Evicting dam-sels from a reef tank?

deeze

deeze

Member
Anyone have any luck getting yellow tail damsels out of a reef tank. My wife loved them but I'm sick of seeing them chase each other around all day. They're only about an inch or so big. I've tried the mantis shrimp trap but they weren’t fooled.
 
ross

ross

Active Member
NOOOO dont take all the rock out!!!
Just try leaving the net in for a few days until they get used to it, they catch them when you feed them.
The best way IMO is to just take a pump and pump out all the water into trash cans and grab the fish, dont move your rock or anything just pump the water straight out and the fish will be left with juts a little puddle, then you just grab them =) simple.
 
shnabbles

shnabbles

Member
You'd rather pump all the water out of the tank them remove the rock? :thinking:
I guess it would depend if it were a 29 gallon tank or a 180 gallon tank lol
And i guess if it had 10 pounts of rock or 100 pounds of rock lol.
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
i tried everything too. what finally worked was i put a HUGE piece of frozen food on the substrate near a corner, with a net near by. when the damsel went near the food i got him.
know how LFS people say that damsels will live in a toilet (they werent kidding) but thats a different story...
 
deeze

deeze

Member
yea, I've got a 200 gallon with about 260lbs of LR. I think I'll vote for the net idea... seems simple enough right... ha... I'm sure.
I am looking forward to the toilet test though... just kidding, I also have a predator tank.
 
wanabebell

wanabebell

Member
if you dont have any other fish in the tank
go to your lfs rent a volitan lion
dont feed it and when it gets hungry those damsels will start looking really good
and then lion with a big belly and no more damsels
 
iiinadav

iiinadav

Member
You can try moving the rock to one side of the tank. Then feeding the fish on the rock free side. While the fish are eating get a couple of decent size nets and try to grab the damsel. This will give you the best chance to catch the damsel without your net getting snagged on you rock. This beats removing all of the rock from the tank. To catch and remove my yellowtail damsel from my tank I had to remove about 70lbs. of rock then the damsel decided to retreat to a safe spot in my tank. That smart move got him a private 2 week stay in the grand resort "La overflow". Good luck.
 
bocfuss

bocfuss

Member
I just removed one of my Yellow Tailed Damsels with a net, he was being picked on by everyone in the tank, and was left a bout a 5 inch by 5 inch corner, so he was easy to catch. I tried catching the other mean on that kept him in the corner, not luck, too fast, and too many rocks.
 
toughguy80

toughguy80

Member
Simular to NADAV's suggestion. When the little guy swims to one end of the tank slip in a peice of plastic that covers the width of your tank. Be sure to pile all LR to one side. Once you do that, he'll be trapped out in the open.
 
rustyj

rustyj

Member
I had two green chromis and couldnt catch them with half the water removed and all the rock but after I added a dragon moray they were gone within a week. Honestly I didnt think he would be able to catch them but they are gone and they didnt wind up on the floor.
 
jacknjill

jacknjill

Active Member
i caught some fish at night once. Just get them early morning with a net before the lights come on or at night while they are sleeping. worked for me
 
deeze

deeze

Member
yea, that's a great idea JacknJill. I discovered last night that they're pretty vulnerable at night. One's sleeping under my Galaxia... I'm going to try to catch his butt tonight.
 
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