Catching fish

[lopeyc]

So I decided to give away my bigger more active fish until I get a bigger tank, as well as to remove a damsel I suspect is beating up my clown. La-di-da, right?
Then I stuck the tip of the net into the tank. Where'd all the fish go?!
After a few pathetic efforts, I realized how futile this was going to be, especially for that damsel. I think I can catch my tang, as he's so bold, but the others? I'm going to have to remove ALL my live rock.
So my question: Is that the norm -- to remove fish you have to break down your decor and then put it back?
Oh, and I heard about the red light trick -- but I fear that would not likely work since everybody but one of the clowns spends the night hidden in the rocks...
Hints? Tips? Tricks?

 

[banshee]

I just had to remove all of my liverock and corals to get rid of a butthole fish. He just would not be caught. I got several 5 gal. buckets and filled them with the tank water and then started removing the corals and rock. Funny thing is that after removing all of it....to my surprise....all of my inverts and fish were there except the one I wanted to catch. He had been transported in a piece of live rock to one of the buckets. Good thing is, is now I have rearanged my tank and now have more room to put more corals.

 

[bullshark]

A spring loaded barb tipped

[hr]
should work.....

 

[jpawson]

they sell fish traps that might help you out. They are about 20 dollars. Otherwise, what you can do is buy a piece of plexiglass from Home depot (5 dolllars) and partition your fish to a side of your tank so you dont have to take the whole thing down. That is what I did in my 120gal.

 

[dacia]

When I had a yellow tang in my tank, it took me an hour to get him out. I had to literally stack all the LR on one side of the tank so that he could not hide behind it...and that stirred up a lot of sand. Good thing that it is a FOWLR so I did not have to disrupt and corals with that rock.

 

[jonthefb]

unfortunatley tearign down your rockwork is the only way to get a fish out, after youve tried all the tricks and gimmicks out there.....its not too bad of a process but it definately makes you think twice before buying on impulse!
good luck
jon

 

[lopeyc]

Originally posted by jonthefb
unfortunatley tearign down your rockwork is the only way to get a fish out, after youve tried all the tricks and gimmicks out there.....its not too bad of a process but it definately makes you think twice before buying on impulse!
good luck
jon
thanks. this seems reasonable -- just swallow hard and do it right all at once, instead of causing them and me more stress that won't solve the problem anyway. Will postpone until this weekend and do a water change at the same time.
I have to say, though -- this makes my new hospital tank seem a whole lot less useful, since it's so hard to just pop a fish over there...and I can't imagine I'll be needing it for quarantine anytime soon since I have more fish than I know what to do with!

 

[ekclark]

There was an interesting post in here a week or so ago in which someone wrote about using a red flashlight to see what you are catching. They made sure the room was totally dark, put the net in the water, fed the fish, and used the red light (invisible to the fish) to catch the little buggers. Do a search on catching fish and maybe you will find it. Good luck.

 

[koolaid]

I have caught a yellow tail damsel by waiting till 2oam then stunning him with a maglight, then just netted him out. I also caught a mean royal dottyback by putting an empty water bottle in the tank with some frozen krill inside and tied some fishing line to the neck. I waited 20 minutes hiding behind a chair untill the dottyback went inside the bottle and I just lifted the bottle out of the tank. My wife walked by and asked if I was playing hide-and-go seek with the kids. I just said Shhhh he will see you. He was very cautious.

 

[krishj39]

koolaid, too funny! I've done that too (minus the wife finding me hiding). Only I didn't ever catch my fish using that method, sure looked stupid though. I did end up taking all my rock out, to get rid of that fish and also to rearrange the tank with the LR that I had just recieved. After the tank was totally empty of everything but sand, fish, and animals, guess who was the only animal I couldn't find? Yup, the only fish I wanted to remove. I never did find out where he was hiding, either in a rock, or SOMEHOW still in the tank, it was kinda cloudy. Anyway, your story made my laugh at you, and myself.
lopeyc, I tried ALL the reasonable methods out there to catch mine and still failed. I even tried to fish him out with food on a hook. He is still in my tank, but he is now a good citizen and causes no problems. It's a yellow-tailed damsel that has basically been outgrown by all the other fish in the tank. Yet, your best bet is still probably taking the rocks out. While a huge pain in the butt, you will end up with a better rock arrangement, and so be happier with that too in the long run.