Struggling to catch a royal gramma

[PupChow]

For the last 3 weeks I have been trying to get a catch a royal gramma from a 45g cube tank. While the tank is small, the rock that royal gramma sometime hides in have corals attached so I am hoping to get the fish out without having to remove the rock.

 

That said, I tried...

 

- Coke bottle method, I left the bottle in the tank for 5 days and started baiting it with frozen mysis and flake...  no luck.  In fact, most of my fish ignored any food inside the bottle except for a yellow clown goby.

 

- Turned light on full blast in the middle of the night, unfortunately the gramma lives among the rock.  I was able to easily net out my clowns and bangaiis to be temporarily housed in the sump, so I could try the next, more extreme method.

 

- Size #12 fishing hook (barb pressed in), with 6# clear fishing line.  I tried a combination of fresh octopus and jamming frozen mysis on the hook, but the gramma would not bite, the the hook too big and line too obvious?

 

At this point I am ready to just pull the big rock out to get the gramma once and for all. Before that though, does any one have any idea that I could try?  This fish is very careful and at the first sign of trouble, it darts right into the rock work.

 

 

[Origami]

Patience is certainly a virtue and you have it.

 

Pull the rock and catch the fish. Your corals will do just fine being out of the water for a short time. If you feel like it, siphon some water out of the tank, put the rock in it, and catch the fish. If you're able to catch the fish after draining some of the water down, then do so. 

[Anemone]

In case it helps, this is from a recent Advanced Aquarist article. Might have some better luck than with the coke bottle.

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2015/9/aafeature

 

"My fish trap is a little more complicated, but still rather simple. In the photo below, you can see that I've placed a small plastic box in the aquarium, with a piece of coral skeleton in it to keep it in place on the bottom. I found it at a local pet store and it's for keeping small reptiles or maybe a spider, etc. and has a flap-type door on the top that snaps shut.

When I need to trap a fish I place the box in the aquarium, and for a couple of days I only feed the fishes with sinking pellets. Then, I start using a three-foot piece of rigid airline tubing to drop the pellets into the clear box, and only in the box. So, if the fishes want to eat, they have to swim into the box. I also stand the tubing on the top the box, next to the door, to keep water flow from pushing the door over, and to close it when the time comes. Of course, the other end of the tubing sticks out of the top of the aquarium."

[greengalaxy]

Try at night? thats what I do when I need to catch a fish

[Jon Lazar]

I've caught small, rock-hiding fish like this before. 

 

Place a rectangular specimen container on its side, in the corner.  You're going to herd the fish into this.

 

Drain the tank down to a several inches from the bottom. 

 

Is the gramma still out in the open?  Good.  Use your hands to herd him into the specimen container in the corner.

 

Once he's in the container, keep your hand over the top and turn it right side up.  Remove it from the tank.

 

Pump the water back into the tank.

[PupChow]

Thank you everyone for your advice!  I placed an order for a small critter cage because I really liked the trap door idea. However, the following day the Gramma just swam right up to the glass as if to taunt me (he probably just wanted food), so I lost it and pulled his rock out along with him (actually caught the whole thing on video:

). Thankfully the tank was not too disturbed by it.  If I need to pull another fish out in the future, I will at least have the critter cage handy. ;-)

 

Thanks all, royal gramma + pair of bengaii cardinals going up for sale soon!

[YHSublime]

I'll tell you what, the hardest fish i ever had to catch was a show sized Foxface. Big ol' fish, about 7". All my fish would eat from my hands, even with a next there, but this fish knew i was trying to catch it. I ended up getting a trapdoor fish trap that I had to rig with a piece of fishing line, and I ramped it off a hook into my ceiling, down to my coffee table leg, with a set of scissors on standby. That fish would wait till i was out of the room to pull food out of the trap. One day I made a giant nori burrito, with frozen food jammed into it, and new it wasn't going to be able to resist. Once it was halfway into the trap, I cut the line, and BAM, that sucker was caught.

 

My living room looked like that game "mouse trap" for the better part of a week and a half, but it was totally worth it. 

[Reefer_Madness]

Hahaha. When I had to catch my Foxface I just scared the crap out of him and he played dead. Very easy to scoop him up then!!

[s2nhle]

So How is royal gamma doing? why did you try to remove him from your tank?

[Keraxis]

Try the drain a corner method.  Basically start taking the water out like a water change... then take a piece of plexi an section the tank off trapping him away from his rock

[PupChow]

Problem with any type of sectioning off or cornering method with this fish is that as soon as the net or anything foreign hits the water, it dodges back into the rock work.  It is very, very cautious.     Smart fish.

 

The Royal Gramma is complete fine now, looks brand new and eating up my pods in the refugium...  needs to move him asap!

[Keraxis]

Thats why you drain first.  The corals will survive... fish lose space and might not be able to reach its rock work if its out of the water