crab trap w/no luck

[iluvzigz]

ok ive been trying to catch this crab... he must've been a hitchhiker when the tank was setup ,cause i would never put this sucker in.....

ive been trying the shrimp in a bottle technique..but nothing he is running amuck killing and picking and moving everythingin its path...everything except the fish...yet..

he is pretty big..i need some more advice before my tank is gone..he wont stop terrorizing the tank , everyday its somthing new with this jerk....uhhhhhh!

i desparetly need to put some snails and conchs back in the tank but i cnt till he is gone....HELP!!!

[sasquatch]

is the bottle neck big enough for it to get in? I used some stainless steel mesh, rolled a cone, narrow end into a jar, can go in but cant get out, that was the best day of fishing Ive had, like yours my crab was a gourmet and only ate the most expensive items

[lcstorc]

Wild idea, but wait until he goes into one of your rocks then take the rock out to get to him.
Worth a shot IMO

[iluvzigz]

yeh the bottle was big enough..i have to be careful because my clown will swim in there and just pick it out (the shrimp) before the crab can get it..

he has been living under the rock, not in it with a border of discarded conch and snail shells in front of his entrance

[das]

G'day dude
How much of a hassle would it be to strip the tank?not only does this crab destroy your bank acc but prevents you from obtaining new flash bling coral!its a pain in the ass but you can end up with a cooler design landscape anyway!

[prow]

aaahhh try a skewer.sneak up on him at night with a red light and joust him, throw some onions, peppers, mushrooms on it, straight to the BBQ. good stuff i tell you.

[Warnberg]

What else do you have in the tank, animal wise? You have a couple of options, just feed enough so that everything else gets food but him, when it gets hungry enough it will come out and go for the shrimp in the bottle. As mentioned above, remove the rock that it has made home in, a fresh water dip or soda water squirted in the hole (outside the tank) will take care of it. Or if you have nothing else in the tank (new tank) you could always drop the salinity down to about 1.009 (hypo salinity) that might take care of him.

[iluvzigz]

Originally Posted by Warnberg

What else do you have in the tank, animal wise? You have a couple of options, just feed enough so that everything else gets food but him, when it gets hungry enough it will come out and go for the shrimp in the bottle. As mentioned above, remove the rock that it has made home in, a fresh water dip or soda water squirted in the hole (outside the tank) will take care of it. Or if you have nothing else in the tank (new tank) you could always drop the salinity down to about 1.009 (hypo salinity) that might take care of him.

i have all kinds of corals and fish in the tank..so messin w/ the levels is not an option,..
he usually doesnt get fed i feed only enough for the fish and i never see him eat thier ..he's only out at night aswell and i dont think hes in the rock just under iti guess im gonna have to try and tear apart my tank...DAMN!!!! this sucks!!

i posted on a local forum to see if anyone can help me no replies yet but ill give it another day or so then i might justr havve to break it down

thanks for your replies everyone!!

[Warnberg]

Well there is one option to the bottle trap that you have tried. This is what I did. I took a round reusable Tupperware (you know the new cheap ones with the blue lids?), put a hole in the lid about the size of a quarter, I then took one of my old sample bottles used for testing my water and put a bunch of holes in the lid of it. I then glued (super glue) this little bottle to the bottom center of the Tupperware. Put several pieces of table shrimp in the little bottle and put the hole filled lid on it, put the lid on the Tupperware and bury it in the sand with most of the top covered in sand accept about an inch all the way around the hole. Leave it for a few days, when you un-bury it, watch out from bristle worms, but with any luck your crab will be in there as well.

[iluvzigz]

i know what tupperwarre your talking about and i kinda know what your talkin about for the rest ..i willl try to work off this thanks again warnberg

[prow]

i am telling you spear that guy at night, use a red light too see him he can not see that red light so will not run and hide from it. i have done this many many times, it works very well. if the skewer is not sharp enough use a needle and syringe.

[iluvzigz]

so they cannot see that red light?? ill just put somthing red /red film over a flashlight maybe..im gonna try that sit and wait for him one night i guess thanks prow....

you know whats funny i posted about this on my local forum i had over 30 veiws and had one person say somthing....glad i chose reefsanctuary as my real home site....thanks guys!!