Thanks for your question. We usually look at the vinegar eels using a compound microscope just because we have that out for the public to use and be able to change magnifications. With vinegar eels you can see them using the 4x, 10x, or 40x objectives (40x, 100x, or 400x total magnification), though the 400x would be such a large magnification that you’d only see part of the worm. However, you don’t need a compound scope to see them. We’ve used dissecting scopes with a total magnification of 25-30x and you can see the vinegar eels moving around. Hope this helps! Happy viewing.