Need help trapping livestock

goosey

goosey

New Member
I recently wrote about my disappearing shrimp. The suspicious culprits were my CBS and large brittle star. My LFS suggested it was my purple pseudochromis. I prepared my QT tank and some separation containers to eliminate the bad guy. Great plan, but the problem is I can't catch any of the darned things
Any suggestions on how to lure and trap them or other magical suggestions? Am I going to have to wait until I upgrade to a bigger tank?
 
noah's nemo

noah's nemo

Member
Its probably your CBS,mine has took out a cleaner and peppermints,he wants no part of having any company,and from what i understand,he thinks its food for him
 
cokepelli

cokepelli

New Member
I use two nets...1 large one and 1 smaller, I usually chase the fish with the smaller one into the large one. sometimes it takes a few trys but works for me...however you may have trouble if you have a lot of "hiding spots" around your tank (ie: live rock ect.) Good luck
 
adee

adee

Member
we just finally caught our last bully yellow chromis, it took us taking down our live rock to catch the darn thing but we did it. We had one large net and two people, my husband chased it to one end of the tank and i honestly caught it with my hand (Cupped my hand around it up against the glass) and my husband followed my hand with the net and i basically put it in the net, this is the second yellow chromis i have caught this way. It takes two people, destroying your rock formation and one large net but it can be done. Good luck!!
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
they make fish traps fr this purpose, i dont know if anyone has had any luck, but ive seena trap in my LFS in the big 500 gallon tank trying to catch a renegade
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Brittlestars are usually not all that difficult to catch - esp if a green brittlestar - just by feeding it. If you spot feed them with some shrimp on a skewer or something they typically can be coaxed out.
I would tend to go with the pseudo or the shrimp as the most likely culprits, esp if it isn't a green brittlestar.
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
how much rock work do you have?
you can trap him on one side of the tank and move the rocks to the other leaving him no place to hide
i think meowzer used a trap one time but dont remember how it worked out maybe she'll chime in
she usually does
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
The shrimp can likely be caught in a bottle trap. Take a soda bottle and cut the top third or so off, invert it into the other part of the bottle and use cable ties to secure the pieces. Then put food into the bottle and place in the bottom of the tank on its side.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
And in the same series is this fish trap, which can be made from flexible netting of sorts...e.g. if you go to a craft store, they sell plastic screen that is used to make yarn cross stich designs...
 
goosey

goosey

New Member
I removed the lights and top last night and with the help of a friend caught the CBS. I released 4 small peppermints into the DT. We'll see if I can find them tonight. If not, I will follow the expert advice above on creating a fish trap for the pseudochromis (why are the pretty ones always a problem?)
Thanks for the great advice. I just hope I don't have to sacrifice too many shrimp before I figure out who the bad guy is. I know they are only shrimp, but I feel guilty sending them to their death.
 
goosey

goosey

New Member
There are two brown brittle stars (one is 6-8" tip to tip, and the other at least 9-10". It has been suggested that they are too large. I generally feed a variety of frozen meaty foods every other day & occasional flakes. The shrimp and stars come out and eat, but I have not been spot feeding them per say (maybe I have been inadvertently with peppermint shrimp).
BTW I couldn't find any of the four peppermints last night, but I couldn't find them right after I put them in the tank either. I'll give them another few days.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
The idea that they are "too large" does not make them predatory. While all brittlestars are opportunistic, it is rare for them to be predatory and repeat offenders. I have 10 large brittlestars - and 3 greens (known predatory species) and have no issues that I can report. I do target feed them, however.
They would look very distorted in the disk if they ate them. You would notice them I think.
 
goosey

goosey

New Member
I guess I'll trap the pseudochromis next. I am going in for heart surgery next week (arrgh) so I won't have time to try more shrimp until the end of the month. The tank will be my rehab and relaxation. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
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