tmarmoratus
2010 Research Grant Donor
As some of you may know, my Triturus marmoratus are currently laying eggs. As I've taken to removing these eggs from the adult enclosure into an enclosure in which to raise the larvae, I came across an ever developing colony of planaria in the adult tank (Possibly came in with the elodea?). Naturally many of these planaria hitched a ride on the plants that were transferred into the larvae enclosure. As planarians have been known to feed on eggs, I found it in my best interest to come up with a method for ridding both tanks of these potentially dangerous little flatworms.
What I used to get rid of them was a bucket, a fish net, a temporary enclosure (to keep the plants/eggs) a paper towel and a container to scoop water.
As you can see in the picture below, I placed the paper towel inside of the fish net, creating a filter, then put the fish net on top of the bucket. Next I used the container to scoop water out of the primary enclosure, then poured it through the makeshift filter and into the bucket. Once I had enough water in the bucket to fill the temporary enclosure with enough water to submerge the eggs, I put the filtered water into the temp. enclosure, then carefully removed the plants and eggs from the primary enclosure and placed them there. The next step was to filter the rest of the water from the enclosure through the filter and into the bucket. Once empty, I thoroughly washed and dried the primary enclosure to ensure no straggling planaria were left inside, then poured the water from the bucket back into the enclosure. The last step was, you guessed it, putting the eggs and plants back into the primary enclosure.
Using this method, I was able to eradicate approximately 90-95% of the planaria population that was in the tank, without seriously disturbing the nitrogen cycle.
What I used to get rid of them was a bucket, a fish net, a temporary enclosure (to keep the plants/eggs) a paper towel and a container to scoop water.
As you can see in the picture below, I placed the paper towel inside of the fish net, creating a filter, then put the fish net on top of the bucket. Next I used the container to scoop water out of the primary enclosure, then poured it through the makeshift filter and into the bucket. Once I had enough water in the bucket to fill the temporary enclosure with enough water to submerge the eggs, I put the filtered water into the temp. enclosure, then carefully removed the plants and eggs from the primary enclosure and placed them there. The next step was to filter the rest of the water from the enclosure through the filter and into the bucket. Once empty, I thoroughly washed and dried the primary enclosure to ensure no straggling planaria were left inside, then poured the water from the bucket back into the enclosure. The last step was, you guessed it, putting the eggs and plants back into the primary enclosure.
Using this method, I was able to eradicate approximately 90-95% of the planaria population that was in the tank, without seriously disturbing the nitrogen cycle.