Zoa eating culprit?

[PanchoG]

I just read the whole thread, OMG! naiil bating. Now I am scared to put my hand in tank! Good luck.

 

[CMMorgan]

The die pretty quickly when out of the water, otherwise, I would not go out in my yard!

You live in Nevada! Isn't that the desert? If they are in YOUR yard, then I am definitely in trouble living in Florida. Where did I put that old shotgun??

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

Ok, I’ve slept on it. Well what I actually mean is that I barely slept at all! When you have the house in absolute darkness except for the tiny red light and it suddenly appears for the first time it’s a little unnerving. The red glow definitely adds to the ‘atmosphere’

I went down 3 times during the night to check on it and on each occasion it was poking from a different hole in the same rock - not sure if it wanted to play whack-a-mole!!! In any case I’m hoping that this rock is where it’s lair is (home doesn’t seem an appropriate word) so my current thinking is...

1. I’ll remove any corals frags that are on the rock
2. I’ll remove rock and give it about 5 minutes of fresh air to see if it slithers out on it own. Maybe I should the hold the rock over some salt water to entice it or actually place the rock in some saltwater and gradually take the rock out to encourage it to move as it realises that the water level is dropping
3. If above fails I think next step is to dip rock in fresh water and see if that works better
4. I’ll buy a vibranium arm (like Bucky Barnes has) and go after him myself

Open to other suggestions also. Trying to avoid having to use my hand to pull it out if possible but might buy some gloves just in case I need to resort to hand-to-worm combat

if I do prove victorious (I feel braver during the daytime) I’ll take photo / video and post it - don’t think the wife would let me mount it over the fireplace.

Wish me luck!

I would be strapping dynamite to that rock.

 

[CMMorgan]

I would be strapping dynamite to that rock.

.... and now we understand how you got the name "poof no eyebrows".

 

[DED65]

You live in Nevada! Isn't that the desert? If they are in YOUR yard, then I am definitely in trouble living in Florida. Where did I put that old shotgun??

We are not in a desert, the Sierra’s are 15 minutes away, we are quite dry though. In Florida they might survive, are you sure that was a non venomous snake and not a worm?

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

.... and now we understand how you got the name "poof no eyebrows".

 

[Dolphin2409]

After a closely fought battle between two evenly matched intellects, victory is mine!!!

Soda water seems to be his kryptonite. I bought 4 litres of it and I held the rock in the air while the wife poured the soda water through the cracks and crevices.

Nothing dropped out but just as we were nearing the end of the last 1 litre bottle we spotted something that looked a bit soft in one of crevices. I think the soda water definitely drove it to the surface.

I then used a long tweezers to pinch / hold a piece of it and gradually pull it out. This took a few minutes as he was still alive and didn’t come out in one easy go. I was so conscious of not pulling too hard and snapping him.

He is 38 inches long!!!!

Not to reinforce a stereotype but I’m going to have a drink now!

 

[DED65]

Congratulations! He is a big sucker! I'm glad the club soda worked, I guess they dislike the bubbles. How big is your tank? You should have a few drinks and relax a little! How the heck did you get your wife to help!

 

[CrazyCatLady]

Nope. Nope. Nope.

I, too, am going to go have a drink after seeing this. Also, I'm never sticking my hand in any of my tanks ever again.

 

[Dolphin2409]

Congratulations! He is a big sucker! I'm glad the club soda worked, I guess they dislike the bubbles. How big is your tank? You should have a few drinks and relax a little! How the heck did you get your wife to help!

Not to turn this into an Oscars acceptance speech but your advice and guidance was invaluable. Much appreciated! I wouldn’t have known what to do otherwise.

Tank is 4ft by 2ft by 2ft peninsula tank

Yep, the wife participation surprised me too!!!

 

[Karen00]

After a closely fought battle between two evenly matched intellects, victory is mine!!!

Soda water seems to be his kryptonite. I bought 4 litres of it and I held the rock in the air while the wife poured the soda water through the cracks and crevices.

