Let’s say your name is Lena. Or Tanya. Or maybe Alex. It doesn’t matter — what matters is that you’re curious, willing to improve your work with aquatic animals, and finally have access to a microscope (congrats!). You even got some stains? Then let’s begin. ...
Imagine this. A fish arrives at the aquarium with signs of a possible bacterial infection. There’s an ulcer, some mucus, a bit of redness. The lab technician takes a sample and sets up a bacterial culture. The results? In 3–5 days. So everyone waits. But the fish is sick now. On paper, this makes sense: the culture will tell us who’s responsible and what antibiotics might work. But meanwhile, the infection progresses. Treatment may already be in progress — and the sample was taken too late. The culture comes back with nothing. People start talking about viruses. The real cause slips through unnoticed. ...