Disappearing fish

tboyd

Reefing newb
Hi all,

I am back again with another question. I believe I have a crab or something that is coming out at night an devouring fish. I have had 4 fish in total disappear without a trace overnight. They have all been small fish and all health and eating. They have disappeared over a period of 4 weeks. I noticed this morning that one of my clowns has a chunk out of its tail so I am thinking it is more than likely a crab of some thing that I need to remove and it is hiding in my LR. I have still remaining in my tank 2 clowns, brown tang and fire goby, which none of them are aggressive.

I though I should use a bait trap and see what I get as it is only coming out at night. how can I make or were would I get a bait trap that will work for a fish tank? I am in Australia. After any ideas any one may have as I do not want to loose my clowns they are the next smallest fish in the tank. all the fish I have lost so far have not cost me anything, but my clowns they were not cheap.... $55 AUD each!!

Thank you
Tania
 
Yes I do hear a clicking at night in the tank sounds like something tapping at glass. I will see if I can purchase a manris trap. Thank you for you help all - not happy that it is most likely a mantis shrimp.....
 
Another piece of advice.Be careful working in your tank untill you get it caught.There is a reason they're called thumb splitters.They can and will give you a nasty cut that will require stitches if it hits you,and it dont take a big mantis to get ya.
 
Another piece of advice.Be careful working in your tank untill you get it caught.There is a reason they're called thumb splitters.They can and will give you a nasty cut that will require stitches if it hits you,and it dont take a big mantis to get ya.
+1 yote. 4 stitches on my finger to fix my hit. Felt great with all the salt going in my finger to after it hit me:frustrat::frustrat:. My friends tank. He said he never even new it was in there. BS:pooh:. Last friend that i have helped with his tank. (i did get the mantis out though. I saw the rock it went into and took the whole rock out. Busted the rock up with a spike and a hammer and out popped the bas#$rd. he won the battle, i won the war!))
 
thanks guys I am in the process of making my own Mantis trap using a coke bottle and a strip of aluminum cut from a can, which I am then cutting out triangles and will attache to the bottle opening so that it is easy to go in, but no so easy to get out.. I will post a picture later today when I have made it to get peoples opinions on it and whether you think it will work.

Also what is the best bait to use to attached the mantis shrimp?

thanks again - I will catch the little bugger if it kills me.

If I have to resort to placing LR in fresh water to flush him out will this hurt the corals and other micro organisms on the LR? The piece of LR I think he is in weighs over 10kgs over 22lbs quite heavy to get in and out of tank.
 
I wouldnt use aluminum.Plastic from another bottle would better.The salt will cause the aluminum to oxidize extremely quick releasing some not so good stuff into your tank.
For bait,I havent had a mantis to turn down a meal of mysis shrimp yet,And I've delt with 3 or 4 of the lil devils so far.
 
Also what is the best bait to use to attached the mantis shrimp?


I would try your finger. LOL !!! JK Dont do that!! but it would work:mrgreen:
 
Buy a pair of heavy tongs from the grocery store to handle your rocks until you catch him. Like others have said, you don't want your hands anywhere near a mantis shrimp. If you can't lure him out into a trap, the next best option is to watch which rock he lives in (they usually live in a single rock). Once you identify that rock, you can remove it from the tank and isolate it (hopefully it's not on the bottom of the tank supporting the rest of your rocks!). If it's just one rock, it won't do too much damage to dip it in freshwater. Most corals will survive a freshwater dip if it doesn't last too long.
 
Well I set my trap last night and all I court were 2 of my small shrimp.. nothing missing this morning. It seems to be taking a fish about once a week. Going to go and catch a couple of juvenile damsels so if in the mean time if I cannot catch it, it has something to eat other than my clowns, etc.

I used part of a green prawn for bait as I am unable to get much else here. I have not been able to spot him, but I can certainly hear clicking in my tank at night. some of the clicking is soft and there is clicking that is quite loud. I am assuming that some of the clicking is probably ghost shrimp.

Hopefully better luck tonight.

Tania
 
Good luck with "the hunt". I think you have the right idea to get some other sacrificial fish in the meantime if you want to lower the risk to your other animals.
 
Heres a little trick.Take a small flash light with a red lense on it (you can cover the lense in red seran wrap) and watch the rock closely.Look in every crack,crevice,cave,and hole.You'll be able to spot the mantis by its eyes glowing.They'll be bright red in the light.
You may also be able to get it to take frozen mysis.If you can,then catching it is just a matter of getting to feel comfortable enough to feed out of a net.
 
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