I warn you, stupid question

[smartorl]

I have a stupid question but I am hoping someone has a little trick up their sleeve. I have a few damsels in one tank that I am wanting to move to another. I can't catch them to save my life. I really don't want to rip the rockwork apart but these guys are really crafty. I am on day 5 now and getting more and more frustrated. Does anyone have any tricks that may help me to avoid trashing the tank?
I have tried feeding and catching them, I have tried lights on, lights off, standing on one foot, crossing my fingers, everything!

 

[robert0862]

Hey..GOOD LUCK! I had the same problem. Ended up tearing the tank apart. And still had trouble. But if it can be done, someone on here will tell you. Wish I could help you more.

 

[ecosse]

I use a large glass jar or a 2ltr pop clear bottle will work
keep the neck on and cut a whole the size you need and just put it in your tank with some food in it and sit back and wait you will have to put some weight if you use the pop bottle
they cant see and just put it in the tank with a tiny bit of food as bait may take a while to catch them all but it works i have 6 damsels one yellow tang,pacific blue tang and 3 clownfish and when i need to transfer them thats what i use when its time to move them i do not feed them till your ready to catch them .....................good luck ...................... fish can figure out how to get food but have a hard time getting out again .
ecosse

 

[smartorl]

Did I ever tell you that you are my hero? I am not kidding my last thoughts before going to sleep and first thoughts when I wake up are "I have got to catch those ^&*#$ fish soon"! I am obsessed and going nuts! Will definitely give this a try!

 

[hifi]

I have used the pop bottle method as well with good results. Welcome aboard ecosse nice to see a fellow Canadian eh!!!!

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by ecosse
I use a large glass jar or a 2ltr pop clear bottle will work
keep the neck on and cut a whole the size you need and just put it in your tank with some food in it and sit back and wait you will have to put some weight if you use the pop bottle
they cant see and just put it in the tank with a tiny bit of food as bait may take a while to catch them all but it works i have 6 damsels one yellow tang,pacific blue tang and 3 clownfish and when i need to transfer them thats what i use when its time to move them i do not feed them till your ready to catch them .....................good luck ...................... fish can figure out how to get food but have a hard time getting out again .
ecosse
I am seriously going to have to try that the next time I need to catch a fish.

 

[gharner]

the bottle trap works very well. i used the same method to get my sixline wrasse out of my 12 gallon. it works great

 

[hogs]

I have Damsels also. I have been experimenting with a way to catch them. It may take some days but there should be little effort.
Every time I feed them, I put the net into the water and as they feed, I move the net around some. After a few days the Damsels feel less threatened by the net and sometimes swim right into it to gather food. I had one Damsel even pecking at the net trying to get to the food. Also, when you feed them, feed them very little. This way they will be hungry and aggressive. You will catch them with some patience. You may only get 1 a day but at least you won't ^&*#$ coronary while trying.

 

[fishyg]

I have had success with getting a larger net. I used my sons net that he uses when we go to the beach. Get another person to hold the smaller net and you should be able to catch them between the two of you. Good luck!

 

[poop_head]

Make it easy and get a lionfish. Problem solved.

 

[deltablack22]

See, if you braid your hair and hang empty beer cans from them, wear a bee keeper suit, gas mask, firemans boot and a yellow flipflop on a full moon night; all you have to do is place your hand in the tank at 11:11 PM and they will swim right into your hand.

No but seriously those other ideas can work. I've also heard of people fishing for damsels, but unless they are full grown good luck... I like the lionfish idea - I love my fuzzy dwarf!

 

[kingfish8302]

You really need is a mini

[hr]
gun with a nice scope and good eye and a trigger happy killing damsel trigger finger

.
Go with the pop bottel. I heard it works plus i'm a lucky 4 years go I got mine with a net after an hour

.

 

[marka1620]

I remember reading one poster caught his damsel by using the smallest fishing hook with bait. He said it worked....

 

[2nu2believe]

Actually a very small fish hook with the barb filed off will work wonders. I just removed a yellow tang from my 200G this week. It would not stop bothering my clowns which were trying to breed.
It may sound cruel but it was over in a snap and I'm sure it was less stressfull than chasing him all over the tank with a net knocking down rockwork in the process.
That tang is still wondering what the @$!% happened

He was acclimated and put into our frag tank until we decide what to do with him. Seems as happy and healthy as ever.

 

[robert0862]

I did try the hook but didn't work for me. damsel was too small i guess.

 

[jennythebugg]

Originally Posted by DeltaBlack22
See, if you braid your hair and hang empty beer cans from them, wear a bee keeper suit, gas mask, firemans boot and a yellow flipflop on a full moon night; all you have to do is place your hand in the tank at 11:11 PM and they will swim right into your hand.

No but seriously those other ideas can work. I've also heard of people fishing for damsels, but unless they are full grown good luck... I like the lionfish idea - I love my fuzzy dwarf!

i love your sense of humor

 

[kidreef]

i know how to get rid of them borrow a lion fish

u both benifit the fish gets fed and u no longer have those pest

 

[deltablack22]

Hmm, call me crazy but a lionfish would probably make it difficult to move that damsel into another tank...

Oh, and ty jenny... My parents always used to tell me I was a smart ass. I knew it would pay off later in life.

 

[rebelprettyboy]

dang it sucks hwen u had to catch a damsel. I got lucky when I wanted mine out of my fish tank, it had an accident and got caught into the filter. It saved me many hours!!

 

[srfisher17]

It sounds weird; but the fishing thing really does work. You need tiny hooks; used by fly-tiers or hooks used to catch bait--called hairhooks.Tell a good fishing store what you want to do. Flatten the barb with pliers and jerk them out gently as soon as the bait (something meaty that the fish love, like a bit of shrimp) is in their mouth. Try to move your trophy to a waiting bucket of water and hold the caught fish gently around the gills (to avoid removing their slime coat)with a wet cloth to remove the hook. This assumes you want to keep them; if not, be sure to remove the hook before tossing them to the lionfish.