lanman February 21, 2007 Share February 21, 2007 Question #1 - how do I catch my little (2") 3-lined damselfish in my 24-gallon aquarium to transfer him to the 45? As much of a chow hound as he is - I figured last night I could just put the net in there, put food above it, and when he came to take the food, I'd swoop him up.. but he must have learned too much at the fish store watching his friends and himself getting netted. He would never quite go over the net. I'll keep trying, maybe after a few nights he will get used to the net being in there. But if not - what other choices? Question #2 - I want to put some fish in my 45. I want only a few (maybe 3-4). I want them to stay fairly small - at least for a while. I want them to be very easy to care for. I want them to be colorful and interesting, and I want them to get along with my 3-lined damsel. I will find him a new home if necessary, but I'd rather keep him; he was first, and kind of holds pride of place for that. I'm not a big fish person, mostly into this for the inverts; but a few fish would be fun, and add a lot to the environment. Once I get the damsel out of the 24, I plan to put a Nemo, and a few little gobies and stuff in there. Wee things for the wee tank. So - looking for suggestions for some nice, easy fish for my 45-gallon tank. Thanks, bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia February 21, 2007 Share February 21, 2007 That damsel may be little but they are known to aggressivley protect their territory. As far as getting him out goes, try a clear container to scoop him into while baiting it with food. Others will have more ideas. I like chalk bass. You can put a few in there and they will swim together. They do develop a heirarchy so occasional fights will break out until they decide who's boss. I'm down to only one of the two that I originally bought (the other decided to carpet surf). It's got alot of personality and comes right to the glass when I approach the tank. Eats like a pig too. When I'm working in the tank it will hover near my hand to see what I'm doing. Pretty funny - I have to shoo it away to work in the tank. http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Dis...amp;pCatId=1309 The blue is a vibrant color. Great little fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Jake February 21, 2007 Share February 21, 2007 damsels are very very hard to catch now just joking... grab a blue damsel and dress him up as a cop... he will direct traffic in the tank now seriously search were the damsel hides, plug the holes he usually goes into, then build a trap out of a coke bottle with a string and do not feed him for at least three days. put the coke bottle trap in the tank with some food and wait till the damsel reaches in, then pull the coke bottle out as fast as possible. other option is to use the lights out, lights on technique. in the morning do not turn the actinic lights, or the MH or T5. use a powerfull flaslight and turn the flash light on while holding a net in the tank, the fish will be stunt for few seconds, enough for you to scoop him out. this is tricky as you need to be faster than the fish hope this works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest seantadez February 21, 2007 Share February 21, 2007 other option is to use the lights out, lights on technique. in the morning do not turn the actinic lights, or the MH or T5. use a powerfull flaslight and turn the flash light on while holding a net in the tank, the fish will be stunt for few seconds, enough for you to scoop him out. this is tricky as you need to be faster than the fish I use this technique to catch a purple tang, yellow tank, royal gramma and some others in the first time... work perfectly to me... but i put some food and when the fish come out i turn the lights off that;s it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 21, 2007 Author Share February 21, 2007 now seriously search were the damsel hides, plug the holes he usually goes into, then build a trap out of a coke bottle with a string and do not feed him for at least three days. put the coke bottle trap in the tank with some food and wait till the damsel reaches in, then pull the coke bottle out as fast as possible. Step 3: Get the fire shrimp out of the coke bottle. Stupid shrimp was climbing into the net to retrieve the food that fell last night. Talk about a glutton. I have two skunk cleaners, and one fire shrimp - and all of them like nothing more than to climb all over my hand when it's in the tank. I'm guessing I cut part of the coke bottle off; he's small, but he's not going to fit through the neck of a coke bottle. bob That damsel may be little but they are known to aggressivley protect their territory. As far as getting him out goes, try a clear container to scoop him into while baiting it with food. Others will have more ideas. I like chalk bass. You can put a few in there and they will swim together. They do develop a heirarchy so occasional fights will break out until they decide who's boss. I'm down to only one of the two that I originally bought (the other decided to carpet surf). It's got alot of personality and comes right to the glass when I approach the tank. Eats like a pig too. When I'm working in the tank it will hover near my hand to see what I'm doing. Pretty funny - I have to shoo it away to work in the tank. http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Dis...amp;pCatId=1309 The blue is a vibrant color. Great little fish. Cute fish - but is he a jumper? I have an open tank with a T5 fixture a few inches above - which blocks most of the space, but there's still plenty left for a jumping basslet. I could probably cut some pieces of lexan and cover the gaps, though. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooroo February 23, 2007 Share February 23, 2007 When I worked at a LFS, we had 6" sections of 2-3" PVC in the tanks for the fish to hide in, along with various other decorations. The PVC was always handy with catching damsels because you can butt one end up against the glass, and shoo the fish into the pipe, then put the net over the open end. Then you slowly raise the PVC pipe up, being sure to keep one end on the glass and the other covered by the net. Then you tip up the end butted against the glass above the water level and the fish will dump right into the net. Takes a few times to practice and it all relies on the fish wanting to go into the PVC pipe. You can drop several in and leave for a few days to get him thinking its a good place to hide. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardofNOVA February 23, 2007 Share February 23, 2007 but is he a jumper? First get a net and then get a blow up of RooRoo Avatar and hold up to tank, fish will jump out into net! Simple! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Ric February 23, 2007 Share February 23, 2007 I was faced with the same question for my 40g recently. I ordered a McCosker's Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus mccoskeri) which I plan to pickup tomorrow. He is a bit pricy for me, though. I already have a mated pair of Pearly Jawish (a.k.a Yellowheaded Jawfish), whose antics have been very entertaining now that they are less shy. They are very disuptive to the sandbed, though, as they dig it up all over the place. A couple others that I was considering, that you might also be interesteed in are the the Purple Firefish and Coral Beauty Angel OR Flame Angel (you can't have both together.) If the McCosker's Flasher Wrasse is beyond your budget, there are other wrasses that are very colorful, too. They are also jumpers, as are the Jawfish. I defer to the more experienced members to tell if these are good choices in the long run. 'Ric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 25, 2007 Author Share February 25, 2007 I was faced with the same question for my 40g recently. I ordered a McCosker's Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus mccoskeri) which I plan to pickup tomorrow. He is a bit pricy for me, though. I already have a mated pair of Pearly Jawish (a.k.a Yellowheaded Jawfish), whose antics have been very entertaining now that they are less shy. They are very disuptive to the sandbed, though, as they dig it up all over the place. A couple others that I was considering, that you might also be interesteed in are the the Purple Firefish and Coral Beauty Angel OR Flame Angel (you can't have both together.) If the McCosker's Flasher Wrasse is beyond your budget, there are other wrasses that are very colorful, too. They are also jumpers, as are the Jawfish. I defer to the more experienced members to tell if these are good choices in the long run. 'Ric I got three Lyretail anthias - they add a lot of color, and so far they seem quite satisfied with my tank and my inexperienced care. I'm supposed to feed them several times a day. I have two kinds of Dainichi pellets - but seems like for every 5 I drop in the tank, they actually only find/catch/eat one. How much should I feed them at a time? They LOVE mysis shrimp by the way - I feed that one time a day in the evening. That they chase down and catch, no matter where I drop it in - it sinks more slowly. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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