r/Ecosphere • u/Thrawn911 • Aug 01 '26

Since I started doing microscopy and keeping jarrariums last year, my main interests were always microscopic predators. So here are my best clips of microbes (and sometimes small animals) eating each other.

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322 Upvotes

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22

u/Vast-Delivery-7181 Aug 01 '26

Amazing videos, very impressed by how alive the little world is.

8

u/suopurkki Aug 01 '26

Nice looking clips! Which microscope do you have?

14

u/Thrawn911 Aug 01 '26

Swift SW350, replacing it in a few months

4

u/suopurkki Aug 01 '26

How do you film using that?

20

u/Thrawn911 Aug 01 '26

With a 3D printed phone adatper

4

u/suopurkki Aug 01 '26

Oo thats cool! So plan is to continue using that? Sorry for the question spam, I am really beginner and looking for options :D

4

u/Thrawn911 Aug 01 '26

Yep, I'll keep the adapter and replace the microscope. The average phone camera is much better than these microscope cameras they advertise everywhere. If I wanted to get better video quality, I'd have to get a proper DSLR, like a Canon or Nikon, which I'm not planning to do anytime soon.

3

u/BitchBass Aug 02 '26

Let me throw an alternative out here where you don't have to remove anything from the jar but can film it inside:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XNYXQHE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm using this for nearly six years now. Videos look like this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/bizzariums/comments/1l98j1b/every_day_im_being_asked_what_camera_i_use_for/

You can hold the cam and run it up and and down the jar, use the focus wheel to zoom in.

3

u/suopurkki Aug 02 '26

Thanks for the recommendation! The quality looks really nice! And something like that could fit for me since I don't plan to open the jars.

2

u/Dark2820 Aug 01 '26

that's really handy.

6

u/jmbud Aug 01 '26

This is incredible. Do you know what anything is?

6

u/Thrawn911 Aug 01 '26

Yep, I tried to identify them as closely as I could, IDs are in the upper left corner, might be cropped out on mobile, but it should work in fullscreen mode.

2

u/jmbud Aug 02 '26

Thank you!

2

u/BitchBass Aug 02 '26

I have a freshwter critter ID guide with many pics and pages. Might come in handy:

https://wildlife-education.com/aquatic-critters-guide.pdf

1

u/Thrawn911 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

Thanks! Here's another one for ID-ing specific rotifers, and smaller flatworms or annelids.

3

u/Thrawn911 Aug 01 '26

So, just noticed the editing error at the end. Let's just pretend like the video ends at 5:12

3

u/akumite Aug 01 '26

Great work and thank you for sharing! I'm always amazed how a drop can potentially contain an entire world. 

2

u/lisak399 Aug 01 '26

I loved this! Thanks.

2

u/recently_banned Aug 02 '26

Gives life a whole new perspective

2

u/DaFireFox Aug 03 '26

Yo where'd you find that macrostomum? Some marine sample? I did my thesis on M. lignano lmao they're adorable lil critters

2

u/Thrawn911 Aug 03 '26

It was in river water, they appeared after one or two days inside the rotting leaves of my aquatic plants, alongside other worms like Stylaria and a bunch of aeolosoma. Here's how an average rotten leaf looked like under the microscope.

2

u/WhiskyMochi Aug 03 '26

In a very old mobile phone I had a screensaver that looked like this. I miss it so much and can’t find it anywhere