique lighting filters on Etsy and eBay, and you can also make them yourself pretty easily, just check out videos from Microbehunter on YouTube for info on that. Those will really increase what you can see.

Over on your other thread about the algae, that Hornwort-looking thing that you saw was a green filamentous algae (looked like Oedogonium, but it was hard to see the chloroplasts, and didn't see and branching or akinetes) and it was absolutely covered in diatoms.

Here's an image of Fragilaria sp. diatoms, compiled with a 13 image stack with oblique illumination at 800x (20x eyepiece with 40x objective), which I've found to be the most convenient for viewing most algaes

[JoeQ]

 

On 4/28/2024 at 10:47 PM, NanoFishNut said:

Hey! Sorry, I don't get onto this forum (or any forum, really) very often, but I'm always glad to see another person taking up microscopy! It can be a really addicting hobby and aquariums give us a *ton* of fun things to look at, right in our homes.

The first image doesn't have much that's identifiable, those clear things are bits of damaged cellular tissue/detritus. It can also sometimes be an artifact of plastic slides, be sure to get some proper glass slides with glass cover slips if you haven't already, they have as big of an impact on the quality of image as the quality of the microscope itself, but for a lot less money. The dark lines running through the sample look like fibers, from a cloth or something along those lines. Not many things in nature look like that, though it could also be something that's desiccated, or the detached antenna of a Cladoceran or something.

The second image shows some diatoms (the brownish spike-looking things, probably Pinnularia sp., though there are tons of options)

And the third image just shows some general detritus. At 1,000x you probably noticed some tiny squiggles and dots that flicker spastically... those are bacteria which really can't be identified with optical microscopy, but are interesting to note as a kind of background bustle in 800x and above

You can find 3D printed darkfield and oblique lighting filters on Etsy and eBay, and you can also make them yourself pretty easily, just check out videos from Microbehunter on YouTube for info on that. Those will really increase what you can see.

Over on your other thread about the algae, that Hornwort-looking thing that you saw was a green filamentous algae (looked like Oedogonium, but it was hard to see the chloroplasts, and didn't see and branching or akinetes) and it was absolutely covered in diatoms.

Here's an image of Fragilaria sp. diatoms, compiled with a 13 image stack with oblique illumination at 800x (20x eyepiece with 40x objective), which I've found to be the most convenient for viewing most algaes

Thanks for the info!  As for slides I did get some divit slides specifically  made for looking at water samples. You were also correct about plastic artifact in the picture,  I believe these pictures were taken from a water sample in a Petrie dish when I first got my microscope. Also, any chance you can identify these guys.

?

 

Edited April 29 by JoeQ

[NanoFishNut]

On 4/29/2024 at 8:12 AM, JoeQ said:

 

Thanks for the info!  As for slides I did get some divit slides specifically  made for looking at water samples. You were also correct about plastic artifact in the picture,  I believe these pictures were taken from a water sample in a Petrie dish when I first got my microscope. Also, any chance you can identify these guys.

?

 

Great! Divot slides can be good for some things, though sometimes the divot can exceed the focal length of the objective (particularly the 100x and sometimes the 40x). For most applications (particularly for observing algaes), a standard slide is sufficient. For larger organisms, like Cladocerans (Daphnia, etc) divot slides really shine. You can also use oil in those instead of water (or a mixture) to increase the viscosity (otherwise, a lot of such organisms are way too fast to see easily).

I can't provide an ID for that image, I would honestly assume it was a bit of detritus, but the way you talk about it suggests it's a living thing? I assume it was moving? The motion might help. I haven't seen anything like that though, so I'm not much help there. I've been focusing on algae, for the most part

The diversity of organisms is mind-bogglingly immense, I haven't delved too deeply into all of that. Journey to the Microcosmos is a wonderful YouTube channel that shows a lot of interesting things there

[JoeQ]

In memory of George, gone but not forgotten! 

Updated Tank Status:

Petco score status:

 

Edited May 9 by JoeQ

[JoeQ]

Pretty sure im never gonna get rid of these diamond tetras..... 

[JoeQ]

SonOfAhhhh........

 

[nabokovfan87]

Congrats @JoeQ!  😂

Rather be lucky then good... I need to "get lucky" and have some fry soon.  It's been so long.

[JoeQ]

On 5/29/2024 at 6:28 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Congrats @JoeQ!  😂

Rather be lucky then good... I need to "get lucky" and have some fry soon.  It's been so long.

Obviously you didn't scroll up...... (edit: Or you are being sarcastic)! 😂 I just got done evicting 3, now I have the 3 back (my previous baby also survived). I might have to remove all the fish I want to keep and Clorox the tank to get rid of the Alpha, he's just too darn fast & obviously wayyyyyy smorter than me!!

Edited Wednesday at 11:09 PM by JoeQ

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/29/2024 at 4:01 PM, JoeQ said:

Obviously you didn't scroll up...... (edit: Or you are being sarcastic)! 😂 I just got done evicting 3, now I have the 3 back (my previous baby also survived). I might have to remove all the fish I want to keep and Clorox the tank to get rid of the Alpha, he's just too darn fast & obviously wayyyyyy smorter than me!!

😂

No sarcasm at all intended!  I understand how it goes.  I'm in and out of the thread all the time so I apologize if I missed a tidbit.  You'll get em...  Try at night under a blue light when they are sleeping.  They tend to be less able to run off at times and seem to be in weird (obvious) spots of the tank.

[JoeQ]

On 5/29/2024 at 8:27 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Try at night under a blue light when they are sleeping.  They tend to be less able to run off at times and seem to be in weird (obvious) spots of the tank.

Have you seen my jungle? Netting at night is not an option, I bought a manually triggered fish trap which works well but Alpha is leary of it. He escapes before the door even has a chance to close. 

[JoeQ]

Problem fish!

[JoeQ]

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/30/2024 at 4:13 AM, JoeQ said:

Have you seen my jungle? Netting at night is not an option, I bought a manually triggered fish trap which works well but Alpha is leary of it. He escapes before the door even has a chance to close. 

Best of luck.  I hope you get him soon!