BrianPlankis
Premium Member
Welcome to my visitor from Costa Rica. It never ceases to amaze me when something I write gets seen overseas
I have also read they don't eat live shrimp, but again, Cirolanids are poorly studied with many undescribed species, who knows what they all eat? I added a peppermint shrimp to my tank and it was very active and eating for a week (it had been in a QT for 2 weeks before that and in a fellow reefer's tank for 6 months before that, so I doubt shipping/acclimation related), then I found part of what looked like a molt and it never showed up again. Did the Cirolanids eat it? I guess it is possible, but who knows, I also have mantis shrimp in my tank that easily could have whacked it. Another interesting research question for the next unlucky person to get these things.
The tube anemone sounds interesting, but I would be concerned with giving them free meals. I never captured a brooding female (at least with visible babies) in my 380+ Cirolanids captured. The tube anemone might kill some of them, but the ones that escape could continue to reproduce in an endless cycle.
As far as the stinky water method, I'll try to elaborate a little more:
1. Create the trap I detailed in my article (or maybe one of the other traps mentioned in this thread).
2. Soak a piece of grocery store shrimp (uncooked) in a small cup of tank water overnight. This will create your stinky water.
3. Take the stinky water and filter it through a coffee filter, this removes any small food particles that may feed the Cirolanids.
4. Put some of the stinky water (just a few ml) in the trap from step one and add the piece of stinky shrimp as well. Fill the rest of the way with tank water. Assemble the trap and place it in the tank in a low flow area after lights are off(turn off room lights too)
5. Take your cup of stinky water and dump in a few ml of the water into the tank, preferably where it will flow towards the trap.
6. Watch for Cirolanids appearing on the sand or glass. If you are patient they will probably try to find their way to the trap. If you want you can try to use a turkey baster to capture them.
I can understand your concern with polluting the tank, because one of the reasons it smells is ammonia. I would test just a few ml the first time and leaving the trap in for a couple of hours. The next morning and the following evening I would test the ammonia level to see if it is elevated.
If you have a good biological filter it should be able to handle the small amount of stinky water every few days. I did this a few times and I never saw ammonia above 0.1 ppm in my 75 gallon and that was always gone by the following evening. It would be even less of a concern in your larger tank, although you would probably need to use more stinky water to lure the Cirolanids out.
Good luck and if you still have questions about the stinky water method, please tell me what you are having problems with and I'll try to help.
Thanks,
Brian
