Need info regarding crabs and catching a fish

Janh

New member
First, I have a yellow tailed damsel I am trying to catch. Things I have tried are food in a net, food in a bottle trap, tried just catching it. None of these things have worked, turning out the lights does not work as he hides inside a rock. Obviously I want to avoid pulling all the rock out, any other suggestions? If I drain the water from the tank, how do I insure the fish remains in the front of the tank where I can reach it?

It looks like I got some crabs along with the rock. I cannot get a pic because it never comes completely out of the rock, from what I can see it appears to be whiteor cream colored with brown bands on its legs and brown on its claws, not sure about the body though. What I would like to know is this, are there any kinds of crabs safe to have in the tank. Several people have told me to catch and get rid of any crabs I find coming out of the rock.

Any info/advice would be appreciated.
 
does it look similar to this crab?
DSC_0145.JPG


I had this one in my tank and although it was quite small, I didn't trust it. Eventually I had to take the rock it was in out of the tank and dunk it into freshwater as hypersalinity (SG 1.040) did not work. Took it to my LFS as I didn't want to keep it and they said it was bad, but I'm not so sure as it did have scoop-shaped claws. That's your best indicator really. If they're spoon or scoop shaped, you're usually ok, but if the claws are jagged they are bad. as for me, I don't trust any crab so lunch he was for a large puffer.
 
I think mine is different, its claws are not all dark, they just have a brown patch above the joint. It is pretty hard to tell because I can only see part of it, it never seems to venture far from the hole in its rock. Stupidly, I found one a day or two earlier that was dead, in the same hole and just threw it out, I should have tried to id it first. I guess I will try and catch him along with the damsel, not sure I will have much luck with either.
 
Search for a sally lightfoot cab, colors sound close.

As to catching a fish that doesnt want to be caught it can be rough. I havent had to catch any thing I put in my new tank, but I can remebmer trying to catch a fish from my fresh water tanks years go.

I would try the trap again, maybe in a differnent spot.
 
You could try placing a mirror beside the tank to preoccupy him while he tries to fight with his reflection, net him from the back.
 
I think mine is different, its claws are not all dark, they just have a brown patch above the joint. It is pretty hard to tell because I can only see part of it, it never seems to venture far from the hole in its rock. Stupidly, I found one a day or two earlier that was dead, in the same hole and just threw it out, I should have tried to id it first. I guess I will try and catch him along with the damsel, not sure I will have much luck with either.

those crabs that you thought were dead were probably exoskeletons. I thought mine was dead too when I found the exoskeleton and realized it was alive when it peeked out of the rock. good luck, crabs don't come out much for anything
 
I have had the trap in the tank for three days now, in different spots, and have not caught anything. Not even the shrimp have gone in. I will leave it in, but will give the mirror thing a try. Thanks
 
dont look at it as "I cant trap my fish", more as I just need to find out what kind of food they really really like.
 
I have a acrylic trap with an acrylic trapdoor that you manually lower via fishing line. I have caught a Tang and a pseudochromis this way. The key as one poster stated was the bait. It wasn't until I put some really nice Hikari Jumbo Mysis pieces in the trap that I was able to catch the pseudochromis. For the tang I just put nori on a clip inside the box. Once the right food was used it took only minutes in each case. I think I have an older version of this:

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=20398

Good luck.
 
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