MicroReef - Microscope pictures

Ok, so I was really bored today. I've been having problems with diatoms in both my aquariums. I pretty sure it from fertilizing my tanks and using tap water high in silicic acid (SiO₂nH₂O). I also have limited amounts of bryopsis and cyanobacteria. So whats the difference between the three? I took some pictures of them just for fun. Im not sure how many here will be interested in this, but i'll post it anyways.

Diatoms

Diatoms are the brown slime algae seen in most new tanks. They depend on silicates for growth and normally go away once the supply is depleted. If you use tap water and have high nutrients, then you are more likely to get outbreaks.

Here are several types of diatoms. The one in the center is a centric diatom (Bellerochea sp.) The others are some species of epiphytic diatoms.  

 

Here are some epiphytic diatoms growing on Caulerpa prolifera. This is the type that grows all over the glass, rocks, macro algaes etc.

 

CYANOBACTERIA (blue-green algae). This bacteria is very familiar to many reefers. They are not algae (a eukaryote) but are actually prokaryotes. These bacteria use nitrogen gas in the water to form bio-available forms of organic nitrogen.

 

HAIR ALGAE

 

...and finally seagrass. Notice the chloroplast bundles in the cells.

 

What magnification did you use for the cyanobacteria?  They are really big for a prokaryote.  I used to be a microbiologist in my previous life; and the bacteria that I saw (most of them human pathogens) are small and usually don't show any cellular details under microscope.

Its 400x

Edited by BananaTropics

BananaTropics wrote: Its 400x

Yep, it's big alright.  I routinely used 1000x (the oil lens) to check bacteria out; and couldn't see any intracellular structures like in your picture.  Great job!

Awesome Adam.
Was that common hair algae or Bryopsis. You named the file bryopsis.

bump for jonafriend :)

wow those pictyres are cool, i bet they are way more fun to look at in real life!