To catch a predator...

[southernfried]

I have a 20 gallon tank. The original and what was to be complete non coral inhabitant list:

 

1 gold coral banded shrimp

1 orange dot goby

1 purple dottyback

1 target madarin (added the most recently, too many copepods and flatworm break out)

3 necarious

about 10 snails

about 8 hermits

1 sexy shrimp (considering adding two more)

 

I noticed a week ago a strange lesion on my gobies side. He died later that night. I was out of town this weekend, and my purple dottyback is gone, and no carpet surfing involved. The mandarin and all other livestock are as happy as they can be. The coral banded has gotten A LOT bigger since I bought him. At the beginning he had a fetish for hermit crabs until I started feeding him larger krill.

 

I suspect the coral banded is the player in this. I found what had been a previosuly healthy and happy goby injured badly and fighting for his life later that night, and now the purple dotty back is gone....and I do not want my mandarin to be next.

 

How do you catch a nocturnal gold coral banded shrimp in a heavily "rocked out" tank without screwing up the aquascaping and possibly ruining some coral?

[Random One]

Please remove the mandarin goby instantly, it will starve. It is selfish to keep an animal in a nano aquarium when it's diet is so specific and obviously unplentiful. Mandarin Gobies are notorious for looking happy but actually starving to death over a long period. They require atleast a 100 gallon aquarium with a well matured refugium.

 

To remove the shrimp, you may well have to remove the rock. Please do this, as it is unfair to basically put these fish that were taken from the reefs into a meat grinder. I have done this with a hitch hiker Gorilla Crab, it may be a pain but worth it. Take a photo of the tank beforehand and re-do the aquascape as closely the same. It is like a jig-saw puzzle and becomes quite entertaining. Remember if you go down this road, take a photo from as many angles to make it perfect.

 

Alternatively you can buy a trap from the internet or your local fish shop but have never tried any of them and therefore can't comment on their success rates. Again please remove the Mandarin Goby.

[southernfried]

target mandarin eats mysis, I do have a refugium and had to get the madarin because there were too many copepods which help to facilitate a flatworm outbreak. There still are too many copepods.

 

This post is a question about the coral banded shrimp. If anyone has anything to say about the mandarin, don't. I am keeping an eye on him and do not plan on making him a permanent resident, am planning on taking him out in a few months as soon as flatworms have been dealt with..

[southernfried]

sorry that wasn't a flame. so many posts on here go awol from their subject. i have already read a lot and discussed a lot about mandarins and I don't want this post to be about that.

[sharps45110]

Please remove the mandarin goby instantly, it will starve. It is selfish to keep an animal in a nano aquarium when it's diet is so specific and obviously unplentiful. Mandarin Gobies are notorious for looking happy but actually starving to death over a long period. They require atleast a 100 gallon aquarium with a well matured refugium. Again please remove the Mandarin Goby.

 

 

This guy has had amazing success w/ a mandarin in a nano.

http://www.joshday.com/mandaringoby.htm

He also has an article in the Feb issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine.

 

He also puts in a LOT of time making sure it is healthy. I think it can be done....you just gotta be there for it.

 

 

Catching a coral banded? I've heard about putting some food into a net, and waiting for the shrimp to enter it. I think that would be less stress on everything than tearing apart the rock.

www.melevsreef.com has a fish catcher box, maybe food in that?

Lee

[southernfried]

Aight. time to catch him. I was thinking about the net trick but I didn't know if that would work. In other news, if anyone in the Athens, GA area wants a large coral banded shrimp I'll do him for $20. PM me

 

Warning: he is an a$$

[lgreen]

Dress up as a juvenile female coral banded shrimp and send him an IM to see if he'll meet you at the powerfilter at 7:00pm tomorrow night. Then setup a sting operation and nab him as he tries to flee the scene.

[Professor]

Please remove the mandarin goby instantly, it will starve. It is selfish to keep an animal in a nano aquarium when it's diet is so specific and obviously unplentiful. Mandarin Gobies are notorious for looking happy but actually starving to death over a long period. They require atleast a 100 gallon aquarium with a well matured refugium.

 

Again please remove the Mandarin Goby.

 

Jimminy Cricket has Spoken!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Dress up as a juvenile female coral banded shrimp and send him an IM to see if he'll meet you at the powerfilter at 7:00pm tomorrow night. Then setup a sting operation and nab him as he tries to flee the scene.

 

Great idea lgreen, just like the Cops Ho stings on TV!!!

 

Seriously though, a chunk of shrimp in a plastic cup with a string works wonders.

 

Prof.

[MWafler]

Coral Banded shrimp are evil, belligerent creatures. I had to take the rock out of my tank to get the shrimp out. My CBS developed a thing for attacking my clown and throwing my mushrooms against the glass and walking away....

[chris r]

If he has ###ed you off bad enough, you can send him to me for capital punishment. My queen trigger loves inmates that misbehave. She doesn't charge for her services. You just can't get the body back for burial.Hehehehe

[Helfrichs Chick]

Dress up as a juvenile female coral banded shrimp and send him an IM to see if he'll meet you at the powerfilter at 7:00pm tomorrow night. Then setup a sting operation and nab him as he tries to flee the scene.

LMFAO! Thats great.

 

Oh and BTW that link about the mandarin, didnt it look skinny to anyone else? Not sure if that was his, or just the angle, but didnt look that god to me.