Setting traps for crabs

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by marcingo

Sure post them that would be great

Okay, but you asked for it

A Strange Thing Happened while Baiting Hitchhiker Crabs
April 16, 2006
(320 x 240 pixels, 7.6 MB, 3:27 minutes)

Crab Baiting Methods
April 18 to April 29, 2006
(320 x 240 pixels, 8.4 MB, 3:13 minutes)

We Caught A Worm
April 29, 2006
(320 x 240 pixels, 7.1 MB, 2:18 minutes)
Read Dr. Ron Shimek's Reefkeeping
Magazine's article, The Large Worm Turns.

[marcingo]

Thats one ugly worm
So with the nylon in the glass couldnt the crab climb out or do his legs get stuck in the nylon?

[phreezee]

I got a really big and ugly crab knocking stuff over at night. The problem with baiting is that my cleaner shrimps will get to it first.

Anybody have a link to some trap designs?

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by marcingo

So with the nylon in the glass couldnt the crab climb out or do his legs get stuck in the nylon?

Don't know. Never caught a crab with that design. I'm guessing crabs would stay away from that trap because of the nylon.


phreezee,

Caught a crab in our 67g that had two cleaner shrimp in it. I think I used either a bud 5"-6" high vase with a narrow neck with the bait at the bottom or a glass with the bait secured to a piece of rock rubble with onion bag. Both traps would be placed at a 45 degree angle against a rock near the crab's hangout.

[untamed]

I've caught a few crabs quickly using only a shot glass or a glass jigger. Just lay the shot glass at a slight upward angle (so they fall down into it) and put a small piece of shrimp at the bottom.

The last time I did it, the crab trapped himself in about 2 minutes.

(Note that you can't catch a mantis this way...they swim, while crabs can't)

BTW Bev...I've kept a good number of those Eunicid worms in my tank for many years now. They will eat just about anything, but prefer the easy meal of whatever is lying on the bottom of the tank. If you starved one, I'm still not sure that it could successfully hunt anything.

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by untamed

BTW Bev...I've kept a good number of those Eunicid worms in my tank for many years now. They will eat just about anything, but prefer the easy meal of whatever is lying on the bottom of the tank. If you starved one, I'm still not sure that it could successfully hunt anything.

All I can tell you about that worm we caught was that there was no more slimed and disappearing bait or snails going on after the worm was removed from the tank. I don't like to kill hitchhikers that are known to be beneficial, but if there's a chance they're harmful, which we gauged this worm was, out they go!