reefshadow
Member
Hi, Everyone!
I made the mistake of putting 3 centropyge angels in my sps reef and so decided to make a trap rather than tearing the tank apart. It was very easy and very effective!
I started with an acrylic cylinder, and cut two square pieces for the front and back of the trap. In one of the square pieces I cut an entrance hole big enough for the angels to enter. On the back square piece I glued the mirror from a compact facing inward so that the fish would be confused and also to stimulate an agressive response and encourage the fish to enter. I also drilled a small hole in the cylinder to burp air out of and also to bait the trap. Using weld-on, I assembled the trap and let it sit overnight.
The next day I put the trap in the reef, high enough in the rockwork so that I could bait it and also so that it was within my reach. The fish were curious but would not approach the first day, so the next day I started baiting the trap by squirting frozen brine shrimp in the hole in the cylinder. The fish would hover around the entrance and feed, but only one went in that day. Within 3 days however, the angels were swimming freely into the trap to get food, all the other fish too large to fit were hovering around the entrance in complete frustration! On the fourth day I sprang the trap, simply clapping my hand over the entrance hole and lifting the trap out of the water. I caught all the angels within 10 minutes. Boy were they suprised.
This is the way to go if you need to catch a pesky fish. I also figured later that I could have saved some hassle by buying one of those acrylic storage jars for spaghetti and simply using that.
Don't tear apart your reef!
I made the mistake of putting 3 centropyge angels in my sps reef and so decided to make a trap rather than tearing the tank apart. It was very easy and very effective!
I started with an acrylic cylinder, and cut two square pieces for the front and back of the trap. In one of the square pieces I cut an entrance hole big enough for the angels to enter. On the back square piece I glued the mirror from a compact facing inward so that the fish would be confused and also to stimulate an agressive response and encourage the fish to enter. I also drilled a small hole in the cylinder to burp air out of and also to bait the trap. Using weld-on, I assembled the trap and let it sit overnight.
The next day I put the trap in the reef, high enough in the rockwork so that I could bait it and also so that it was within my reach. The fish were curious but would not approach the first day, so the next day I started baiting the trap by squirting frozen brine shrimp in the hole in the cylinder. The fish would hover around the entrance and feed, but only one went in that day. Within 3 days however, the angels were swimming freely into the trap to get food, all the other fish too large to fit were hovering around the entrance in complete frustration! On the fourth day I sprang the trap, simply clapping my hand over the entrance hole and lifting the trap out of the water. I caught all the angels within 10 minutes. Boy were they suprised.
This is the way to go if you need to catch a pesky fish. I also figured later that I could have saved some hassle by buying one of those acrylic storage jars for spaghetti and simply using that.
Don't tear apart your reef!
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