Sugar Magnolia January 10, 2008 Share January 10, 2008 My son's girlfriend bought me a pair of damsels about 6 months ago. One was injured, so that one didn't go in the tank. Healthy female blue damsel went into the tank (yes, I know. but I didn't want to hurt her feelings by refusing the fish.) The fish has now tripled in size and it has to go. My fridmani dottyback has been hiding under a rock for the past 5 days trying to avoid the damsel. Both my yasha and neon gobies are to fast for the damsel, but it does go after them whenever possible. Never bothers the clown. I need ideas on how to get the damsel out without removing 2/3 of the tank to get to it. Thanks in advance from me and my traumatized fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yagerboy January 10, 2008 Share January 10, 2008 I would suggest using a fish trap. Someone on WAMAS may have one to lend. If you have lots of rock etc. good luck on trying to catch her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonbro6956 January 10, 2008 Share January 10, 2008 It took me about 5 minutes with my hands an a large net (at least 2/3 of the width of your tank). After convincing my domino to one side of the tank, I used the net to block off the other side and I was able to scare it into the net. Then I scooped it out with a plastic cup. My new 125 is pretty light on the rock side right now, so it was not packed with rock. It would have been fun if there were more rock, but I am sure I could have done it. I also made sure that my yellow tang and my scopas tang were in the same blocked off section as the damsel becuase they would block off the rock structure. A fish trap may have been easier, but it kept on nipping on the scopas and sailfin, so the domino had to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country January 10, 2008 Share January 10, 2008 Good luck, I have a mostly full grown Sgt. Major Damsel which has been in my tank since 2004. I've managed to trap and/or net every other fish and critter in the tank except that damsel. He terrorizes my tank and any new fish that I put in, I know that he caused my African Midas Blenny to go carpet surfing. I'm resolved that the damsel will be in the tank until I get around to upgrading my tank and can get him out of there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin January 10, 2008 Share January 10, 2008 Small water proof firecracker with a lead weight at feeding time. Much like a depth charge, stun the fish and scoop it out. (look out for the glass ) Maybe a mini spear gun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman January 10, 2008 Share January 10, 2008 Small water proof firecracker with a lead weight at feeding time. Much like a depth charge, stun the fish and scoop it out. (look out for the glass ) Maybe a mini spear gun? Don't laugh too hard... I've considered trying to rig up a mini spear-gun to 'catch' my damsel. Other considerations were a large eel, a frogfish, and a grouper. And I don't have any other fish in the nano. Well, duh - I didn't put any in there because I figured he would torment them. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrubberbandman January 11, 2008 Share January 11, 2008 I cant even catch my overgrown overbullyin' scarlet cleaner shrimp ...i could just imagine catching a fish maybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia January 11, 2008 Author Share January 11, 2008 Well, after reading through a few threads at RC and looking at prebuilt fish traps, I've decided to go with the free versions, well, $1.50 or so. 2 Liter soda bottle with the top cut off and inverted. That fish is such a glutton I figured if I put the soda botttle in the tank with food in it it would probably go right for it. I'm not feeding the tank today and will be consuming the remaining contents of the diet pepsi Tomorrow is doomsday for that bad fish. Found this link while reading yesterday. As always, Mark is very creative. http://www.melevsreef.com/video/tuckertrapper2.wmv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zotzer January 11, 2008 Share January 11, 2008 OMG, that video was too funny!!! No questions as to why his Naso is a porker. ROFL Tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthworks January 11, 2008 Share January 11, 2008 That video is 67mb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 January 12, 2008 Share January 12, 2008 Try waiting until the fish have gone to sleep. I typically catch my fish in the AM when they have been asleep all night. It's usually pretty easy to scoop them up with my hand because they're in a state of semi-consciousness. I leave the lights off and if I can't catch them right away I turn them on and they get a bit stunned by the light. Not always the easiest thing to do, but if you can isolate where it is, that will do the trick. The other thing you can do if the traps don't work is to simply get some netting or some sort of plastic mesh and stick it around where the fish sleeps. Then when it comes out you've got it somewhat cornered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia January 13, 2008 Author Share January 13, 2008 (edited) That darn fish sleeps in the rockwork. Two days now with the DIY trap and the little $#&% won't go anywhere near it. Today I opted to do a little deep sea fishing with a #8 hook and a thawed piece of silverside. The little $#&% grabbed the piece off the hook and dashed behind the rocks. Tried again with a silverside head to make sure it was nice and snug and the fish wouldn't go near it. I'll starve it out for another day or two and try again. It darts behind the rocks everytime anyone is near the tank. Very frustrating! Edited January 13, 2008 by Sugar Magnolia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin January 13, 2008 Share January 13, 2008 That darn fish sleeps in the rockwork. Two days now with the DIY trap and the little $#&% won't go anywhere near it. Today I opted to do a little deep sea fishing with a #8 hook and a thawed piece of silverside. The little $#&% grabbed the piece off the hook and dashed behind the rocks. Tried again with a silverside head to make sure it was nice and snug and the fish wouldn't go near it. I'll starve it out for another day or two and try again. It darts behind the rocks everytime anyone is near the tank. Very frustrating! Get a model rocket ignitor system and hook it up to a small firecracker and cover in wax. Put the mine in the area the fish sleeps in and bait the area with food. Wait until the fish goes near and set off the mine, stunning the fish. Yep I had a demented childhood followed by six years active duty in the US Marine corps infantry and almost seven years as an inner-city police officer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman January 13, 2008 Share January 13, 2008 That darn fish sleeps in the rockwork. Two days now with the DIY trap and the little $#&% won't go anywhere near it. Today I opted to do a little deep sea fishing with a #8 hook and a thawed piece of silverside. The little $#&% grabbed the piece off the hook and dashed behind the rocks. Tried again with a silverside head to make sure it was nice and snug and the fish wouldn't go near it. I'll starve it out for another day or two and try again. It darts behind the rocks everytime anyone is near the tank. Very frustrating! If you're using a barbless hook - be sure and keep steady pressure on the fishing rod after you hook him, and go slow and steady on the reel. I've heard those damsels can put up quite a fight - keep the straps tight on that fishing chair. (Then come catch mine...) bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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