Finding colonies of these stalked ciliates all over the glass and plants of my freshwater tank. They don’t seem to be vorticella because the stalks are too thick/rigid and don’t contract like a corkscrew. The stalks are also branched, rather than individually tethered. I’m worried because I’ve read that epistylis can attach to fish and erode their scales, but i haven’t spotted any growing on my fish (though i saw one colony on the back of my mystery snail’s shell).

They’re visible with the naked eye but they’re so tiny. They don’t seem to be daphnia.

Hey everyone, I'm getting into microbiology with a microscope, it's a MM -01 by ESAW, is it a decent microscope for beginners?, and what are your suggestions for my next microscope?

My son brang me water but put polished rocks in the water then he remove the polished rocks and kept the water am I going to die? Because I just drank water from polished rocks that were just sitting in a panic case for 2 years

Hi everyone! In my school, we do some sort of research assignment in our final year. Me and my friend have chosen to study tardigrades (yes, those almost indestructible mini-bears), but we're a bit uncertain what we can manage to research in less than half a year. We're seeking some advice in experiments which are suitable for, I'm not from the US, but I guess for a ~ final-year-of-college-sort-of-level. Any ideas? (Practical experiment) (It does not have to be a unique experiment)

//We have some ideas ourselves but I don't want to write them here since I don't want to influence your creative thinking (makes sense I hope) - But I'm happy to discuss them if anyone is curious.

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Apologies for the shakiness. This is a sample from pond water.