Fish Trap

[linda lee]

Saw this on Reefs.org. I tried explaining this to people on a couple of different occasions recently, but sometimes the idea is hard to grasp. This illustration really helps.

I use a V8 Juice bottle which never fails me and it also has a larger opening than the soda bottle, so it can be used for bigger fish.

Text below is Rob Toonen's:

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All you need is a CLEAN plastic soda bottle.

Cut the top off the bottle at the point where the neck becomes the same diameter as the bottle.

Then turn it around and hot-melt glue the top back into the bottle in reverse (you can do the same thing with a funnel, but it's more expensive and harder to get "just right.").

You'll now have a slanted neck into a small hole which is easy to get into, but difficult for the animals to escape from (especially if you use clear plastic). Simply fill the bottle with tank water, add a piece of tasty bait (such as squid, shrimp, or clam) into the bottle, and leave it on the bottom of the tank overnight. This handy trap works well for mantis shrimp also. If you don't plan on using the trap for an extended period of time, or the critters you're trying to trap are small, you probably don't even need the hot-melt glue (the tight fit keeps the top in place), but I've had one fall apart on me while I was lifting it from the tank, and have used a couple of small blobs of hot-melt glue "just to be sure" ever since.

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Credit: [IMG]http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/0697/0697_2.html">Reefs.org</a>

 

[grimreefer]

I've used this method to catch a four line wrasse. I went a little further and drilled a small hole in the bottom of the bottle, ran fishing line through the hole and through the opening in the top of the bottle and secured it to the cap (cap was turned around backwards with a small hole in the center to secure it). I put a small rock in the bottle to weigh it down. I layed the bottle on my sand bed with the cap a couple inches away. Baited with some mysis and waited about 3 minutes and I had him. The fishing line was outside of my tank so when I pulled on it, it pulled the cap into the "funnel" to seal the opening and pulled the trap out of the water. I did not glue the "funnel" to the bottle, it allowed me to open the trap for easy release of the fish.

 

[smoothie]

<p style="text-align:left;">Used the same method but with some plastic mesh around the inverted top.
Fish can swim in, but can't go back out no matter what size they are.

 

[dakota9]

I'd give you rep points for that one, but , well...... you know.......

 

[tommygunn17]

:fish:

 

[gwhiz]

I drill some holes in the bottom to increase water/scent flow through the trap. Small ones (I use water bottles) work for 'bad' crabs too.

 

[couchpotato300]

its not working 4 me..ive been trying 4 a few days. i got a coral beauty and psyedochromis i need out. and nothing works.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Linda, that is an old school trick. I used to catch minnows with the exact setup when I was 7 in cub scouts. Save, we didnt hot glue the funnel, just twist tied it for easy release.