Mr. Fosi's budget 20L

[c est ma]

You're a regular Bermuda triangle for clown fish...

[Mr. Fosi]

I hope not b/c I don't think it's very funny.

 

I'm planning on taking a look in the tank an hour or so after the lights go off. I'd like to be one of those dedicated people who set their alarm for 3AM to take a look but I just don't see that happening.

 

If it is a predator, it must be hungry since it snatched the new fish right quick but not so hungry as to eat corals. If I don't find anything during my nocturnal spy session, I'll be stumped.

 

Indonesian triangle?

[Mr. Fosi]

I was in the other room putting my son to sleep and when I came out my wife said, "Something violent happened in your tank."

 

Me: "What do you mean?"

 

Her: "There was a big splash and a very quick movement of something that disturbed the chaeto, sand, and other particles. The dog and I both jumped."

 

Me: "Where did it come from?"

 

Her: "More on the right side of the tank. I think it might have been going after a snail."

 

So that seems to confirm the idea of a large animal that I have been unaware of. There is nothing in the tank, beside the two missing fish, that could move fast enough to disturb anything.

 

Based on the limited evidence, it doesn't seem like a worm... Perhaps a mantis? I haven't heard any clicks or pops, but I just asked my wife and she said that she has heard some "tapping" sounds coming from the tank during the day.

 

Looks like I am going to have to grab some red cellophane and do some nocturnal spotting.

[bluebastion]

maybe do some rock moving?

[Mr. Fosi]

That is plan #2, since I'd like to take every opportunity to avoid a broken or lacerated finger.

 

Seriously though, if I don't see anything after two nocturnal spy sessions I will start pulling rock out.

 

I haven't ever paid attention to the different methods to coax a mantis out, but I seem to remember that some people advocate a FW dip but I don't really want to do that...

[bluebastion]

do the old shot glass trap trick.

[Mr. Fosi]

Shot glass with food in the bottom?

 

Probably better to do it at night, eh?

[bluebastion]

Yes. Sorry was distracted by youtube

[bluebastion]

any luck, man?

[Matty1124]

maybe your tank has a poltergeist...

[Mr. Fosi]

No luck because I haven't tried it yet. I had to teach an 8AM lab this morning so I couldn't stay up late to give it a shot. I'm thinking I might try it on Thursday or Friday night since I don't have to be up early the following mornings.

 

Let me get a couple more details: So I get a shotglass (or equivalent), place it in the tank after the lights go out, and put some food (mysis?) in it. Then I wait to see if the predator (maybe a mantis) goes for it. If it does, I... ?

 

I must confess that I am more familiar with the "food in a jar" trick...

[bluebastion]

well if the glass container is big enough and the grade of the slope steep enough, the thought is that it can't crawl out. Think of a spider or bug in a smooth cup... it's really hard for it to crawl out once in.

[Mr. Fosi]

So a shotglass will work best if the predator is small, but a larger individual will require a larger/steeper grade such a jar. That's kinda what I figured.

 

I forgot to get red cellophane... I guess I'll grab some tomorrow.

 

EDIT: The wife says if the predator is "pretty" she may want to keep it in the 2.5g.

[bluebastion]

Fishy Business sells some type of pest trap.. haven't really taken a real good gander at it though.

[andykee]

mantis!

[spanko]

Gotta be here when this goes down. Good luck Mr. Fosi................

[travisurfer]

if its a mantis, that won't work. they can swim out of the jar. it will however be able to catch just about anything else. a large pistol shrimp could describe the popping noises and predation. ever wonder if the clown is perhaps in the sump(can't remember if you went with a sump or not) or even just hiding in a deep crevice somewhere. hopefully you can find it though.

 

anyway, thats fine on the xenia. we can always swap a frag or whatever down the road. no big deal. in two years i'll be up in school at state so i could finally get some cool frags from the big reef stores too.

