The microscopic world of our tanks

[blueheaven]

As promised, pics from my videoscope

[blueheaven]

Another one

Too bad the phyto cells cannot be seen

[blueheaven]

More!!!

Now do you still are to stick that hand into your tank?

[blueheaven]

Last one

Thought you guys might be interested to see how chaeto looks like 50x bigger

[FuEl]

Hmm..phytoplankton can be seen under 10X magnification. Green flagellate microalgae like nannochloropsis, tetraselmis are similar to shape to those "specks" (probably cocci bacteria for the smaller specks) in your photo although they will be much much smaller and will look green . These tend to move around and it would be good to kill them with formalin before trying to take photographs. Then again if you are looking for microalgae cells in a drop of tank water your tank water probably needs to have a slight green tinge for you to spot a few. If your tank water looks visibly clear you have to view alot of water before finding one algae cell.

[blueheaven]

I'm guessing it's those little dots in the picture but the cells are so small that I can't even see the green tinge in them.

The're really visible under 600x magnification though

And the pics are from a drop of water mixed with a cap of phyto so I think they're all around the pics as tiny tiny specks (some of them move real fast, like pacman )

[iantoh]

nice post bh. are these pictures taken with a microscope attachment to your cam or with your cam looking down a microscope?

[blueheaven]

It is taken from my videoscope

Check it out in my tank thread

[blueheaven]

Hey bro Fuel, what do you think cyano will look like under magnification?

[marinebetta]

Nano can only just be seen at about 400x mag, but not with sufficient detail to tell species.

Copepods are easier:

[marinebetta]

Rotifers are a little harder...

[FuEl]

Nano can only just be seen at about 400x mag, but not with sufficient detail to tell species.

Copepods are easier:

Oh..yea..forgot to include the magnification of the eyepiece..

[blueheaven]

Rotifers look cool man!!!

Can't imagine the fish actually enjoy this kind of stuff

[FuEl]

Rotifers look cool man!!!

Can't imagine the fish actually enjoy this kind of stuff

That's why they prefer copepods or copepod nauplii anytime. Rotifers look very difficult to catch (if you see the speed at which they swim).

[Kelmen]

ge.... just wondering you guys can get a snapshot of the infamous "ich" parasite?

So that we other brothers can "recognize" these buggers.

In Cantonese: See them anytime, beat the hell out of them anytime

[blueheaven]

Ich would be difficult to capture

I already spent about 10mins trying to catch some pods for my pics

Maybe we should let fuel and marinebetta to try. They are the real experts

[blueheaven]

After 2 days, the phyto cells have sort of formed into a larger string of green stuff

I pulled some out and checked it under 600x

I saw many amoeba like creatures along with quite a few circular moving creatures

Do amoebas live in saltwater?

[FuEl]

Lol..I don't work with fish right now so I can't take any pics of Ich. But there's plenty of photos on net anyway.

...Dun call me expert...I'm not to that level yet....I'm just a generalist..just scraping off the top of everything from fish to reptiles... I can't be on par with a vet...

Anyway...Amoebas are freshwater thingies right? Maybe those are phyto cells? Green phyto like Isochrysis and Tetraselmis swim around with a flagellum..

[ambystoma82]

amphi pod did i remb correctly fuel ???

[FuEl]

amphi pod did i remb correctly fuel ???

Yea..amphipod..amazingly clear shot..

[ambystoma82]

this one not taken under microscope nor my camera good lahz...

just tht its e papa size happen to b bigger easier to take its pic haa

i purposely took it out from e tank put on clear glass with 1 drip of water cus too many reefers toking abt tis thing whether it is gd or bad to clarify but neber the chance to show its pic...

[blueheaven]

Lol..I don't work with fish right now so I can't take any pics of Ich. But there's plenty of photos on net anyway.

...Dun call me expert...I'm not to that level yet....I'm just a generalist..just scraping off the top of everything from fish to reptiles... I can't be on par with a vet...

Anyway...Amoebas are freshwater thingies right? Maybe those are phyto cells? Green phyto like Isochrysis and Tetraselmis swim around with a flagellum..

Yeah that's why I found it wierd to see amoebas

They move around more like a slug rather than with a flagellum

[cityofangels]

It sure makes you think twice about sticking your hand/arm into your own tank.

[veliferium]

I cant believe tht fish actually feeds on these amphipods,they look disgusting

[FuEl]

Haha..to my surprise I found these invaders to my shrimp culture. The bad thing with using natural seawater. Darn jellies..their eggs got past the 3 stage filtration and hatched in my sump.

Set them aside to see what they grow into..hopefully box jellies?