Our tank's biology up close

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Going through layers of my sandbed now. I sucked up a sample from about 3/4" to 1" down at around the thickest area of my sandbed which also happens to be along the front of the glass.

I found a few things I had not seen before from my tank . That's always exciting. One if which showed me the origin of something I had seen previously. I will have to go back to some previous videos and watch again.


I got something over 200 pictures and many videos. Quite a few on the last thing I found just as I was about to shut down for the night.
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Love this thread. We just got an SEM, so I'm planning on taking in some reef related pieces to test it all out once we get it up and running.
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
I'll try not to post all 209 pictures... lol I usually skim those that are terrible which many often are. flickr has the full album

and click on links for full resolution

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0001 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0003 by Jason, on Flickr

A rotifer I believe. First I've seen one on this kind under a microscope. But it's also the first time I've starting going into my sandbed I think.
Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0004 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0008 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0012 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0015 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0018 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0020 by Jason, on Flickr
 
Lots of diatoms. I like diatoms as they are not a pest in my tank. I haven't had a diatom bloom in ages. They are an important link in the system. IMO

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0021 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0023 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0024 by Jason, on Flickr

some detritus for life to live off of is not a bad thing either.
Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0026 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0027 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0030 by Jason, on Flickr


I would wager every aquarium and body of water on this plant has some level of cyano. Even the white patch of sane I pulled this sample from.
Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0036 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0037 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0040 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0041 by Jason, on Flickr
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Another critter I have not seen from my tank before! This sucker was FAST. I man it would zoom around at a pretty good speed and then instantly jump across at amazing speeds for something that looks so clunky. Again I think it's another type of Rotifer? It was hard getting video but I think I have some. I either ran into the same one twice or found two with the second being towards the end of my session.

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0068 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0069 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0070 by Jason, on Flickr
 
Deltec
I was at 100x when I ran into this pod. And decided to try and follow it. It wasn't easy at times but hopefully in the video it captured well what I was seeing. Which was getting to see it eat and swallow some food(detritus) and the guts moving things along.

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0082 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0085 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0087 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0092 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0094 by Jason, on Flickr

Then switched to 60x making it a little easier to follow around but still mighty close up.

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0101 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0102 by Jason, on Flickr


Piece of detritus just entered the mouth here.
Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0104 by Jason, on Flickr
 
Then I start to just play around with the darkfield. And plaing around with the gain and exposure in the software. I found the lower the gain the darker the dark but harder to see more stuff. The higher the gain I got to see a wonderful amount of bacteria but all the other stuff over exposed even with the exposure turned down. But it was, as mentioned by someone else, like looking at the night sky.

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0137 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0140 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0143 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0144 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0145 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0148 by Jason, on Flickr
 
And then I landed on the creature that freaked me out when I saw it in the darkfield. All of a sudden I see the washed out over exposed blotch with "tentacles" reaching out all over and it was slowly moving around. And I proceeded to follow this thing for a very long time.

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0153 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0154 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0155 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0156 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0157 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0159 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0160 by Jason, on Flickr
 
Went back to brightfield to see what the heck this thing was. Still don't know. But the "Feelers" were so interesting to watch as it seemed almost like a nerve or something and would pass up and down information it seemed. And they could morph and branch out. It was crazy. I hope the video's show it all well. I bet I have some long ones.

But these feelers or what ever they are I HAVE seen before. And will have to go back and review the videos again to see if I can spot this thing that it seems is the origin. Or more then one organism in my tank can do the same thing.

Got what looks like a lot of blurry shots but I was trying to focus on the odd extensions. I was pushing the contrast optically as much as possible. Both Irises nearly fully closed and exposure turned up.
Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0162 by Jason, on Flickrv


Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0164 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0165 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0168 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0169 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0171 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0173 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0177 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0178 by Jason, on Flickr
 
Tidal Gardens
The direction the thing headed always seemed to have it's longest "feeler" out ahead

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0181 by Jason, on Flickr

Kept trying to see an entry point and almost seems like there's channels built into it.
Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0184 by Jason, on Flickr


It was careful to navigate around things or stop when something like a diatom was heading towards it. But the extensions never touched them.

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0186 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0187 by Jason, on Flickr
 
Then the thing start flipping around and I was freaking out trying to get more details.
Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0188 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0190 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0191 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0192 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0193 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0200 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0203 by Jason, on Flickr

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0204 by Jason, on Flickr

And then it just stayed in one spot of a long time. I kept hoping it would split or something. But never did. Even the feelers went away until one finally popped out and started just moving around again.

Layers_of_a_Sandbed_1inch_Down-0208 by Jason, on Flickr
 
Tidal Gardens

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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