[Greenstar]

I would say put some bait out and see what goes into the cup. Just check it a few times after ligths out, most scavengers/predators won't think twice about coming out for a quick meal. Try and make sure your hermits can't crawl into the glass or shotglass as sometiems they can clean out the bait before the real target stops by.

[pattykat99]

Mr Fosi, a similar thing happened in my tank a few weeks back. One Thursday eve, i brought home a beautiful yellow watchman goby, it acclimated well and looked happy the next morning i left for work. That evening i was sitting in front of the tank staring, and i couldnt see the goby anywhere, then all of a sudden, like a bat out of hell it darted out from the lowest rock cave in my tank, and swam to the front where i could see it clearly ...it had eye damage, one eye was larger than the other and then slowly his entire head started turning from yellow to deep brown he was swimming all crazy crashing into rocks. I picked him up and put him in the hospital tank, i inspected him and could visibly see that he had been stabbed right between the eyes deep enough to bleed to death. I was so sad i had him one day and he was gone! i really liked him he was so cute.

I suspected it was the red crab that i had a a hitchiker when i set up my tank, but the LFS guys said i might have a mantis, i didnt beleive him until.....2 weeks ago when i got home, i saw my crab on the floor torn up and eaten away!! I couldnt beleive it!! i thought it had molted but i never seen him again. I am afraid for the fish i have that go in my rocks, i always look for new things in the rockwork but i've never seen a mantis or any other hitchikers besides the little red crab.

[Mr. Fosi]

Well, I got some red cellophane so I am ready for some after-hours spy games but I think I'm gonna do it tomorrow night. I'll thaw a mysis cube, strain it and put the corpses in one of our skinny, tall juice glasses as soon as the lights go out. I'm thinking I'll check on it a few times over ~1.5 hours.

 

If there is a mantis in there, I'm not sure I'll be able to capture it with this setup. I'm just hoping to find out if there really is something in there and what it might be.

 

In other news: I did something that I haven't done since I set this tank up: basted my rocks. That's right, 10 months without basting. Don't ask me why I didn't keep up on it because I don't know.

 

I stuffed my H.O.T. Magnum and both AC70s full of filterfloss, took my chaeto out and did some hardcore basting. There was a ton of snow all over and under my rockwork. After the basting I did a waterchange and vacuumed up the stuff that wouldn't float long enough to get filtered out. Right now the tank is still a little cloudy but the Magnum is still going.

[bluebastion]

errr you baste your rocks? lol I don't do that. errr oops?

[Needreefunds]

Happy hunting and good luck Mr. Fosi!

 

Sorry about the clowns .

[Mr. Fosi]

Yeah, I'm sorry about them too. I really liked my original fish and that new one had a lot of potential.

 

I've always needed to baste because I don't load my tanks up with CUC members. My 5.5g would get hella snowy.

 

Also, I saw a possible return plumbing setup I like. This is a pic of reefdan's tank.

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure I like all the 90-degree elbows but I like the general look. I like it enough that it has started me thinking seriously about getting that sump plumbed in (finally). I really want to get those AC70s off my tank and get my chaeto and the mangroves in a sump... My only concern is leaving it over Christmas.

 

On the other hand, if I got it setup now I would have plenty of time to get the bugs worked out.

[travisurfer]

sounds like a plan. this weekend is set aside for major tank cleaning:

1) chemiclean

2) rock basting and toothbrush scrubbing

3) vacuum out some sand

4) glass scrape

5) 5g water change and some fresh carbon/filter floss

[Mr. Fosi]

I left the magnum on the tank overnight and my wife sent me an email this morning exclaiming surprise at how clear the "tank" was.

 

I snuck out and did some red-light spying last night. I checked once about 40 min after the lights went off and again about 1.5 hours after they went off. I didn't see anything unusual.

 

I know that doesn't really prove anything but that means that I will certainly have to go through with the baiting tonight. I have only one scarlet hermit in the tank so I am not worried about losing the bait but I am not sure how long I am going to leave it in there for.

 

Opinons please: Is an hour of baiting enough? Two?