tank trashed

[LeslieS]

You know in the movies, when the bad guys go to a house and trash it throwing things everywhere and cutting things up?

That is what my tank looked like this morning....

Things that had been on the sand bed were on the TOP of the rocks. My leather had holes chewed through the middle, and if it had been glued down, it was tipped over and/or buried.

I need some night vision goggles so that I can see who's hosting the party :-( !!!

 

[thirty5]

Sorry to hear that... Get some red plastic wrap or cellophane (think i spelled that right) put it over a flash light and you will be able to look in the tank. Most marine animals cannot see the red wavelength (as i have been told) never tried it myself.

 

[Deanos]

Sounds like a Gorilla Crab.

 

[LeslieS]

I have an unidentified red crab that came as a hitchhiker when I first started my tank. I think he is getting big enough to do damage.

Luckily, I know where he lives...unluckily, it is the rock holding all the others up!

 

[Awibrandy]

Sorry to hear Leslie! Sounds like a total nightmare!! Hope you catch the culprit soon!

 

[zahner]

i had some similar shenanigans going on in my tank a while back that all seemed to be the handiwork of a gorilla crab that I suddenly noticed one day. It too made its home in a foundation rock, but it didn't count on me being so pissed off that I would pull the entire rock out and flush it out with water and a skewer. I ended up re-aquascaping a bit in the process too.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Sounds like you are going to have to go hunting.

 

[qy7400]

Use a glass jar with some food, lean it up against a rock close to his home and odds are you'll have him by morning; if it's a crab he won't be able to climb out of the jar.

 

[NYreefNoob]

does the crab look like my avitar ?

 

[LeslieS]

yes except it has claws about 1.5 cm. I found the molt.

What is it?

 

[NYreefNoob]

mine have never bothered anything, the lfs doesnt really know the name but i have never had one live over 3 months they always want to seem to crawl out of the water here is a link for them
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/swcrabidfaqs.htm

 

[masterswimmer]

Leslie, sorry to hear about the destruction. I've used a home made trap with great success.

Just take a one or two liter soda bottle. Clean it out VERY well (no soap, just hot water).

Where the bottle begins to taper off to the mouth of the bottle, just cut it off.
Take the cut off top and invert it and put the 'opening of the bottle' back inside the wide body of the bottle.

Punch a few holes into the two pieces. Tie them together (cable ties, bread ties, thread, whatever).

Put some of the crabs favorite food into the bottle and fill it with tank water. Insert the 'trap' into the tank with the opening near the suspected home of the culprit. I can't imagine it would take longer than a few minutes to catch your prey. BTW, do this with lights out.

I used this trap to catch three peppermint shrimp. Honest to god, the first shrimp went for the bait and I caught it within 30 seconds. The second and third peps took considerably longer. Who knew they'd 'learn' from their brotha's mistake. It took a few hours for the next two, but I did catch them.

I'll do a search through my hard drive and see if I can locate any pictures to help make it easier to understand.

Good luck on the pursuit and capture. It can be done.

Russ

 

[LeslieS]

Thanks for the pics Russ,

I have used that trap a few times to get things out of the overflow. Peps seem to love it

I am going to see if the tank is calmer tonight. Hopefully, it was a one time event.

 

[Josh]

I have an unidentified red crab that came as a hitchhiker when I first started my tank.

Boo-yah, a culprit!

 

[KathyC]

If anybody can catch him Leslie, I'm sure you can

 

[PalmTree]

Wow that little thing did all that?!?! I used that trap to catch a damsel and a few other problem habitants in my tank. Good luck Leslie!

 

[LeslieS]

I found the culprit. It is snowball the urchin!!!! I like him too much to get rid of him so I will have to put up with the occasional disturbance.

 

[PalmTree]

I had a pencil urchin in my tank it it must have had a bull dozer attachment on it. Everything was all over the place! Glad you found the culprit.

 

[cybermeez]

I have an unidentified red crab that came as a hitchhiker when I first started my tank. I think he is getting big enough to do damage.

I found the culprit. It is snowball the urchin!!!!

The crab may sue you for defamation of charachter. :fishhit: