Larvae: the super-fast whirlpool cleanup

[Molch]

Every day I change the water for my alpestris larvae after they had their brine shrimp. I found the slowest step is getting the larvae out of the tub one by one. Turkey-bastering takes, like, forever. Sucking them up with a hose is just too brutal. Netting them individually is too stressfull for them and me.

So I developed the whirlpool-method (patent pending): :rofl:

step 1: remove plants and decorations

step 2: now, how to fish out all those little monsters?

step 3: the whirlpool. Easy now! 3-4 times around does it. You want a gentle swirl, not a vomit- vortex. Think 1920ies merry-go-round.

step 4: they will swirl into the middle, temporarily under the influence

step 5: while they are still dizzy, scoop 'em all up with a soft net

step 6: deposit the whole bunch in new tub.

 

[FRANCOIS]

You should write a book and publish it :
"How to raise newt larvaes for Dummies"

 

[axolotlfriend]

thats actually real cool, thanks !

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

I've done that in the past. I didn't do it much just a handful of times. I stopped because I didn't want to stress the newts and risk injury. I'd rather have my larvae in a less stress element as much as possible. Especially when they're undergoing transition from tupperware to another. Thats already enough stress. Hope everything goes well on your end. Nice pics though!

 

[Molch]

I definitely worry about stressing them - but so far this is the least stressful method I've found. Mainly because it only takes about 20 seconds and it's over for them. If I poke around in there with a turkey baster it takes half an hour to catch them all. I also tried vacuuming out all the dead brine shrimp and poop with airline tubing, but I never get all of it, and there'd be too much debris left. And someone always takes an unplanned trip down the airline tubing....

 

[RobM]

Another way you could try is using a sieve. Empty the tub through the sieve so it collects all the larvae, then place the sieve in the new water and let them swim out the top. The debris should either go through the sieve or stay in it, either way it shouldn't make it into the new tub.
(can use net instead of sieve, can also empty some water from the first tub first to make the process quicker)

 

[Kaysie]

I always used Rob's method. I put the net on top of the waste bucket, and dumped the to-be-cleaned tub through the net. The only downside to this is when one of the larvae takes an unexpected trip into the waste bucket and I have to fish it out.

 

[anothernewtfan]

After reading this I tried siphoning with airline tubing for the first time. That was very handy. Thanks

 

[Fer]

I think it's not the right thing to do. This hobbie is made of about 70% patience, this method stress the larvae and perhaps they could harm themselves. You save time but taking more risk than usual.

 

[Molch]

I think it's not the right thing to do. This hobbie is made of about 70% patience, this method stress the larvae and perhaps they could harm themselves. You save time but taking more risk than usual.

fair enough - but I found this to be the least stressful method I could think of. I don't want to simply pour them into a net or sieve; I think that's worse...I worry about the weight of water hurting them as it pours over them into the net. I tried and I find the gentle swirl method less stressy.

if you know of a better way, I'd love to hear!

 

[eljorgo]

I liked the part when she said 'oh the indignity' simply LMFAO

 

[evut]

When I was raising my larvae, I transported them with a turkey baster at first but thought it must be stressful being sucked up like that...so I ended up pouring the water carefully out of the old tubs and leaving the larvae in the bottom corner, with as little old water and debris as possible and then pouring them into a fresh container. I was using much smaller tubs than Molch so it wasn't difficult, just a little time consuming and there were always some escapees who had to be moved individually.