View Full Version : The Killer Continues to Destroy
Diplodus
09-12-2003, 2:57 PM
Hi Board ,
I really and really have an enormous problem ahead.
About 2 years ago I started my 250 gallon freshwater Community
Tank... After a month I added a ' Chinese algae eater ' to control
a bit my algae... ( it was useless )
Now the Nightmare has begun. The Chinese algae eater is the Killer, he is about 6 inch. He destroyed my tank these last 3 weeks. He ate all my live Plants , killed several fish and that's nothing...
He is a computer Fish, or to be more excactly his brain is a computer. I tried every trap that I can imagine, but nothing worked. My last method was a big net with a big hole ( like a cave but with net ) Every single fish entered in the cave net 3 or 4 times a day , even the snails went in but the computarized Killer is more clever than me.
I think he understands everything , its incredible, he knows if its a trap or not. I am going crazy and I'm sick of it. I really need help, on how to catch this killer......
Thanks alot .... :(
stoopid
09-12-2003, 3:11 PM
Need to bait him into the net with his favorite food ;)
Diplodus
09-12-2003, 3:17 PM
Hey , I sad the truth when I sad that he is a computer.
When I feed the fish he never come to eat. Yes in 2 years i never saw him eating. I only see him nibbling the algae.
stoopid
09-12-2003, 3:23 PM
Originally posted by Diplodus
Hey , I sad the truth when I sad that he is a computer.
When I feed the fish he never come to eat. Yes in 2 years i never saw him eating. I only see him nibbling the algae.
Most bottom feeders love zucchini and spinach.
BTW -- should have seen me strip my tank ornament and chase the last of 6 snow tetra around the tank with an undersized net for 10 minutes...
He hid in spots I couldn't imagine and moved like lightning... but I got a lot better at netting! :p
Slappy*McFish
09-12-2003, 5:48 PM
Put a grown Wolf cichlid in there..he won't last long;)..then again, neither will anything else.
Diplodus
09-13-2003, 1:07 AM
Do you think the Wolf Cichlid will kill my Chinese algae eater ?
And the other fish ! I have 5 AngelFish , 3 Clown Loach , Red Gourami , 4 Zebras and 2 Catfish ......
ChilDawg
09-13-2003, 1:23 AM
Uh, yeah, Doviis (Wolf Cichlids, Parachromis dovii) love nothing more than to clean out a tank into which they're introduced. I hope Slappy was joking, and I'd guess that he was.
I would bait him into a divided area of the tank (insert a divider after getting him into it with zucchini or the like) and then he'll be easier to catch. The other idea would be to do a massive water change and catch him at low tide, so to speak.
Slappy*McFish
09-13-2003, 9:52 AM
lol..yeah, twas joking.
ChilDawg
09-13-2003, 10:06 AM
I figured, but careful there...he almost had a Dovii in a 150...and nothing else! :) (Not that there's anything wrong with that if you expect it...)
Diplodus
09-13-2003, 1:42 PM
Hey Guys, Beleive me or not but I really can't catch him .
I divided the tank and I tried with different traps , made food ( spinachi) in them but nothing. A 250 gallon tank is a big tank and there is many room for him to swim , and he is super fast.....
What the **** I 'm going to do ! :(
ChilDawg
09-13-2003, 1:53 PM
I didn't know that you'd tried the divider method...I apologize for assuming that you hadn't.
The only daytime method that I can think of is totally dismantling the tank piece by piece.
However, if you can turn on the tank light in the dead of night, you might be able to catch the computer before he reboots for the morning!
demon_surfer
09-13-2003, 11:49 PM
The only thing i can suggest is taking all the ornaments out of the tank and then catch the sucker.
good luck
Diplodus
09-14-2003, 3:19 PM
Hey Guys, Thanks for your Help , I really appreciated all.
I think that is the only solution I ahave ahead at the moment.
I need to take all the rocks, plants, woods ecc out of the tank.
It's really a problem. I dislike disturb my fish and especially their homes...... :mad:
Please guys if someone has any other solution before I begin with the method you suggested last, I really appraciated alot cause like I sad before, I don't want to see my fish losing their new habit...
Please Help me ! :(
ChilDawg
09-14-2003, 4:25 PM
Have you tried flipping on the tank lights during the dead of night? The CAE might be out and be stunned for long enough that he's netted.
I'm clearly no expert here, but would lowering the temperature of the tank (not low enough to hurt anybody, of course) slow him down enough to catch him?
demon_surfer
09-15-2003, 9:31 AM
you could probably catch him that way, but sudden temperature changes are very very bad for the fish so i wouldnt try this. It would be like catching him by freezing his legs.
sorry to shoot you down katz! :)
ChilDawg
09-15-2003, 9:35 AM
I like the idea of lowering the temps slowly and raising them back slowly...it just might work...but I'd need to know what the other fish in the tank are prior to my recommending it!
Don't worry demon_surfer, as I said, I'm not the expert, you guys are. And of course I didn't mean dump a couple of trays of ice in all at once. Don't want to make fishsticks....:)
demon_surfer
09-15-2003, 12:58 PM
;) @ katz
I dont know chilli im just a bit worried. The only way i could see it really helping is if it was sudden enough to effect his metabolizm. And if it was sudden enough to do that then it will do some damage too...it just doesnt seem like an idea worth trying.
I mean do you want to risk killing all your fish to catch this guy?
ChilDawg
09-15-2003, 1:14 PM
That's a good point, I suppose that it would adjust as well as anything else in that tank...
stoopid
09-15-2003, 1:46 PM
You may need a friend/helper... point in hand -- my LFS has to use 2 people to catch rummy nose tetra, one to spook them and the other to net, otherwise they zip back and forth accross the tank and it's nearly impossible to net those buggers!
Diplodus
09-16-2003, 12:56 PM
Hey Guys , Good News Finally I catched him.
Yes, Yesterday I made 5 hours to catch him..
Listen what I've made...
I bought a piece of Plastic, to divide a half of the tank.. I noticed that the killer was at the left side of the tank , where I wished to be , and begun to pull out the rocks and stones one by one.
When I finished there was only sand left. I moved slowly my hand in the sand, and after few seconds I couldn't see nothing...
That was my intention, I wanted that he could not see well in that mess.
I brought a big net and tried to catch him. He was fast but their were no any rocks for him to hide so finally I catched him and put him in the sump for now...
When I go to the LFS maybe this week I will sell him to him. :D
HAHAHA Finally I have a smile on my face... I forget to tell you that I have made a disaster in my room with all that rocks stones , water ecc... :)
Now in the Tank every one is happy.
It was difficult to catch this demon
ChilDawg
09-16-2003, 1:00 PM
Congrats! Taunting CAEs may bring you bad luck, though, so don't do too much of that. :)