Cunning Plan - Will it Work?

[jnb]

hmmm maybe if the actual direct light beam but just the ambient - anyway, if the critter ends up in the bottle, it will probably take it a minute to figure out the escape - another possibility is to get a net (sort of a larger one say one of the 7 inch ones, extend the handle by plastic wire ties on PVC pipe or your tongs or whatever - something and fasten the delicious morsel in the net folds so critter gets used to the challenge of getting to it and his attention is diverted long enough... bend the net where it joins its usual handle so it lays flat on the sand in front of rocks - so he/it/she it sitting on the net for the swoop! - it might take a couple of nights, sneak up on your tank with the dimmest of red light to see if it is there....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14724469#post14724469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Whys
^^^ My crabs can see it. Probably not the color, but the light itself anyway. My amphipods don't seem to, and neither does my brittle star. But all my crabs react to my red flashlight.

 

[MrsHaggis]

OK, I'm going out to buy beer to get a small beer bottle......then I am going to add in a raw shrimp (pieces into the bottom of the bottle) and then wait to see what happens. But I will have to do it this weekend since I work during the week.

I actually thought that removing the rock had done the trick but I found more clipped off xenia branches this morning - little twat!!!
My Blenny has taken to sleeping as high up the rock as possible.....he must feel safer up there!

I don't have a red light though......may have to buy one of those too!!
Anything else that would work instead of a red light?

 

[MrsHaggis]

Still nothing - I wonder if I got it when I removed that one rock???

 

[Whys]

One can hope. Watch for headless corals.

 

[jnb]

first you say you have to wait for this weekend then you say nothing - what did you use to come up with nothing - I just want to know, not being challenging - I am getting too curious as to what you have in there - I think the net idea is as good - it will find the bait quicker. You don't have to have a red light - just find a way to sneak up on the tank in very dim light to check out the trap - bait it over several nights - perhaps tie a shrimp to a rock for a few nights just to get a glimpse of what you have if nothing else

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14736507#post14736507 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrsHaggis
Still nothing - I wonder if I got it when I removed that one rock???

 

[MrsHaggis]

I decided to try baiting last night.
I'm impatient sometimes.

Bait is still intact.

 

[MrsHaggis]

My Xenia got another head lopped off last night......I'm thinking of removing it to a quarantine tank to give it a chance of regrowth!!!

I baited again last night - bait gone, bottle empty; missed it all!!!!

Maybe he'll get so fat from all the food he is getting that he won't be able to hide in the live rock..??

 

[PRDubois]

Leave to moonlight on and sit in the dark watching for it. I will come to the bait.

 

[MrsHaggis]

I don't have moonlight lights.......and I get really tired and always fall asleep!!! I need to remove the Xenia and try again tonight though. I'm getting desperate now. My Blue xenia only has two heads left. It was pretty big when I bought it and now it's so small and fragile looking!!!

 

[Whys]

On the bright side, you're making for a wonderful mantis keeper, with the live feedings and all.

From what I've read, Xenia grow like weeds. Give it a chance to recover and it'll be back in no time.

So have you thought about naming your intractable friend?

 

[MrsHaggis]

I'm thinking about calling him either Houdini - because he is so good at getting out of my traps; or maybe Wellsie after HG Wells who wrote the invisible man!!!

Maybe if I keep him fed he will stay away from my Xenia????

 

[jnb]

i think you should bait the trap and find a way to use the slightest ambiet light to watch starting with lights out - coffee yourself up - it really should not take long - perhaps kust turn the lights off early. - if he it getting the bait from a bottle or whatever you are using it so easily move it out so as to train him to be more bold - hang in there - I just gotta know what this critter is

exactly what sort of trap are you using?

can you move the xenia rock out into the open?

lets see a full tank picture

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14744707#post14744707 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrsHaggis
I'm thinking about calling him either Houdini - because he is so good at getting out of my traps; or maybe Wellsie after HG Wells who wrote the invisible man!!!

Maybe if I keep him fed he will stay away from my Xenia????

 

[MrsHaggis]

My Xenia is actually out in the open as you can see from the picture. I am using a beer bottle with some shrimp food (tablets) in it. I was thinking tonight of putting that food in a net and resting the net in the tank. And still using the bottle. There is not a lot of place to put the bait since the tank is so small.

I am dying to know what this thing is.........

 

[jnb]

i suspect you will know real soon - may want to turn off any internal flow tonight when you go on duty - it may help with the capture - if it is a mantis or some possibly desirable critter - are you ready with a temp home - whatver it is take pictures when you get it

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14745994#post14745994 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrsHaggis
My Xenia is actually out in the open as you can see from the picture. I am using a beer bottle with some shrimp food (tablets) in it. I was thinking tonight of putting that food in a net and resting the net in the tank. And still using the bottle. There is not a lot of place to put the bait since the tank is so small.

I am dying to know what this thing is.........

 

[E.intheC]

I'm curious as well! good luck. nice rock scape by the way.

 

[MrsHaggis]

Well, I found my Blenny dead this morning. I don't know if it was due to the HH or something else. Blenny was breathing quite heavy the last few days so it could have been something else that saw if off. I found it half buried in one of the rocks which seemed a little wierd.

I stayed awake for about 2 hours last night trying to catch whatever it is but it never made an appearance. Maybe I need to stop baiting for one or two nights to make sure it is hungry????

 

[E.intheC]

certainly a strange set of occurrences. maybe you should post in the inverts thread? You might get better answers there.