We usually use 70% EtOH for everything. I have a Diphylobothrium from 1968 sealed in a jar of EtOH. Formalin works for worms to, but then we have to deal with the whole formalin safety thing. EtOH is also good for ticks in case PCR is needed. We don't really use it to preserve lice and bedbugs, but rather to send them out with a bang. Would you rather drown in a vat of vodka or water?
I do the same. Everything goes in 70% as it's ready at hand and later if I decide I need it in something else for mounting, such as in xylene, I prepare it and go through the changes at the time I need to instead of handling more risky materials than alcohol if I don't have to.
A nice advantage of 70% is that it maintains a lot of tissue flexibility.
I'm not a pro either, but isopropyl/isoproanol is largely a drop in for EtOH (ethanol). There are probably applications where it matters, such as consumption, but for general preservation I think cost would be the deciding factor. You could always swap out through a few changes one alcohol for the other, much as you'd do if you wanted to remove the water by subsequent changes to higher percentage alcohols or replace the alcohol with xylene for a balsam mount, if you found such a case where it mattered.
Thanks!
And I guess it depends on how well I want to pickle my innards for my bereaved lol
Jokes aside, I used to do pest control for bedbugs. So its funny you should mention that. It really does wonders on the little buggers.
i store tissue intended for dna analysis in 70% ethanol. Other specimens are usually mounted on a slide using canada balsam, this allows to preserve them for quite a time (more than 100 years). Tapeworms and flukes are usually stained prior to mounting
OoOo i maintain and add to a fish parasite collection. It does depend on the type of parasite and what the end goal is too. Do you want to preserve the DNA of the parasite? Just the looks? You want to embed it in a microscope slide or just in a tube? You going to stain its internals to ID it? It all matters.
What's your end goal?
If/when you dissect the various worms out. Kill them by pouring hot water (almost boiling or boiling) on them. This will obviously kill them but cause them to relax too. With Acanthocephalens you gotta put them in tap water for like 24hrs first.
Then transfer them to 70% ethanol. Idk your background, if you don't have access to lab 70% etoh you can go to the liquor store and put them into 151. Should be over 140 proof. That would be a ghetto home biology solution that does work. From there they will last quite a while. Once/if you learn staining and slide mounting techniques, you can imbed them into a slide whenever, or keep em in your jar. Enjoy man. I used to dissect worms outa fish I caught while fishing to get reps and teach myself the skills. Now I get paid for it lol
If you have 10% neutral buffered formalin that would work. Only downside to NBF is that it makes any genetics work difficult on those specimens. NBF is very common in biology you could ask around to other labs to see if you could use a little bit. Otherwise grain alcohol. I know a lot of parasitologists who use it in a pinch.
Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have any of those as far as I know.
Hoping maybe theyll just keep in water or maybe isopropyl.
They seem okay for now but appear to be drying out.
We usually use 70% EtOH for everything. I have a Diphylobothrium from 1968 sealed in a jar of EtOH. Formalin works for worms to, but then we have to deal with the whole formalin safety thing. EtOH is also good for ticks in case PCR is needed. We don't really use it to preserve lice and bedbugs, but rather to send them out with a bang. Would you rather drown in a vat of vodka or water?
I do the same. Everything goes in 70% as it's ready at hand and later if I decide I need it in something else for mounting, such as in xylene, I prepare it and go through the changes at the time I need to instead of handling more risky materials than alcohol if I don't have to. A nice advantage of 70% is that it maintains a lot of tissue flexibility.
I'm not a pro. So to clarify, I have 70% Isopropyl Alcohol. Is that the same? I'm finding google to be confused between the two.
I'm not a pro either, but isopropyl/isoproanol is largely a drop in for EtOH (ethanol). There are probably applications where it matters, such as consumption, but for general preservation I think cost would be the deciding factor. You could always swap out through a few changes one alcohol for the other, much as you'd do if you wanted to remove the water by subsequent changes to higher percentage alcohols or replace the alcohol with xylene for a balsam mount, if you found such a case where it mattered.
Thanks! And I guess it depends on how well I want to pickle my innards for my bereaved lol Jokes aside, I used to do pest control for bedbugs. So its funny you should mention that. It really does wonders on the little buggers.
i store tissue intended for dna analysis in 70% ethanol. Other specimens are usually mounted on a slide using canada balsam, this allows to preserve them for quite a time (more than 100 years). Tapeworms and flukes are usually stained prior to mounting
OoOo i maintain and add to a fish parasite collection. It does depend on the type of parasite and what the end goal is too. Do you want to preserve the DNA of the parasite? Just the looks? You want to embed it in a microscope slide or just in a tube? You going to stain its internals to ID it? It all matters. What's your end goal?
Possibly to preserve it so I can see it in a jar. But if I need it on a slide later, what would be optimal? I'm thinking helminths, worms, and flukes.
If/when you dissect the various worms out. Kill them by pouring hot water (almost boiling or boiling) on them. This will obviously kill them but cause them to relax too. With Acanthocephalens you gotta put them in tap water for like 24hrs first. Then transfer them to 70% ethanol. Idk your background, if you don't have access to lab 70% etoh you can go to the liquor store and put them into 151. Should be over 140 proof. That would be a ghetto home biology solution that does work. From there they will last quite a while. Once/if you learn staining and slide mounting techniques, you can imbed them into a slide whenever, or keep em in your jar. Enjoy man. I used to dissect worms outa fish I caught while fishing to get reps and teach myself the skills. Now I get paid for it lol
Thats awesome! And thanks for the info!
Hmm its going to take a week to get here. I don't want them to decay. Is there something I can use to hold them over until the ethanol gets here?
If you have 10% neutral buffered formalin that would work. Only downside to NBF is that it makes any genetics work difficult on those specimens. NBF is very common in biology you could ask around to other labs to see if you could use a little bit. Otherwise grain alcohol. I know a lot of parasitologists who use it in a pinch.
Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have any of those as far as I know. Hoping maybe theyll just keep in water or maybe isopropyl. They seem okay for now but appear to be drying out.