400 gallon project - Page 27

Joe Reefer · #**261** 05-16-2007, 06:34 PM

ekk

, good luck trying to catch those little blood suckers!

04scoobysti · #**262** 05-17-2007, 02:19 AM

I had one of these little buggers show up about a month ago, a week or so after i added some live rock. It attached itself to the side of my clown in the exact same spot as on your tang. Luckly my clown is very easy to catch, practily swims right in the net, and i was able to pull that little bugger off. I haven't seen anymore since the inital incident, nor have i tried to trap them. My fish (clown and green chromis) seem no worse for the wear, so im going continue to cross my fingers that it was only one that hitched a ride in on that live rock. I hope the traping/turkey baster method cofirms for you that it was the only one so you can concentrate on other, more fun matters with your tank. Best of luck!

Snappy · #**263** 05-17-2007, 03:26 AM

Your tank is really coming along. Lookin' awesome Dude!!!

untamed · #**264** 05-18-2007, 06:51 AM

I fired the opening salvo in my attack on ciranolids tonight.

I made a small trap from a 300ml water bottle. I'll post a photo some other time because I've been staring into a dark tank for hours and I'm tired.

I dropped the trap in just as the lights went off for the evening. The trap was baited with some pieces of krill. I sat in the dark trying to see into the tank and waited....Right on schedule, (about 1/2 hr later) I could see a ciranolid doing circles around my trap. I watched the circling for about 5 minutes and decided to lay the trap on it's side, rather than standing straight up. The ciranolid didn't like to swim too far away from the sand bed.

30 seconds after doing that, I had him! My first capture!

I watched him to ensure he wasn't trying to escape the trap. No..he just settled in for a meal. So I waited another 45 minutes to see if I could get another one. Nothing...

So, I decided I would ensure 1 kill for the evening and pulled up the trap to extract my prize. Upon inspection, it turns out that I had trapped approximately 25 ciranolids, mostly less than 1/2mm in size...plus one 5mm monster.

Have you ever crunched one of those large, black carpenter ants with your fingernail...? Same kind of noise. Very satisfying.

A quick reset and the trap went back in for the night. We'll see how we've done by morning.

Tomorrow, there will be 3 or more traps. I'm now confident that this war can be won!

tang daddy · #**265** 05-18-2007, 07:37 AM

Untamed that's excellent news maybe you can start a collection in a container of fw in the fridge so that they freeze to death

then maybe later as a sovieneer!

untamed · #**266** 05-18-2007, 02:26 PM

By morning, not a single one in the trap.

That could mean that if they are given enough time they can escape the trap...but I think it more likely means that they are active only for a few hours after nightfall.

tang daddy · #**267** 05-18-2007, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by untamed

By morning, not a single one in the trap.

That could mean that if they are given enough time they can escape the trap...but I think it more likely means that they are active only for a few hours after nightfall.

Did you use the drilled cap technique? maybe the opening was too large so they made an easy getaway...

untamed · #**268** 05-20-2007, 01:07 AM

Here's what my ciranolid trap looks like. (Excuse the focus, this photo was taken in complete darkness) Using three of these, I caught exactly NONE last evening. Yes, the entrance is a 1/8" hole in the cap. I'll try again tonight. The trap is unchanged from the one that caught 25 the night before. Hmm...as always, patience is the key. The yellow tang has been "latched onto" twice more since the original photo. In both cases, the ciranolid was much smaller than the first one. I guess they must like the colour yellow. So far, the tang is showing no ill effects from his nightly blood donations.

(in case you are wondering, the film canister is in there for weight to keep the trap from floating around. It is filled with stainless steel nuts)

And just to show that the tank hasn't been devestated by ciranolids, here's a side view update. I think this is the first posted photo since I got the orange tree sponges mounted.

fishmaster · #**269** 05-20-2007, 02:03 AM

Is all the bait gone by morning? If so, maybe they are finding their way out once the food is gone. Maybe try cheching the traps right away like the first time. Just a thought.

tang daddy · #**270** 05-20-2007, 05:35 AM

Yes patience is definately on your side btw the sponges look great really liven up the tank also ads depth to the whole look!