Fun With Microscopes & Stereoscopes

[Reef Frog]

Anybody use a stereoscope or microscope in conjunction with the reef hobby? I'd like to examine LR & sand samples for pods & other life, see if I can find free swimming plankton in water samples, see what's in some food, detrius etc. Also to examine & identify parasites from fish & corals if the need ever arises. I also have some horticultural & other hobby uses too.

I know I want one with top & bottom lighting. I don't want a toy but don't need the mad scientist model either. Have a few hundred to spend.

I'm just beginning my research and it seems most offer 10x through through 40x. Is that powerful enough for the tasks above? Or is the extra $$$ for 80x worth the money, or absolutely necessary? Or is a even more powerful microscope the best bet?

And what's the best method to get digital photos? I think good digital zooming would be helpful. I've seen the 3 tube models for the camera accessory & others with SD card slots. I've seen some models with traditional optics & others with an LCD screen...any advice on that? I haven't used one since my college days & don't want to make a bad choice out of ignorance.

I would appreciate any advice on appropriate specs (especially the magnification issue) models, sources or even pics if possible. It would also be great to hear tales of how you use it in the hobby & why.

I guess this post will qualify me for membership in a nerd club for sure! Thanks.

 

[zachfishman]

40x can be inadequate for the ID of some fish diseases/parasites. I'd go for a model that provides 80x or 100x oil immersion. You'll always want to peek at smaller things IMO

 

[TheDecisiveHand]

I just recently started a system and used a microscope for the first few months just to see if anything was interesting during the startup. I havent used it for about a month though. If there is a strange critter or I want to see what is in the detritus it is nice to have it around to see if things are the same or changing. I don't really know how to interpret the things I am seeing because I have nothing to compare it to yet but it has been very interesting. I have looked at almost everything like skimate, random scrapings, detritus from a copepod bucket, oyster feast, phyto feast, etc. I looked at almost everything when I first started using it.

Based off what I see I do have free swimming plankton in the water column as well as random balls of phytoplankton stuck together where there are a lot of pods and stuff running around their oasis in the vast wasteland of the water column.

I have stayed at 10x and 40x because of ease. I will probably try to use oil in the future but I am not really interested in the extremely small stuff yet.

I can see some small phytoplankton and barely begin to see bacteria at 40x.

I did all this with a freebie that was last inspected in 95 so I dont know anything about the fancy stuff.

 

[Scythanith]

I have a Zeiss Stemi 2000-c, and in it's current configuration I can get 50x out of it. All I have to do is change the objectives and I can dial it up to x250.

These are old shots of Planaria sp. and some nudibranchs from my old tank.

 

[docstach]

Many scopes have a magnifying lens in the eyepiece as well. With a 40x objective and the 10x eyepiece you can easily identify objects as small as bacteria. I would imagine once you start getting into objectives greater than 40x and needing oil the cost goes up dramatically??? Your best bet might be to try and find a used scope from a research lab or pathology department.

 

[Reef Frog]

Thanks for the responses...just the responses I was hoping for.

I'm not familiar with the term oil in respect to scopes. A slide medium perhaps or something internal to the scope?

Can one see individual bacteria @ ~100x or a colony mass? Would you have to stain to see either?

 

[kissman]

Here is the one I have been looking at and will probably get after I get a PAR meter

http://www.aquacave.com/Reefers-Digi-Microscope-P2178.aspx

 

[billsreef]

The oil being referred to is for use with oil immersion objectives. Usually for use with special 100x objectives...gives you 1000x magnification when combined a 10x eyepiece. The oil is placed on the slide cover, and the objective actually dips into the oil.

For what your doing, I'd suggest going with the best quality scope you can afford, 40x objective will be plenty. Higher magnification won't do you much good unless your really good with id'ing very small stuff. High quality will give you a better image at 40x than will poor quality at a higher magnification. You can also buy higher mag objectives at a later date...they just screw on and off

 

[MARINECRITTERS]

Oil scopes are great, I personally have a 1600x microscope with a monitor, helps with phytoplankton culturing.

