What is this "egg?"

[jennandjuicetm]

A couple days ago I posted trying to figure out why my BN pleco was laying so many eggs. Come to find out, of wasn't pleco eggs. Some suggested nerite snail eggs and while I do agree, the tank had been snail free for over a week and completely cleaned out. I put the "egg" And some pleco poop under a microscope and it looked nothing like the video I found of the nerote snail egg under a scope. First is the pleco poop. On the top and left side are the poop pieces. The ovular organism between them on the upper left corner is something that would run quickly around. No idea what it could be! Definitely creepy.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

This is the "egg." The first one is whole, the second and third are after I squished it with a cover slip accidentally.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

On the outside edges of the "egg" there were at least two different organisms. The first pic is of them together for size comparison. The bell shaped organism would float attached by one "string" an the snailish shaped organism was free floating and would come and take the bell away.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

More...

 

[jennandjuicetm]

My previous thread, for reference. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f82/bn-pleco-constantly-laying-eggs-315903.html

Sent from my VK810 4G using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Those are some awesome pictures! what field do you work in to have access to nice microscopes like those?

 

[jennandjuicetm]

I'm a vet aassistant at a local shelter.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[toddnbecka]

The bell shaped critters are rotifers. Not sure about the larger one, but it likely eats the rotifers,

 

[icydeath]

Sorry I can't be of much help but that is a NICE scope. I remember in 6th grade when we looked at pond algae and water under a scope. So awesome.

 

[pip walters]

Hi
Great pics, well done.
The 'oval' organism in the first picture is Paramecium - very common and not at all creepy

The bell shaped organisms are Vorticella, also very common, with many species. As you probably saw, they retract on that stalk very quickly.

Hard to say from the photos, but the organism whizzing round eating the Vorticella is almost certainly a rotifer, possibly a species of Polyarthra

The 'egg' looks like some kind of seed to me, especially the way it has split under pressure from the cover slide catastrophe