Sign here if you've captured a Damsel

[dinogeorge]

I had a 55 gallon. In an effort to catch the damsel in it, I removed the rock, and drained the tank. The damsel was apparently stuck in the rock. So I carried the rock out to the dumpster and threw it away.
That night I was awaken to the sound of running water. The damsel had come back into the house, mixed some salt, put the rock back in and refilled the tank. I’m not sure how he got in, turned on the faucet or connected the hose, but that’s irrelevant. The bottom line is….I have a damsel who once again lives in my 55 gallon. Does anyone know a good exorcist???

 

[kev.1979]

i caught my damsel in my 72 gallon in about 10 SECONDS no joke ! i was chasing him around with a spatula and he swam right into a rock and commited suiside! he floated to the top and sadly the problem was solved!

 

[matt b]

I had 3 in a 55 and took out all the rock and it still took me about 30 mins to get them out

 

[princess8077]

I guess Chromis are damsels (at least in the damsel family). I'm fairly sure I could catch mine quickly. He and the percs are best buds. He's the first to wake in the mornings. Pretty funny scene to see him come out from behind my overflow box (his sleeping quarters), wakes the Lady perc who sleeps in the corner closest to the Chromis, then they both go wake Sir Perc (he sleeps either with Lady Perc, across from her in the front corner, or sleeps above my zoos. Anyway......he likes to be petted (thru the glass) along with my percs and doesnt run when my hand is in the tank, he sticks right by the percs which swim around looking for stuff in my fingers.

 

[tarball]

I have 1 blue damsel & he lives in my 10g qt. Needless to say if I need to move him out, I empty the QT and scoop him up.
No problem.

 

[dmjordan]

i caught mine and about a year ago and he went into my 10 gal. they are a pita to catch.

 

[notsonoob]

Next time I get shwindled into a damsel, I'm going to design, patent, and market the TAZERNET...

 

[srgvigil]

Originally Posted by kev.1979
i caught my damsel in my 72 gallon in about 10 SECONDS no joke ! i was chasing him around with a spatula and he swam right into a rock and commited suiside! he floated to the top and sadly the problem was solved!

 

[tacoma38]

Funny you have this tread,i had to move my 75 gal to make room for my 180 am in the middle of setting up.And I never caught the blue damsel.This guy was in about 1 inch water and i still could not get him.Ended up moving tank with him in it.

 

[chance]

I caught one ounce i put it in a little guppy breeder while i tried to catch the other and it jumped out i ended up haviving to take out al of my live rock

 

[nick76]

Id like to tell everyone the most sucessful way ive used to catch damsels.
Ok turn all the light on your tank of, your can preferably do this over night. Keep the room comepletly dark. After a few hours of complete darkness, get your net ready and turn on your room lights and the tank lights full blast. The Shock from the light will send them stumbling out of the rock and floating slowly around not knowing where their going for a few minutes.

I caught a 3 stripe and a domino in 5 minutes.

 

[98lude]

i caught my blue devil in my 37 tall cube without moving a single rock.. i used the baited pop bottle method

 

[hefner413]

My way... https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/295330/mission-damsel-has-to-go

 

[srgvigil]

bump
(sorry had to do it)

 

[phelpz]

The only time I've caught them I had to break down the tank, and it still took a half hour.
The one I have in my tank, a yellow tail, I gave up on wanting it out. It used to chase my royal gramma, but not the royal gramma sticks up for itself and the damsel leave her alone.

 

[krichardson]

...took me and our to catch 2!

had to take the whole tank apart!....VERY frustrating. but i got my revenge, when i took them back to the LFS they told me they would probably become eel food haha

 

[sepulatian]

In my store they took awhile to catch with no rock in a 55. I had to use two nets. They are fast little buggers.

 

[ufo8micats]

All this horrible bashing of damsels. I have to commend these little buggers on their hardiness, and survival tactics. i cycled my tank with 3 damsels: 1 domino, 2-3 stripe, 2 years ago and they made it through a cycle,move, tank replacing,filter dying, and now aggressive tankmates. I have the utmost respect for them, and their will to survive.
I like most people, have failed on several attempts to move them to another tank. Now i have just resigned to only give the damsels tankmates than can handle their own.

 

[gmann1139]

Can I sign four times?

I had two black damsels that were absolute terrors. Each went back to the LFS separately. Capture was a bad experience for all. I actually got more enjoyment out of one when I would see him in an LR tank at the LFS I returned him to.
What really made me mad was my pair of 4 stripes, who seemed to get along with everyone... until I introduced a Fridmani.

They hated that fish with a passion, and capturing the pair with only one breeder tank to hold them in was an experience.

 

[blackaero1]

I caught all of mine. I cheated though and didnt have any LR in the tank at the time. I cycled with the damsels, removed them than added the LR about a month later. I could have just cycled with LR from the start but was new in the hobby and followed the advice of my LFS. I don't shop there anymore as I've now got a LRS Local Reef store and the owner knows his ----uh detritus, he also is more than wiling to help you understand how everything works. Biggest factor for me to return to him was when I saw him ask someone what they had in thier system and used that information along with just picking thier brain to find out what they knew and were doing to determine if they would have a high survival rate of what they wanted to purchase. Not too often you see the high school worker at your run of the mill pet store suggest someone to not get something due to tank setup, but this guy has no issues whatsoever with doing it.