Easiest way to catch a goby?

[kahnsell]

It's the weirdest thing... My yellow watchman goby picks away at certain acros, causing the acro to bleach. He doesn't bother the "fluffier" acros, the monti's, or the bird's nest, but he tears apart every staghorn that I get. I just added 2 new acros last night, and this morning I noticed that they are already starting to bleach at the bottom.
I did some quick research, and the only explanation that I can fathom is that the watchman is killing them.
SO.... I have to catch him.
Any good ideas? I don't want to totally tear the tank apart to catch him. He lives in my huge bird's nest.
If people think that he is not the culprit, here is more info:
175 gallon tank
Lights- 3 250W, 12K plus 2 86 W Actinics (it can't be the lights b/c they weren't even turned on before the bleaching began)
calcium-415
ph-8.0/8.2
Alk- 3.3
IDEAS????

 

[boom215]

yes, catch him and ship him to me

 

[55galgill]

hmmmmm that’s a tuff one, your tank is huge compared to mine lol I got a watchman goby in my 55 and i could get him out in an instant lol. the thing with the goby that makes him difficult to withdraw is that once you move one rock he just jets to the next one. Honestly I think this is an occasion for the mystical powers of the bottle trap. Do a search on here for “bottle trap” it’s a 1 liter bottle I think with the top cut off and reversed as so to make a inward cone shape. Then what you do is put some of your gobys favorite food in the back of the trap and wait. You may find it will take a little bit for your fish to get used to it but sooner or later he’ll go in it.
~Gill~

 

[meadbhb]

Hiya,
I had good luck in catching a sally lightfoot that was killing everything by putting a cube of krill in my net and putting it by him. Took him about an hour to go in, but I was able to net him with no damage to my tank.
Should work with a goby, just put the net by his home and be patient.
Meadbhb

 

[drakken]

You can make a water bottle trap. Take a clear plactic water bottle, 20 oz size should work, cut the top "cone" part off, cut the top threaded part off and re-insert the "cone" backwards into the bottle. Bait the trap and place near the goby. He should go into the bottle but shouldn't be able to get out. I've used this method a few times successfully.
If that doesn't work, try a dwarf lionfish!

 

[kahnsell]

I would do the bottle trap, but he never goes toward the bottom of the tank. I was thinking about getting a dwarf lion fish. I would get one that is too small to eat my anthias. And I doubt a lion would eat a mandarin. I may try to just wait with a couple of nets, but I doubt it would work...
It sucks, but I feel that if I want to grab him, I will have to remove all of my live rock and catch him. Otherwise, I will just hope that he drops dead. Unfortunately (ha), I haven't had a fish die in years...