 

[crazylawyer]

Look for used. Check with your local college/university. They often have surplus outlets where they dispose of "outdated" lab equipment. Some use the auction site. I got a good Leitz from the local college for a hundred. College scopes have generally been well maintained. Any old scope that is stiff or loose will require service which will cost more than the initial investment. For the $200 asian imports.

Sounds like you need two scopes- a transmitted light biological scope and a reflected light stereoscope. Be careful -its a lot like reefing. My $100 scope bought to diagnose FW fungal infections has multiplied into a display case of old research scopes- some of which cost more than a luxury car when they were new.

 

[asylumdown]

My scope goes up to 100X, but I also have two sets of lenses, a 10X and a 20X, so I find that for most aquarium related purposes the 10X or 40X stage is sufficient to figure out what I'm looking at.

Here's a video I made yesterday of a very, very small bristleworm. I need to get a better USB camera for the microscope though, it takes miserable quality video and photos

http://youtu.be/vpCuLaPRnGQ

 

[elegance coral]

This is pretty cool if you're on a budget and like DIY.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGNaRAyzo68

 

[tommyz44]

Here is a few i took some pods and the last is zooplankton skelleton from Kents.

 

[KafudaFish]

The oil being referred to is for use with oil immersion objectives. Usually for use with special 100x objectives...gives you 1000x magnification when combined a 10x eyepiece. The oil is placed on the slide cover, and the objective actually dips into the oil.

For what your doing, I'd suggest going with the best quality scope you can afford, 40x objective will be plenty. Higher magnification won't do you much good unless your really good with id'ing very small stuff. High quality will give you a better image at 40x than will poor quality at a higher magnification. You can also buy higher mag objectives at a later date...they just screw on and off

Yep. Unless you are looking for something that can fit on a pinhead and move across it, oil is more of a neato factor than anything else.

Phase contrast microscopy is fun too but doubt if most want to spend that much on a scope.

For fun:

http://www.microscopyu.com/smallworld/gallery/contests/2012/index.html

 

[kissman]

does anybody use this Microscope that Aquacave sells? If so how is it

http://www.aquacave.com/Reefers-Digi-Microscope-P2178.aspx

 

[tommyz44]

Nikon eclipse LV100POL polorized and reflective light microscope
http://www.nikon.com/products/instr...al-microscopes/polarizing/lv100npol/index.htm
With Camera
http://www.nikoninstruments.com/Products/Cameras/Digital-Cameras/DS-Fi1

This is my setup. Well.....The one I use at work >.> I wouldnt mind checking out that one frmo aquacave though. would be nice to have a scope at home to play around with.

 

[billsreef]

Yep. Unless you are looking for something that can fit on a pinhead and move across it, oil is more of a neato factor than anything else.

I used to work with larval Winter Flounder otoliths. Could fit several of those on a pinhead

 

[Fryman]

does anybody use this Microscope that Aquacave sells? If so how is it

http://www.aquacave.com/Reefers-Digi-Microscope-P2178.aspx

Don't get that scope. Looks like your basic chinese knockoff; you can get a better price on ebay or amazon. Also I've been told the 640x480 USB cameras are pretty much worthless.

My old scopes from HS have been claimed by my mom (grrrrr) so I've been looking for a good scope for awhile now, but have yet to pull the trigger. I've scanned craigslist & ebay for a nice used nikon or olympus but in good shape these can be VERY expensive. I am tempted by one of the cheap newer scopes made in china (amscope, omano). A lot of people seems to think the chinese brands are actually pretty good, and the price is a fraction of what you'd pay for the more mainstream brands.

I want something that I can use to identify contamination in my phyto & copepod cultures. For awhile now I've been just hoping that the tetraselmis culture is still tet and not nanno. Also I have no idea what's in my copepod culture. My old job had some good 'scopes I could use but the new job not so much. *sigh*

 

[gmate]

The science nerd in me is screaming out in pure joy. I have nothing to add intellectually to this thread, but I never thought of doing this and it's such a great idea.

 

[Fishmommy]

40x is plenty. I have used my scope for freshwater and will use it for marine. Here is a 40x view of a freshwater animal that was seen with the naked eye as merely a cloudiness of the water when there was a population explosion of these things
Eww.

You can get a student scope with digital camera for under $200 easily. I will have to check the brand of mine....it might be Chinese....regardless it has served me well for years.