Hello all!
Well, I think the subject line sums up my current problem.
Some of you may remember I recently received some LR from TBS. Well, looks like that wasn't all I got. About two weeks back I noticed a couple of loud pops/clicks from the tank every once in a while, but dismissed them as nothing since they were very infrequent (like every other day or so) and usually only one or two at a time. Then I began noticing odd trails in the sand around my LR, and what appeared to be small caves being excavated under, around, and through my LR.
Alone and together the bits of evidence at that point were enough to arouse suspicion, but I needed confirmation. Then I saw the beast.
One evening when the moonlights were on and the room was dimly light, the beast walked up to the opening of a wide crevass in the LR, seemed to take a good look at me, and then turned around and walked back into the shadows. I had found the location where it's main lair was, or may still be.
The next day I was determined to catch the beast before it could wreak havoc on my tank. It was not very big, only about half an inch in size, but I knew I needed to get it out before it got big. So I bought a trap. One of those fancy "X-terminator" rigs. Set it up that night with some bait and went to bed, hoping when I awoke it'd contain Mr. Scheisskopf (as he has been named in frustration).
Sure enough, the trap was sprung in the morning. Only, it was empty. The bait was gone, the trap was shut, nothing had been broken; it was just empty. So after work that day, I was going to try and catch him manually. Moving rockwork is not fun. I had to do so to more clearly get to his hole. There he was; peering at me. I learned very quickly that they make sure they have a back exit. Very quickly.
Now before anyone asks why I didn't just pull the whole rock up out of the tank with him in it; it's pretty big, heavy, and primarily buried deep into the sandbed. So, didn't want to do that unless as a last resort.
Next day I was better prepared (or so I thought). I blocked the back exit, went to work trying to get at him through the front with some tweezers. Should have thought about it a little harder, in hindsight. Ends up there's a third exit.
Couple of dead hermit crabs and couple of days later...
Very clever this time. Put a big zip-lock baggie around the back end of the rock, blocking any and all back exits. No more Mr. Nice Guy, either. Long, lethal surgical scissors at the front end. If I couldn't get him out alive and in one piece, I'd get him out dead and in pieces. We fenced for a while, but the beast knew somehow that the back of his lair was not an escape option. So he just was quicker than I and darted out the front, right around my scissors.
Yesterday... Final resort. Didn't want to have to do it, but was going to pull the rock. First, wanted to make sure he was good and trapped in his hole. Only problem was, he wasn't in his hole (so I didn't pull the rock). It seems after all the attempts at capture or killing, he has been spooked off. Now I haven't seen him in the tank, and am not sure if he's made a new lair for himself or not.
I'm stumped as to how he made it into my tank; I did the 20 minute out-of-water rock inspection/test when I received it before putting it in my tank... But somehow he made it past that. In any event, I'm now at a loss as to how to get rid of the beast. I'm worried and in a hurry; he's killing and growing with each passing week...
Well, I think the subject line sums up my current problem.
Some of you may remember I recently received some LR from TBS. Well, looks like that wasn't all I got. About two weeks back I noticed a couple of loud pops/clicks from the tank every once in a while, but dismissed them as nothing since they were very infrequent (like every other day or so) and usually only one or two at a time. Then I began noticing odd trails in the sand around my LR, and what appeared to be small caves being excavated under, around, and through my LR.
Alone and together the bits of evidence at that point were enough to arouse suspicion, but I needed confirmation. Then I saw the beast.
One evening when the moonlights were on and the room was dimly light, the beast walked up to the opening of a wide crevass in the LR, seemed to take a good look at me, and then turned around and walked back into the shadows. I had found the location where it's main lair was, or may still be.
The next day I was determined to catch the beast before it could wreak havoc on my tank. It was not very big, only about half an inch in size, but I knew I needed to get it out before it got big. So I bought a trap. One of those fancy "X-terminator" rigs. Set it up that night with some bait and went to bed, hoping when I awoke it'd contain Mr. Scheisskopf (as he has been named in frustration).
Sure enough, the trap was sprung in the morning. Only, it was empty. The bait was gone, the trap was shut, nothing had been broken; it was just empty. So after work that day, I was going to try and catch him manually. Moving rockwork is not fun. I had to do so to more clearly get to his hole. There he was; peering at me. I learned very quickly that they make sure they have a back exit. Very quickly.
Now before anyone asks why I didn't just pull the whole rock up out of the tank with him in it; it's pretty big, heavy, and primarily buried deep into the sandbed. So, didn't want to do that unless as a last resort.
Next day I was better prepared (or so I thought). I blocked the back exit, went to work trying to get at him through the front with some tweezers. Should have thought about it a little harder, in hindsight. Ends up there's a third exit.
Couple of dead hermit crabs and couple of days later...
Very clever this time. Put a big zip-lock baggie around the back end of the rock, blocking any and all back exits. No more Mr. Nice Guy, either. Long, lethal surgical scissors at the front end. If I couldn't get him out alive and in one piece, I'd get him out dead and in pieces. We fenced for a while, but the beast knew somehow that the back of his lair was not an escape option. So he just was quicker than I and darted out the front, right around my scissors.
Yesterday... Final resort. Didn't want to have to do it, but was going to pull the rock. First, wanted to make sure he was good and trapped in his hole. Only problem was, he wasn't in his hole (so I didn't pull the rock). It seems after all the attempts at capture or killing, he has been spooked off. Now I haven't seen him in the tank, and am not sure if he's made a new lair for himself or not.
I'm stumped as to how he made it into my tank; I did the 20 minute out-of-water rock inspection/test when I received it before putting it in my tank... But somehow he made it past that. In any event, I'm now at a loss as to how to get rid of the beast. I'm worried and in a hurry; he's killing and growing with each passing week...
