Efficient Bottle Trap

[JCheung]

Doh! the inverted soda bottle trap is too efficient, it's caught a whole bunch of snails, hermit crabs, and my female emerald so far. Any other ideas on how to catch a Mantis Shrimp when you don't know where his hole is? And the first one i flushed out, i'm pretty sure is a mantis too he's pounding away at the glass of his prison right now... clink clink clink Attica! Attica!

 

[maurod]

mantis shrimp can swim, dont put the bottle on the bottom of the tank.

 

[JCheung]

Er? where or how should i put it then? I found posts on how to make it, but the positioning sounded like i should put it on the sand next to where the mantis may possibly be.

 

[maurod]

Hang it with fishing line or dental floss, mid tank, then you'll only trap skinny fish and shrimp
M.

 

[JCheung]

against glass or how do i float it in the middle of the tank? Well i mean where should i tie the fishing line to?

 

[JCheung]

ok figured out how to float the bottle, any type of bait work better than others? And does placing more than 1 trap help? i have 1 baited with a scallop and one with clams. hope for the best tonight. I don't want to introduce a skunk cleaner and fire shrimps before i get this guy.

 

[JCheung]

Hmm now looking up more pictures of mantis shrimp, the one i captured actually looks a little more a pistol shrimp. You know what i'll bring it to the meetup this weekend and get professional opinions. I wonder where the heck are my peppermint shrimp then?

 

[JCheung]

Hmmm but then again if it's not a mantis shrimp what the heck is killing all my astrea snails? I have a whole bunch of empty astrea snail shell all around the tank. I found one with a small hole inside the opening of the shell.

 

[Chris L]

Hmmm but then again if it's not a mantis shrimp what the heck is killing all my astrea snails? I have a whole bunch of empty astrea snail shell all around the tank. I found one with a small hole inside the opening of the shell.

that could just be your hermits stealing the shells

 

[Duds]

with astrea snials they may just be falling and landing the wrong way up, which means that they have to be flipped over by you to get the right side up. They will try to flip over but it will not be achieved without a little bump.

 

[JCheung]

with astrea snials they may just be falling and landing the wrong way up, which means that they have to be flipped over by you to get the right side up. They will try to flip over but it will not be achieved without a little bump.

Hmm that is actually a real possiblity, I do see them falling over all the time. Would that mean that my peppermints are just hiding? I had a big one that would never hide and was always out but i found an empty husk one day that looked too intact to be a molt.

that could just be your hermits stealing the shells

But wouldn't that mean the hermits are now wearing their shells? I only see a couple of the astrea shells being used for hermits.

 

[xp964]

How much are you feeding the tank? It's possible that your hermits are killing the snails for food. On the other hand, the only time I had astreas, I fed my tank plenty and the hermits still killed them. They didn't even eat them, they just did it for fun! Little bastards...

 

[JCheung]

The for fun killing could be it too, as i don't see too many hermits wearing astrea shells. I think i feed them alright, i put in a like 3 shrimp tails every 3 days. They keep eating so much they usually grow disinterested with the food. Usually takes 3 days for it all to disappear shell and all. I've been using scallops and clams lately, as i got half a pound of scallops and a pound of clams for bait/cooking. So anyone know a good way to store these food items for later baiting?