getting rid of damsels?

misslaina

Member
I want a few more fish.
I have 3 damsels, clown goby, yellow watchman goby. Oh, tank is 75 gal 100lbs LS not sure of how much LR anyway, should I get rid of the damsels now or wait until they cause a problem? So far one is the boss pushing the other 2 around.
also, what sorts of fish? do ya'll recommend
?
 

maurice

Member
I would get the damsels out if you want a peaceful tank,i just had to take all my LR out to catch a 3 stripe meany. lol They can get very mean and stress your other fish to the point of death!
 

mister t

Member
i used fresh water molly's to brake in my tank they accl. to salt water and there mellow fish for someone in the future to think about and there only about $2 apiece
 

misslaina

Member
I was afraid of that, well any suggestions on how to catch them? I have heard of a trap, anyone know of this?
 

oceana

Active Member
Originally Posted by mister t
i used fresh water molly's to brake in my tank they accl. to salt water and there mellow fish for someone in the future to think about and there only about $2 apiece


or how about you use a shrimp and not put any fish no matter the cost through a toxic cycle?? :thinking:
as for the question at hand IMO you should ditch the damsels. mean little buggers most of the time and once your reef is established it will be a real pain to get them out.
as for what fish you should get that a tuff one. we need to know the type of tank your going for and what are the fish you KNOW you wanta nd then you work the others around that
 

duke13

Member
Originally Posted by misslaina
I was afraid of that, well any suggestions on how to catch them? I have heard of a trap, anyone know of this?
Shop Vac

Sorry, you're going to have a lot of fun trying to catch those quick little turds. I guess it's time to re-arrange your rockwork.
 

palmer

Member
I removed a 4 stripe last week because it was getting to big and bossy. Had to move some pieces of live rock, had a buddy with two nets in the tank and I was trying to move him near the net. After about 45 minutes, caught. No more damsel fish for me. Pain in the ass either way.
 

jer4916

Active Member
when cycling a tank i've heard of people using damsels ...but using them in there refigum or sump..because then they cant bother anyone :yes:
 

misslaina

Member
So I will work on getting rid of little blue devils. I really want some Mandarins, I know I have to wait a while for those but the lady at lfs told me that a cute little sweetlips was ok for reef. After some looking around, I found that she was wrong, also they need more than 75 gallons.
ok, so my goal is some soft corals, and some fish, I see some people with tangs and angels then I see that some people do not recommend these with corals-- someone please take me by the hand and tell me what to do.
 

crzyfshygy

Member
I have gotten those guys out on several occasions. Each time what I do is I will start by putting the net in the tank for about 10 min (make sure it is plastic not metal) prior to feeding, then feed them. Each time putting the net back in the tank. Just get the fish used to the net being there during feeding time. Place the food right near the net, let them take it so they are not afraid. Then when they come in for the food, just lift the net swiftly but slow. It has worked every time. Its just alittle patience. Beats breaking down the whole tank. :happyfish
 

fruny

New Member
I've removed damels before and the easy way to do it is to go to grocery store and buy a bottle of ocean spray cranberry juice (not the big one, square one), drink it then cut the top off at the curve. take the top and push it into the bottle just so it stays in place. Clean the bottle really good then put it in your tank.
Within an hour I caught 2 damsels. had a third one that was tougher and i had to put some food in the bottle, but caught him within the next 12 hours.
The key is the fish can swim into the opening, once in it they cannot find their way out (99% of the time).
Hope this helps...
fruny
 

fishieness

Active Member
ooooorrrrr.... buy a lion fish

then after a day or two return him to your local fish store.... Problem solved! no damsels!!!! (just an expensive meal for the lion fish)
 

jer4916

Active Member
honestly, i had 2 damsels in my tank, ...i just had them to cycle it...got a lionfish because iw wanted one...didn't think it would eat anything ( i didn't know any better) ..2 days later my bi color blenny and 2 damsels were gone
 

golfish

Active Member
Try looing for #28 fish hooks at your local fly fishing store ( I think 28 is the smallest) while your there get a spool of 1 pound tippet and a few BB size split shots..bait the hook with a small peice of frozen shrimp and go fishing..Its worked for me in the past but you have to keep it away from the other fish.
crzyfshygy's way works very well too. I've caught Chromis like that before.
FWIW, there's no reason to cycle tanks with fish. Using something like dead shrimp works just as well.
 

misslaina

Member
after the juice bottle didnot seem to work, I only used it for two days, I am a very impatient women. Today, I took out lr and caught the little guys took them back to lfs and got a tube anemone. Yeah! While I had the hood off, I took out those old bioballs, I am ashamed to say that they are probably 10 yrs old, and replaced them with lr rubble. This better make my nitrates go down. also just switched to reverse osmosis water. Whew!
 

misslaina

Member
Just so all of you know, I did not need the yt damsels to cycle, I was just ignorant to what fish I could have for reef. Soon after buying, I found this mess. board, and discovered my mistake. I wasn't going to mention this, because I didnot want to reveal my ignorance, now you know.
 
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