crumbletop
10/15/2006, 10:10 AM
Hi all,
I originally posted this in my local club forum <a href="http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=940129" target=_blank>here</a>. I thought I would reproduce it here for all you DIYers, though.
I recently had a pesky flame angel who ran rampant in my tank nipping at almost all of my SPS. I didn't want to break down all my rockwork to get him so I read up on ways to trap fish. I got the idea for my DIY trap from a really great thread started by Anthony Calfo on catching critters. I put the trap in my tank on a Wednesday evening and fed only in the trap. Then I fed through the trap on Thursday and GOT HIM! The trap worked like a charm. Total cost was around $2, mostly because I had a bunch of spare parts laying around to build this with.
Here are some pics of what I did:
I purchased a smallish rectangular food storage box from wallmart ($2), cut a hole, and installed a bulkhead toward the back of the box:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2662.jpg" border="0" alt="">
I cut out a piece of eggcrate big enough to cover the opening of the box to serve as a door to the trap:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2663.jpg" border="0" alt="">
I drilled two holes in side of the box, and attached the eggcrate with 2 zip ties:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2664.jpg" border="0" alt="">
Then I attached some string to the upper third of the eggcrate door, attached some pipe scraps to the bulkhead and ran the string through the pipe:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2665.jpg" border="0" alt="">
When you pull on the string, it closes the door tight! The holes in the eggcrate allow it to move through the water quickly.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2670.jpg" border="0" alt="">
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2669.jpg" border="0" alt="">
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2668.jpg" border="0" alt="">
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2671.jpg" border="0" alt="">
I made the whole thing (pipe + box) such that the top of the pipe was above the water line, but low enough that I could close my canopy. I also made the string fairly long so it could hang down the side of the aquarium. To use the trap, I just left it in the aquarium and I dropped some yummy food down the pipe at feeding time. When I caught the flame angel, he just kept munching away at the food -- so it was a low stress capture. <img src="/forums//forums//forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" alt="">
Here is the Anthony Calfo thread where I got the idea. Many other capture methods are also documented there (i.e. GREAT THREAD!):
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=707656
I originally posted this in my local club forum <a href="http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=940129" target=_blank>here</a>. I thought I would reproduce it here for all you DIYers, though.
I recently had a pesky flame angel who ran rampant in my tank nipping at almost all of my SPS. I didn't want to break down all my rockwork to get him so I read up on ways to trap fish. I got the idea for my DIY trap from a really great thread started by Anthony Calfo on catching critters. I put the trap in my tank on a Wednesday evening and fed only in the trap. Then I fed through the trap on Thursday and GOT HIM! The trap worked like a charm. Total cost was around $2, mostly because I had a bunch of spare parts laying around to build this with.
Here are some pics of what I did:
I purchased a smallish rectangular food storage box from wallmart ($2), cut a hole, and installed a bulkhead toward the back of the box:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2662.jpg" border="0" alt="">
I cut out a piece of eggcrate big enough to cover the opening of the box to serve as a door to the trap:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2663.jpg" border="0" alt="">
I drilled two holes in side of the box, and attached the eggcrate with 2 zip ties:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2664.jpg" border="0" alt="">
Then I attached some string to the upper third of the eggcrate door, attached some pipe scraps to the bulkhead and ran the string through the pipe:
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2665.jpg" border="0" alt="">
When you pull on the string, it closes the door tight! The holes in the eggcrate allow it to move through the water quickly.
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2670.jpg" border="0" alt="">
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2669.jpg" border="0" alt="">
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2668.jpg" border="0" alt="">
<img src="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/c/r/crumbletop/images/trap/DSCN2671.jpg" border="0" alt="">
I made the whole thing (pipe + box) such that the top of the pipe was above the water line, but low enough that I could close my canopy. I also made the string fairly long so it could hang down the side of the aquarium. To use the trap, I just left it in the aquarium and I dropped some yummy food down the pipe at feeding time. When I caught the flame angel, he just kept munching away at the food -- so it was a low stress capture. <img src="/forums//forums//forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" alt="">
Here is the Anthony Calfo thread where I got the idea. Many other capture methods are also documented there (i.e. GREAT THREAD!):
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=707656