Fish Disease Microscopy

Identify the full range of parasite diseases in Koi Carp and other fish

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Fish Diagnostic Kit

As well as a microscope there are several other things needed in order to make slides of skin scrapes and gill swabs. Obviously thus includes slides, coverslips and something safe to scrape the fish with. We have put everything needed together in a kit which includes some stains (to see things more clearly) and some mountant if you want to keep example slides. Most importantly there is a booklet that describes the process and has pictures of what to look for.

The kit is the most economical way to get everything you need and can be used over and over again.

Price:     Fish Diagnostic Kit - £29.17 + vat

Beginners Tips

• Only use the wooden scrapers or plastic to scrape the skin. Never use the edge of the microscope slides. It goes without saying that you should always scrape from head to tail. Never the other way.
• Place material onto a slide and cover with one of the thin coverslips. Do not try to look without using a coverslip and never cover with another slide as the top slide will be too thick to allow the x40 objective to focus on the ‘sandwich’ middle. That is why coverslips are so thin.
• The slides can be washed and reused but it is difficult to do that with the coverslips without them breaking because they are so thin.
• Use the swabs to collect material from the gill region but do not push them into the gill clefts. The gills are very delicate. Put a small drop of water onto a slide and roll the end of the swab into it. If the swab end absorbs all the water add some more. Then put a coverslip on top.
• Always start with the x10 objective - the one with the yellow line on it. If you have never used a microscope before and are unsure about how far the objective should be from the slide, a good tip is to place a single hair into a drop of water with a coverslip on top. This will be easy to find down the microscope it will look like a ‘telegraph pole’ and you can use this to get used to the controls.
• A skin scrape will be very transparent and it can be difficult to see detail. If you close down the iris diaphragm at the bottom of the condenser - there will be a little lever that does this (see microscope instructions), the contrast in the specimen will be greatly increased.

Brunel Microscopes Ltd, Unit 2 Vincients Road, Bumpers Farm Industrial Estate, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN14 6NQ   

Tel: 01249 462655          Email: mail@brunelmicroscopes.co.uk