[somewhatshocked]

Any tips on luring and trapping shrimp?

I'm not sure if most of the usual methods all of us would recommend would be useful unless we could see the setup you're working with.

Any chance you could post some photos? That would help in understanding any obstacles.

One thing that may be helpful: using flexible tubing of some sort (larger diameter than a shrimp, so they're less likely to be injured) to create a siphon and moving the tube around to suck up shrimp as you see them.

 

[Adiantum]

Sure I’ll see if I can post some photos. The siphon idea is good, though.

 

[somewhatshocked]

Sure I’ll see if I can post some photos. The siphon idea is good, though.

It may or may not work well depending on your water volume and other components of your setup. But it's helped me move some juvenile shrimp in the past when even a small, telescoping net wouldn't fit down into some hardscape.

If you can also post photos of the area(s) where you think the shrimp may have gotten through to the false bottom area, other forum members may have helpful ideas for stopping sneaky shrimp.

 

[Adiantum]

Some photos. (yeah, it needs a proper stand) Hard to get ones without lots of condensation. The water area is larger than it looks, as much of the rock on the left side overhangs. But it does unfortunately get in the way of doing things in the water. I didn’t originally intend this tank for shrimp, and it was intended to be mostly left alone. I obviously didn’t expect the shrimp to find their way back there.

Also here: the area I have access to and can remove the pump from. I’m sorta figuring a long piece of tubing with something to gently suck shrimp up when they are in reach could actually be the most effective.

 

[Adiantum]

My best guess is there’s a hole somewhere on either end, but it’s hard to tell when it has water and plants in it. If I can catch the shrimp, I would consider draining the tank, removing the substrate, and giving all the edges a fresh silicone job.

ETA: total water volume is just under 4 gallons though the front area is only about a third of the floor space. Tank is 24”L by 12”W.

 

[somewhatshocked]

My best guess is there’s a hole somewhere on either end, but it’s hard to tell when it has water and plants in it. If I can catch the shrimp, I would consider draining the tank, removing the substrate, and giving all the edges a fresh silicone job.

ETA: total water volume is just under 4 gallons though the front area is only about a third of the floor space. Tank is 24”L by 12”W.

That sounds like a good plan. If there are areas that are tricky to cover, maybe you could use No-see-ums (if you have access to it) or fiberglass window screen material along with the silicone to block the flow of critters but not water.

4 gallons of water means you've got enough volume to hopefully keep a good siphon going to catch all the escape artists. What I've done in the past is put the outflow end of the tubing I'm using over/inside a shrimp net so they can remain in the water and safe while trying to clear the rest of them. Hopefully you've got enough room to fit a decent length of tube down in the back to make it easier on you. Maybe stick a flashlight or something on the opposite end of where you're working at the time to make it a little easier to spot the shrimp.

Once you have them all corralled back into the display portion of the tank, maybe you could also add a bit of moss (java, christmas, whatever you've got) here and there in the water to help entice them to remain where you want them.

That's a really nice setup and looks like it'd be great for a few shrimp. I'd also recommend Thai Micro Crabs but they're even more tiny than shrimp.

 

[Adiantum]

I love Thai micro crabs. They are hard to get ahold of though. I was about to plant something in the water but that’ll have to wait until I’ve solved this problem.

A friend suggested luring them with food, but I’m not sure they would find their way out. They seemed pretty happy where they found themselves!

 

[LidijaPN]

I also thought of offering treats up front, if they can even clamber back... don’t have any super helpful ideas but want to say the setup is gorgeous ♥

 

[Adiantum]

Thanks! I’m pretty proud of it! I was intending to have Geosesarma crabs in it. I may still eventually. But ended up with sneaky shrimp first instead.

 

[Adiantum]

An update: a couple were suctioned out. These were not drip acclimated to their new/temporary home of a planted vase. This was apparently a mistake because they didn’t survive the transfer. I ended up opting simply to pump out as much water as possible with the tank elevated at the end opposite my access point. I opted for a dump and hope approach eventually, as the airline tubing wasn’t working.

There are five survivors of the ten shrimplets I started with. Should’ve been more but a couple kinda disappeared. Maybe had a bad molt? Regardless. The survivors were drop acclimated to their new abode and are doing well. They are looking bigger every day and should make a good colony in no time that can then seed the big tank. I gave all the edges a new coating of silicone and the holes should be gone, now.

 

[somewhatshocked]

An update: a couple were suctioned out. These were not drip acclimated to their new/temporary home of a planted vase. This was apparently a mistake because they didn’t survive the transfer. I ended up opting simply to pump out as much water as possible with the tank elevated at the end opposite my access point. I opted for a dump and hope approach eventually, as the airline tubing wasn’t working.

There are five survivors of the ten shrimplets I started with. Should’ve been more but a couple kinda disappeared. Maybe had a bad molt? Regardless. The survivors were drop acclimated to their new abode and are doing well. They are looking bigger every day and should make a good colony in no time that can then seed the big tank. I gave all the edges a new coating of silicone and the holes should be gone, now.

As frustrating as it's been, I'm glad to hear you got some of them moved and then got everything patched up.

Shrimp are just sneaky. That's all there is to it. If they can fit? Even if they have to climb or crawl? They're going to wind up where they want to go.

Just know that soon enough 5 shrimp will be 35. Those 35 will grow into 135.

 

[Adiantum]

For sure! I’m glad that some of them survived and hopefully I won’t have future problems!