Little Friends

[Whys]

 

I met some new friends today. They haven't told me their names yet. But I suspect they will....

 

This one reached out to me.

 

This one tried to ignore me at first, but eventually warmed up to my inquisitive nature.

 

 

These two were real wall flowers.

 

 

 

I saw a lot of these. Some were short, others very long. They look like a segmented worm, but move with large sweeping bending motions.

 

 

If you're wondering how we all met, I am now the proud owner of one trinocular microscope with digital camera. A gift, from those who love me.

 

I don't have any previous experience with a microscope, so these images should get better with time. And oh what a good time were having!

[adinsxq]

COOL

[Mini-Dude]

They look like blobs of jellow

[yoshii]

very neat!

[Whys]

Link

Dunno the rest, but I'm pretty sure number 2 is a diatom. They are in all our tanks, but are only a problem when they proliferate.

 

I just did a little search and number 3 looks like a diatom too!

 

Thank you.

 

Link

COOL

 

Link

They look like blobs of jellow

 

Link

very neat!

 

Well I said these photos would only get better, now they're gonna HAVE TO....

(note: I've never understood where "have to" comes from. How do those words even work together?)

 

...CAMERA NO WORKY.

 

It's an AmScope, and the microscope itself is top notch. But it seems their digital cameras, and accompanying software, are not of the same caliber. From what I've read, their more expensive cameras aren't any more reliable, just more pixels. I'm pleased they chose the inexpensive camera, because it's still the right scope for me. But what now?

 

I have this net here, I'm all gun-ho for more photo, and now I'm without a digital camera.... :/

[Whys]

Link

Very interesting, indeed. What a wonderful device which opens up a world within a world. I'm also a big fan of Scarface, so anything which references that is always of interest. Your loved ones were very kind to you.

 

BTW, I have not given up on sexy shrimp breeding. My tank has just now fully recovered from the crash (I had a full 2 week cycle) and I've got one gravid female. I lost my two most mature females, so I think the egg clutches from the little gals will be smaller, but still viable. I anticipate another full 20 days before all the females have been covered and are gravid. I also purchased another male, so I'm back to my preferred ratio of 3:1 female to male.

 

more soon, and thanks for keeping in touch. I'm enjoying your exploits

jb

I've never once doubted you. Not about to start.

[Whys]

Link

Nice photos! You have a good variety going in there, for sure. This far from the ocean we don't get as much saltwater variety unless we truck them in.

 

You ought to be able to find something to work. The connecting tube is just a tube. If you can duct tape a cheap digital camera to it, you should be able to get it to work.

All of this came from my DSB and is only a small sample of everything I know is in there. I couldn't capture some of the better stuff, because it moved too fast.

 

I'm well inland, but the DSB is OceanDirect livesand and my liverock came from Fiji. It might also be worth noting that these are either the descendants of the '48-hour 8x-FWE holocaust' survivors, or of the newer immigrants since. I suspect the deeper portions of the sand bed harbored from destruction a lot of the smallest stuff. The benthics however, hold an annual vigil.

 

As to the camera, I tried that with our PowerShot, but I get a lot of black tunnel in the image. I have a friend tho, with a professional camera, and together we're going to solve it.

[lazaah]

The 2nd pic is a Diatom. You can narrow ID'ing things down by see if the have brown or green pigments, this indicates chloroplasts.

[Whys]

Link

The 2nd pic is a Diatom. You can narrow ID'ing things down by see if the have brown or green pigments, this indicates chloroplasts.

 

That's helpful, thanks.

 

Link

*sniff*

 

I loves the plankton! What magnification were you at? Looks like a few diatoms and either some cilates or polychaete larva I'll compare against some plates later when I have some time!

 

Worry not! My target is phyto.

 

I didn't think to keep track of magnification, but will do so in the future. All of the photos above were taken either at 10/0.25 or 40/0.65.

 

Well AmScope got back to me today about the camera. I really can't complain about their customer service, I just don't see much point in having the camera replaced. This is a common problem and appears to be the result of a faulty USB connector. I can't say if the problem is the physical component or the software driver, but either way it's fairly fundamental and not likely to ever really get fixed. AmScope's commitment is clearly to microscopes, not digital cameras or accompanying software.

 

In any event, for me at least, it's an opportunity.

[Whys]

The following thread has broken from this net:

http://www.reefkeepingforums.com/index.php/topic,1820.0.html

 

I'm confident it can be mended. But first it has to want that.

[carbon-mantis]

I'd venture to guess that the last pic in the first post is a strand of algae. Looks just like some of the strands in a FW sample from some local ponds.

[Whys]

Link

I'd venture to guess that the last pic in the first post is a strand of algae. Looks just like some of the strands in a FW sample from some local ponds.

 

 

Some recent images from my current project.

 

Thor ambionensis Larvae

 

Video:

 

 

Brine Shrimp Egg, Baby, Adult (napulii)

 

Video:

[Whys]

Link

Those are not adult bs,just growing metanauplii. They still have lots to grow.

True.

 

I miss labeled it because for my own intents and purposes, those are the adults. Obviously, it's hard to imagine that "adult" napulii laying too many of those eggs. :]

 

Link

FWIW AmScope video cameras seem to overheat and cut out when used too long. We installed a fan on it.

 

The software, etc is so bunk. Did you download the newer versions from the website?

It came with a camera that lasted all of 2 days. Now I use a Canon DSLR with lens adapter. My only complaint is that the weight of the camera pushes down on the focal adjuster, forcing it out of focus compared to the regular twin eye-piece. So I have to focus the camera using the camera's LCD display, at which point, the regular twin eye-piece view is no longer in focus. Aside from that, the Canon Rebel Ti1 has decent light capture for the lower magnifications.

 

I installed the software briefly, then removed it. It's not very good and I have no need for it.

 

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Some more images from my current project.

 

 

 

Colonial Hydroids:

 

Hydroid Medusa:

 

Sexy Shrimp Larva (0 days old):

 

Sexy Shrimp Larva (22 days old):

[Mr Pants]

I just found your thread so maybe you know this already but your images from your first post are:

1) Dinoflagellate of the genus Prorocentrum. The big circle in the middle is a pyrenoid. You might be able to see the DNA if you move your focus up and down it will look a bit like brains and should be to the anterior of the pyrenoid.

2) Diatom

3) Diatom

4) dead so hard to say but I suspect diatom

5) Cyanobacteria (probably Oscillatoria)

[Whys]

I just found your thread so maybe you know this already but your images from your first post are:

1) Dinoflagellate of the genus Prorocentrum. The big circle in the middle is a pyrenoid. You might be able to see the DNA if you move your focus up and down it will look a bit like brains and should be to the anterior of the pyrenoid.

2) Diatom

3) Diatom

4) dead so hard to say but I suspect diatom

5) Cyanobacteria (probably Oscillatoria)

 

Awesome! Thank you for this.

 

If I see one again, I'll definitely try to get a look at the DNA. That would just be too cool to see.

 

Now for my latest work.

 

Newly hatched Thor amboinensis larvae feeding on baby brine shrimp:

 

Thor amboinensis larvae 18 days post hatch:

 

 

After nearly two years of lead up, my first metamorphosis occurred on Valentines day.

 

 

 

Thor amboinensis juveniles about 5 days post metamorphosis: