Shrimp Trap

[Richer]

I'm thinking about moving some shrimp from my 70 gallon tank over to my soon to be planted 20 gallon bowfront. Anyone know how to do this using a trap of some sort (DIY if possible)? Chasing a bunch of tiny shrimp with a net through a heavily planted tank isn't exactly... appealing.

TIA
-Richer

 

[RTR]

Good timing - recent thread:

http://www.aqualinkwebforum.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001927

HTH

 

[Richer]

Interesting, a couple of questions though... I'm having a slight problem visualizing your trap. You say invert the top 1/3 of the bottle and sticking into the bottom 2/3. How do you prevent the top portion from popping out when you put it into your tank? Wouldn't any bubbles trapped in the trap (to keep the bottle from crushing plants) push the top off? I realize the reason for leaving the bottle's cap off when you freeze the water in there, but after you are finished the trap, do you put the cap back on? or leave it off?

Sorry, I'm awful at visualizing things sometimes =\

TIA
-Richer

 

[slipknottin]

i use a couple toothpicks to hold it together. You dont want anything that takes more than a couple seconds to remove, as youll likely be taking it on and off alot.

 

[RTR]

I don't use anything to hold the two or three sections together, simple pressure fit, and not much pressure required. The bottle is roughly cylindrical prior to cutting, the external curve of the shoulder pressure fits readily inside the ID of the main portion of the trap.

The trapped bubble is not large, but enough to run the length of the straight section of the base/trap. This keeps the assembly horizontal just at/below the water surface. Small critters in the plants near the surface can readily make their way into concave reversed bottle top section, through the neck and into the trap.

And you leave the caps off, that is the "gate" or entryway into the trap, concave to fish/shrimp coming in, convex to those already trapped - which is the basis of the technique. This is all modeled after commercial bait traps which use conical sections of wire mesh.

HTH

 

[Richer]

Ah, thanks for clarifying, much appreciated =)

-Richer