Fish & Shrimp Friendly Bug Trap

[Fishalicious]

This works great for MTS or Planaria and any other bugs that love to hang out in the gravel... not that MTS are bugs but they can overrun a tank pretty quick if you feed too much. It is completely fish and shrimp safe (especially bugs in a shrimp tank are hard to remove without catching some baby shrimp) and I have heard horror stories of other traps trapping fish and them dying.

All you need is a cleaned bottle (I just use a water bottle) - Slice off the top and the bottom and chuck the middle in the bin unless you are into plastic bracelets. Remove the lid from the top half... this is where the critters are going to crawl in..


Now something to lure the little bugs...bloodworms are perfect as nothing I know in the fishy world can resist them but any fish food will do - pop it into the bottom half of the bottle


Slot the bottle top onto the bottom - make sure there are no gaps between the two


Now just put it in the aqua - shove it slightly into the gravel/sand - the bugs are going to crawl up under the gravel into the bottle neck and onto the yummy bloodworms

[Fishalicious]

Sit back and relax and laugh at your fish/shrimp trying to get at the bloodworms in a frenzy through the plastic

Then after about 10 minutes watch in horror as little bugs appear that you had no idea were in your tank

I was sure I had none and did this just to show but cried out in horror after just 4 minutes as I found planaria


I am dreading now to look in about 20-30 minutes LOL Don't leave it too long around an hour should be enough to lock most of them in.... then just turn it around in the water and lift it out...

Dispose of as you see fit

[fins_n_fur]

Great idea! Although, I'm hesitant to try it to see what has been living in my substrate with out me knowing it LOL. Should sticky this for folks posting with critter problems.

[Fishalicious]

Hahahaha I can understand the hesitant part... I am freaking out... I was 100% sure there were no bugs in the shrimp tank <sniffs> Although for showing purposes I am glad a few showed up

MTS crawling in via the bottle neck inside


BUGS!!!!! Actually Planaria - <searches for a bucket>

[Northernguy]

Great pics of a great idea .This should be a sticky. A lot of us will be using this idea.How well will it work for pond snails?

[Sounguru]

People panic over planaria but they are in almost every tank in at least small #'s they are not really the threat everyone makes them out to be.

Sweet trap idea just a reverse of my shrimp trap wonder it it will catch the leeches in my tank....

[Fishalicious]

Yeah there are usually few in every tank I have just never ever seen them myself until using this trap = the freak out is more about how gross they are LOL As there are no fish in this tank I reckon they are surviving ...

[KingFisher]

Great looking trap. I can't wait to make one when I get home.

[Tolley]

This is very neat. I will have to try.. or would i rather not know what could be in my tank!

[Gemini]

Fishalicious you are a tank saver!!! I was just stressing out on how I could get the worms, and tick things and everything else out of my shrimp tank!!
But I'm a visual person and I don't quite get it (it's me not you!). So I take like a Mt franklin water bottle and cut the top and bottom off, but then how do I get them together? How do I put it in the tank? How big should it be? Where do I put the blood worms? How come the shrimp won't get in? Sorry I am really bad at visualising things!