best way to catch a damsel

[rooksy]

Trying to get a yellow tail out of my main tank, whats the best way to catch this little Sh_t! I have about 85 lbs of live rock and would rather not take it all out. Any help would be nice.

 

[nosmada]

a panther grouper works very well
chris

 

[chevron tang]

Sorry but it seems almost impossible unless you are going to tear down your entire rock fixture. Why do you want to take him out anyway?

 

[rooksy]

The main reason is that he has popeye, and my yellow tang won't stop bothering him, so I was going to put him in my hosiptal tank until he gets better.

 

[texasreefrat]

I think it is physically impossible to catch a yellow tail in a reef environment. If you do catch him, I have one you can fish for!
Good luck

 

[rooksy]

ok everyone is saying that I won't be able to catch him, what about the popeye what should I do?

 

[broomer5]

I've never had to medicate a fish so I'll leave that up to those that know.
I have tried many approaches to catching the ever elusive damselfish with a lot of live rock in the tank.
Double net - nope
Plastic bottle trap - nope
Luring them out with food - nope
Small fishing pole with tiny hook - nope
After months of trying then giving in - then trying some more - I eventually moved about a 1/4th of the live rock to the other side opening up one end of the tank. Then got a plastic divider, and slid it down into the tank - isolating the evil, wicked little fish at the clear end of the tank. One net -scooped'em up and back to the fish store.
Better than taking out all the live rock though.
Maybe a thought ?
Broomer

 

[m1rodrig]

Had one in my tank had to remove the rocks

 

[chevron tang]

Because your tank is pretty big this may be expensive, but I know I had a coral beauty that got popeye in my reef tank. I treated it with maracyn and it worked and did not harm anything else in my tank.

 

[bentrue]

one word....TRIGGERFISH
on a more serious note i had to take my rock out to catch mine.

 

[lilmojo79]

I got two out of 29 by luring them with food. I just put frozen brine shrimp in a net and stood there for a couple of minutes until the damsel(s) went into the net. This worked for me, but I had a 29 this a lot smaller tank. Just an Idea.

 

[stupid_naso]

I just removed my yellow tail damsel yesterday. Man, that was tough. I bet is really hard to remove them from a bigger tank. My tank is only ten gallons. But if you want to know I use my hand and one net. I think there is another post on catching a fish, and they have so many different ways to do it. Go look for the post.
stupid_naso

 

[bigeyedfish]

How bout a mini-harpoon?? About the size for someone like Mini-Me I have two yellow bellies i am not looking forward to removing. Although they are pretty stupid I think they might fall for the food in the net trick.
Sorry I cant be of much help. i'll let you know what works for me, if anything!!!

 

[yello tang]

Lion fish he will swallow him for a snack...Good Luck or else you can get a bucket pull all the rock out then catch him in a net honestly it should only take about an hour or so Good luck Again either way

 

[whipple]

Seriously try this take your net hopefuly a large one take a piece of shrimp and tie it into the middle of your net--- set the net agianst the wall with a small gap for him to get in to get to the shrimp. When he goes to eat the shrimp he cant get it out so hell stay to eat it wait till he's been eating for a second or two then press the net up agianst the wall and he'll be trapped in there. Then just lift him out. It's worked for me with a renegade crab and a few damsels its a slow process but it will work. HTH

 

[chris r.]

There must be something wrong with my sister's damsel! I went to talk to her about my new tank and she was trying to moe a damsel with popeye into her hospital tank and she got the fish on the first try, the fish was slow and she didnt even use any kind of bait like food or something.

 

[aceiswild7]

i forget what company it is but somebody makes traps for fish which you can set and just wait for the fish to go into it
good luck i may get one for myself soon

 

[fshhub]

sometimes 2 nets can help, but believe me, sometimes you need 2 things, persistence and determination, it can be done, although it is not always easy, keep trying, and maybe even try after you turn off the lights, sometimes this'll even help

 

[miner]

I use the devider everytime I need to remove a critter. It works for me I just remove as many rocks that it takes to the oposite side of the tank, leave a space for the fish to go in. Don't forget to lower the devider when you try to get the fish, or you have to start all over

 

[coralbeauty]

If the fish is still eating you should be able to effectivily treat him by feeding him antibotic food. I did this a few years ago when my regal blue tang had pop-eye. Of course, I treated all other fish in that tank, as well, since it was the only food I fed the tank for about 10 days. I purchased the food at a LFS. However, you can also mix-up your own food and add antibotics to it.
I did have success this week catching a purple tang in my 75 gallon reef. (He got superglue on his nose while I was setting a frag in place! He is such a pig!) I have about 100 lbs of LR. However, while I was trying to catch the tang, I also caught three of my chromis.
I put a large clear pitcher in the tank with food in the bottom. The fish (AKA pigs) all swam in to eat and I quickly put the lid on top. I was of course standing above the tank with the lid sitting on the tank's brace bar.
It is just an idea! I do know how frustrating this can be especially when all you are trying to do it help them!
Good Luck,
Connie