Microscope ID

[k log(omega)]

Hi all,

I've been fighting what appears to be dinoflagellates Amphidinium, using primarily elevated nutrients and silicate dosing (sponge excel) and dosing beneficial bacteria and phytoplankton. I've been taking some microscope images to track progress, and was hoping to get some IDs on some of the stuff I'm seeing. I appreciate any help!
1) Looks like some type of tiny pod? And I'm mainly interested if that long skinny thing I circled is a type of diatom.

2) This one I believe is a type of diatom. Sorry for the poor image quality, my camera gets blurry at the higher magnification:

3) Another image of possible copepod similar to (1):

4) This one I think might be some tiny sponge or something, I just thought it looked pretty cool.

I also attached some videos that show some movement. Let me know what y'all think. Thanks again!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

1) Looks like some type of tiny pod? And I'm mainly interested if that long skinny thing I circled is a type of diatom.

Looks like an ostracod to me (so, yes, a type of pod). The long skinny thing might be a diatom, but I'm not sure.

2) This one I believe is a type of diatom.

Yeah, that looks like a diatom with a fusiform shape to me.

3) Another image of possible copepod similar to (1):

Yeah, again, probably an ostracod.

4) This one I think might be some tiny sponge or something, I just thought it looked pretty cool.

This is either a sponge spicule or a triradiate-shaped diatom (such as Phaeodactylum tricornutum).

 

[k log(omega)]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Looks like an ostracod to me (so, yes, a type of pod). The long skinny thing might be a diatom, but I'm not sure.

Yeah, that looks like a diatom with a fusiform shape to me.

Yeah, again, probably an ostracod.

This is either a sponge spicule or a triradiate-shaped diatom (such as Phaeodactylum tricornutum).

Thank you!
Would you agree also that the dinos seem to be amphidinium? I was considering also the possibility of prorocentrum, but hard to distinguish.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Would you agree also that the dinos seem to be amphidinium? I was considering also the possibility of prorocentrum, but hard to distinguish.

I would guess it's Prorocentrum, but "pest" algae isn't my strong suit at this poing, so hopefully we'll get a second opinion here for you. Maybe @taricha or @Dan_P would know for this.

 

[Dan_P]

I would guess it's Prorocentrum, but "pest" algae isn't my strong suit at this poing, so hopefully we'll get a second opinion here for you. Maybe @taricha or @Dan_P would know for this.

Funny, I am growing pest algae and starting growing these things too. They are a bit smaller than Amphidinium, but no curved beak, and the cell has a notched side and a groove. They aren’t active like Amphidinium can be. We will both benefit from an @taricha opinion.

 

[k log(omega)]

Funny, I am growing pest algae and starting growing these things too. They are a bit smaller than Amphidinium, but no curved beak, and the cell has a notched side and a groove. They aren’t active like Amphidinium can be. We will both benefit from an @taricha opinion.

I have some videos of them being super active, almost seems like it depends where I pull the sample from - darker/more infested areas seem like their more active, less infested/lighter areas they’re mostly chilling. I also have tons of cyanobacteria which initially led me to think amphidinium since i remembered seeing a few instances of them being present together and somehow associated.

edit: did want to add that in the mornings my filter floss is totally brown, i’m assuming because of these guys but haven’t sampled in microscope yet. gonna try to check it tomorrow morning because i guess that would indicate them entering the water at night.

 

[taricha]

In the first pic, the left red circle is a ciliate, see hypotrich ciliates. It does looks sort of like an ostracod @ISpeakForTheSeas , but this thing is ~50 microns or so.
the right red circle in pic 1 is out of focus but probably a segment of cyano.

in pic 2, that's indeed a diatom.

pic 4, sponge spicules, I'll be most people can look in sand and find many of these.

@Dan_P in the videos, we can make out the grooves on the front of the dino that tell us it's amphidinium, instead of the very similar prorocentrum.
Another hint is a slight left/right asymmetry - those types of prorocentrum are usually rigidly symmetric. Also prorocentrum have a shell (theca), and often leave old shells behind in the sample debris when they multiply.

2nd video has spiraling spirulina cyano strand running through the middle.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

In the first pic, the left red circle is a ciliate, see hypotrich ciliates. It does looks sort of like an ostracod @ISpeakForTheSeas , but this thing is ~50 microns or so.

Good catch! I did not know that ciliates could look like that (I’d only seen pics that look like amoebas) - I’ve got a lot more learning to do about them! I only caught the size mistake I made after posting.

Edit: The stereotypical oval-esque amoebas, not the oddly shaped blob amoebas.

 

[taricha]

edit: did want to add that in the mornings my filter floss is totally brown, i’m assuming because of these guys but haven’t sampled in microscope yet.

Wring it out into a cup. You'll find it loaded with high concentration of dinos.

 

[k log(omega)]

Good catch! I did not know that ciliates could look like that (I’d only seen pics that look like amoebas) - I’ve got a lot more learning to do about them! I only caught the size mistake I made after posting.

Edit: The stereotypical oval-esque amoebas, not the oddly shaped blob amoebas.

I thought the same! Pretty cool stuff

 

[k log(omega)]

Wring it out into a cup. You'll find it loaded with high concentration of dinos.

Thank you for the IDs!

And yup, you're right on that. I cut a little piece off the floss and shook it in a test tube, then dripped some of the brown water on a slide and microscope shows all dinos. I feel like this indicates that they do enter the water column somewhat. Would that mean that a UV sterilizer would be at least a little effective against them? I have one but haven't been using it much since I've been dosing a bunch of bacteria and phytoplankton, but maybe I'll try it out and see if it can at least keep them under control so my diatoms and other stuff can take over.

Algae sample off the glass also had some dinos in it, although it was mostly diatoms and green algae and tons of those little cilates. I've been keeping a pretty detailed daily log since I started fighting these guys, so I'll probably post a thread with that once I knock them out and know what worked.

 

[k log(omega)]

In the first pic, the left red circle is a ciliate, see hypotrich ciliates. It does looks sort of like an ostracod @ISpeakForTheSeas , but this thing is ~50 microns or so.
the right red circle in pic 1 is out of focus but probably a segment of cyano.

in pic 2, that's indeed a diatom.

pic 4, sponge spicules, I'll be most people can look in sand and find many of these.

@Dan_P in the videos, we can make out the grooves on the front of the dino that tell us it's amphidinium, instead of the very similar prorocentrum.
Another hint is a slight left/right asymmetry - those types of prorocentrum are usually rigidly symmetric. Also prorocentrum have a shell (theca), and often leave old shells behind in the sample debris when they multiply.

2nd video has spiraling spirulina cyano strand running through the middle.

Any idea what these transparent looking things are?

 

[taricha]

Any idea what these transparent looking things are?

nope

 

[k log(omega)]

nope

thanks anyways haha
i was wondering if they were the theca/shells associated with prorocentrum that you referred to in your last response, in case it was an indication i had both types present, which from my understanding would require the same treatment anyways.
recently had a random decrease in diatoms (maybe should have increased silicate dosing upon their arrival?) and a resurgence in dinos, so i'm getting more aggressive with it now. increasing my silicate dosing and vacuuming sandbed through a 10 micron filter sock, with a UV sterilizer in the bucket to zap anything that might sneak through. hoping to do the latter once a day for at least a few days to see if it makes a noticeable difference.

 

[taricha]

i was wondering if they were the theca/shells associated with prorocentrum that you referred to in your last response, in case it was an indication i had both types present

Yep. In the first picture you posted in this thread underneath the right red circle, that cell is a prorocentrum. So there are some of those present, and the clear things could be the shells I mentioned.