To catch a predator

[Sdbuehler1]

I’ve been trying to catch the unwanted hitch hikers in my TBS live rock. I’ve tried a bottle trap but that didn’t work. Next up a glass with a piece of shrimp fastened to a frag plug with a rubber band. At first it attracted every nassarius snail in the tank but I woke up this morning to success.. a gorilla crab!

The mantis shrimp is showing a lot of interest. I may try putting a net with the frag plug in it to see if it will craw in the net.

To be continued….

 

[IKD]

I’ve been trying to catch the unwanted hitch hikers in my TBS live rock. I’ve tried a bottle trap but that didn’t work. Next up a glass with a piece of shrimp fastened to a frag plug with a rubber band. At first it attracted every nassarius snail in the tank but I woke up this morning to success.. a gorilla crab!

The mantis shrimp is showing a lot of interest. I may try putting a net with the frag plug in it to see if it will craw in the net.

To be continued….

Nice work! Maybe create a little ramp/bridge for it to get to the top of the glass. They can kinda swim though so it still may be able to get out if it struggles enough

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Nice work! Maybe create a little ramp/bridge for it to get to the top of the glass. They can kinda swim though so it still may be able to get out if it struggles enough

Yeah I think the mantis shrimp could easily swim out which is why I may just try a net. I have a few more gorilla crabs to catch and what looks like a pretty good sized xanthid crab so the hunt continues.

 

[BryanM]

Good luck, my mantis are skiddish and elusive.

 

[IKD]

The only way that worked for me was to get the mantis to move into a rock I could remove from the tank. Some folks have used pantyhose to catch bristleworms. Wonder if mantis would also get tangled up

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Got this monster stone crab tonight with the net when he ventured out after the lights went out. He is bigger than a quarter. Into the sump he goes!

 

[Sdbuehler1]

This one looked a little different from the other red mithrax crabs. I put it in the sump to be on the safe side. Its claws are definitely sharper and darker looking.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Caught this guy rummaging around in the sand. I have no idea what it is but the black pointy claws is probably a sign it’s no bueno.

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

Caught this guy rummaging around in the sand. I have no idea what it is but the black pointy claws is probably a sign it’s no bueno.

Ooooo…now for something completely different! Is this a TBS hiker?

This one looked a little different from the other red mithrax crabs. I put it in the sump to be on the safe side. Its claws are definitely sharper and darker looking.

Shaggy Clinging Crab?

Got this monster stone crab tonight with the net when he ventured out after the lights went out. He is bigger than a quarter. Into the sump he goes!

J’s pet stone crab…low maintenance sump monsters.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Ooooo…now for something completely different! Is this a TBS hiker?

Shaggy Clinging Crab?

J’s pet stone crab…low maintenance sump monsters.

Yeah it had to come from either the TBS rock or live sand as I’ve only added very small acro frags to the tank and this was too big to have hitch hiked on 1 inch frag plug. Two and a half months in I am seeing a ton of new life coming out of the live rocks. I’ve lost count as to how many red mithrax and porcelain crabs I have plus a lot of feather dusters are popping up in the sand everywhere. I am like the karate kid with a pair tongs now whenever I see something at night that doesn’t look reef safe haha.

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

Yeah it had to come from either the TBS rock or live sand as I’ve only added very small acro frags to the tank and this was too big to have hitch hiked on 1 inch frag plug. Two and a half months in I am seeing a ton of new life coming out of the live rocks. I’ve lost count as to how many red mithrax and porcelain crabs I have plus a lot of feather dusters are popping up in the sand everywhere. I am like the karate kid with a pair tongs now whenever I see something at night that doesn’t look reef safe haha.

Hahaha, that's awesome!!!
Do you have better photos of the black and white crab?

 

[BristleWormHater]

Caught this guy rummaging around in the sand. I have no idea what it is but the black pointy claws is probably a sign it’s no bueno.

That dude is cool!

 

[BryanM]

Careful with sump monsters. My urchin managed to find its way in to my return pump somehow.

 

[World Citizen]

Nice topic! Great pics and finds!

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Hahaha, that's awesome!!!
Do you have better photos of the black and white crab?

I should have got out my digital camera. The iPhone was struggling to focus on the white on white. This is the only other pic I have.