Nothing dropped out but just as we were nearing the end of the last 1 litre bottle we spotted something that looked a bit soft in one of crevices. I think the soda water definitely drove it to the surface.

I then used a long tweezers to pinch / hold a piece of it and gradually pull it out. This took a few minutes as he was still alive and didn’t come out in one easy go. I was so conscious of not pulling too hard and snapping him.

He is 38 inches long!!!!

Not to reinforce a stereotype but I’m going to have a drink now!

WOW! That is definitely the stuff of nightmares!! Congrats on getting him out. Do you think he came in via that rock or something else? That would have made for a great video to see this guy dragging your rocks/coral around the tank!

 

[((FORDTECH))]

After a closely fought battle between two evenly matched intellects, victory is mine!!!

Soda water seems to be his kryptonite. I bought 4 litres of it and I held the rock in the air while the wife poured the soda water through the cracks and crevices.

Nothing dropped out but just as we were nearing the end of the last 1 litre bottle we spotted something that looked a bit soft in one of crevices. I think the soda water definitely drove it to the surface.

I then used a long tweezers to pinch / hold a piece of it and gradually pull it out. This took a few minutes as he was still alive and didn’t come out in one easy go. I was so conscious of not pulling too hard and snapping him.

He is 38 inches long!!!!

Not to reinforce a stereotype but I’m going to have a drink now!

That is awesome if you kept him alive I’m sure someone would take him

 

[DED65]

Not to turn this into an Oscars acceptance speech but your advice and guidance was invaluable. Much appreciated! I wouldn’t have known what to do otherwise.

Tank is 4ft by 2ft by 2ft peninsula tank

Yep, the wife participation surprised me too!!!

I am just glad that you got him! Hopefully the information will help others out too! It only took me a week to put my hands back into the tank!

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Congrats on getting him out. Doesnt matter how many times i see them it still blows my mind how big they are and how well they hide themselves.

 

[Dolphin2409]

WOW! That is definitely the stuff of nightmares!! Congrats on getting him out. Do you think he came in via that rock or something else? That would have made for a great video to see this guy dragging your rocks/coral around the tank!

My best guess is that he came in via that rock. It has loads of little channels etc. When I look back there were lots of ‘symptoms’ for years (things moving around, never having any luck with zoas etc) but I never made the connection. I think it really just reached a breaking point as he got longer and stronger to the extent that I couldn’t ignore it any more.

Yeah, I really would have loved to have seen him in action. I guess he anchors himself on his tail end and then grabs with his mouth or wraps around to move the rocks and corals.

So glad to be rid of him - maybe I can now actually keep zoas !!!

 

[Dolphin2409]

I am just glad that you got him! Hopefully the information will help others out too! It only took me a week to put my hands back into the tank!

Yep, hopefully some tips and tricks there for other unfortunates!
1. know their calling card. For me the super human strength is the real tell tale which I didn’t appreciate before.
2. get a visual confirmation and figure out where their home is
3. Soda water

 

[PanchoG]

 

[DeniseAndy]

Congrats. Following since the beginning too. That guy was huge. IT is truly amazing how they can hide in such a small area. Wow!!!!
In my case, my husband would have checked into a hotel for a week or so waiting for me to get it out. I get the snakes in the garage and yard too.

 

[Karen00]

This was like reading a fabulous whodunnit turned alien/horror novel and while I'm sure the OP is relieved to have the mystery solved and the evil monster defeated, I for one am sad it's over. I will miss the thrilling twists and turns as well as the enigmatic characters! I see the making of a mini-series with this one! :-D

 

[CMMorgan]

This was like reading a fabulous whodunnit turned alien/horror novel and while I'm sure the OP is relieved to have the mystery solved and the evil monster defeated, I for one am sad it's over. I will miss the thrilling twists and turns as well as the enigmatic characters! I see the making of a mini-series with this one! :-D

But wait.... what if there are more? What if this one came in really small and spent years growing? There may be more little ones.... there could be a sequel.