catching a dastardly dottyback... is there anything harder to do?

[Triple One]

...taking clear pictures of a submerged 10mm-long Aeolid with a non-waterproof camera comes to mind...

but seriously, anybody out there got any good tricks up their sleeves that don't start with, "first, take all the live rock out of your tank..."?

i have to admit, getting a Pseudochromis porphyreus was probably the biggest mistake i have made with this tank so far. i've had him for about two months now, and when i bought it from my LFS i was confused slightly and was really trying to find a gramma (Dottybacks and Grammas are adjacent chapters in Bob Fenner's book, and i had been reading up on some small, rock-loving fish to try and round out my tank... i know there's no excuse, alright? i come with humility). anyway, he's in there now, and he f'n HATES everyone else in the tank. he hates the melanurus wrasse. he hates the ocellated dragonet. he hates the lawnmower blenny. he REALLY REALLY hates the neon cleaner goby, a LOT. i'm pretty sure he hates the tangs too but there's not much he can do about it so he takes it out on the hermit crabs.

my best idea so far is to print up a dottyback decoy mirrored-image, stuff it with half a Q-Tip, waterproof it with packing tape, string it inside a clear two-liter bottle with the top cut off and inverted, tape a straightened coat hanger to the bottle for a quick handle, and wait by the tank with bated breath for the little punk to enter the bottle trap and try to shred his decoy.

i've spent a total of probably 8 hours over the last week hanging the net in the tank, to the point where the wrasse and the tangs swim in and out of the net freely like it's the style of the stars, but somehow the dottyback can sense my psychic waves. maybe it's all that water... not kidding though, the other fish think the net is like a cozy hammock by now (i swear the wrasse is actually trying to lure the dottyback into the net, like she knows i have no interest in catching her), and the dottyback just watches me like, "pshh... you're an idiot, giant."

and maybe i am. who are you to judge?

i'm gonna make the bottle trap tonight and see how it goes... just thought i'd post this before i left work in case anybody has an epiphany to share... much thanx in advance...

[snorvich]

Sure fire. Drain the water from your tank until you have just enough left for the fish. Save the water in large brute food safe trash cans. Net the fish, return the water.

[MIKE NY]

you'll be there forever trying to catch it in a reef with a net w/o moving rocks or removing water....the bottle trap will work, but will take a few days before it comfortable with it being there..than add mysis etc..I use a narrow necked clear glass vase....caught my sixline and any other fish with it. I have to use it to remove my PBT anytime I add a new fish....

[AquaticFins]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Sure fire. Drain the water from your tank until you have just enough left for the fish. Save the water in large brute food safe trash cans. Net the fish, return the water.

While that usually works for most fish, I've had many a dottyback end up staying deep inside a rock with this method. If you know where, you can pull the rock and set the opening just above the waterline on top of a bucket...more often than not, they'll wiggle their way out and drop down into the water after a few minutes.

Short of pulling the rock or draining the tank, bottle traps and a de-barb'd fishing hook are the best suggestions I have as far as dottybacks go.

Good luck!

[James983]

My Dottyback loves clam on halfshell. I would suggest feeding that to yours. It makes great bait for a fish trap. I would definitly try that before draining the water. There are times I'd like to evict mine as well.
Good luck!

[chuckm]

I've tried catching my oblique-lined dottyback out of my tank for over a month!

Trap-door trap,bottle trap,fishing hook,netting....I'm ready to deep-fry that bugger!

It did go in the bottle trap once 2 weeks ago but shot out the top when i tried to pull the trap out of the water. won't go near it now..

I'm in the same boat as you, don't want to tear my reef down to get it either.

Someone suggested putting a mirror in the bottle trap which i think i'll try next..


patience not included!

good luck fishing!

[Triple One]

Originally Posted by MIKE NY

you'll be there forever trying to catch it in a reef with a net w/o moving rocks or removing water....the bottle trap will work, but will take a few days before it comfortable with it being there..than add mysis etc..I use a narrow necked clear glass vase....caught my sixline and any other fish with it. I have to use it to remove my PBT anytime I add a new fish....

Too true; I think the net game is futile... So you trap routinely and the tang keeps falling for it after the first time? I gave them too much credit I guess... Do you use a mirror or something similar or do you just bait the trap? What about for the sixline? Glass would be better overall, but I don't have anything suitable right now and I feel like the sooner I can relieve the tank's other inhabitants...

It'll be better that way.

An update: the bottle trap has been in place for about 48 hours, and the dottyback is curious and somewhat skeptical... But he definitely keeps an eye on the decoy, and he's tried to go straight for it at least twice. I'll bait it tomorrow night perhaps:


I ended up using two bottles because the first version seemed too short. I also utilized the extra bottom that resulted to make a double barrier at the opening, not only to make it harder to escape when I yank the trap, but also to (hopefully) keep the other fish out of the trap with a hole small enough that pretty much only the dottyback fits.

Googling "purple dottyback" located this image, which I picked because I thought it would help create a 3D illusion with the eye on top:



I used GIMPshop to shrink, copy, and flip the image horizontally, then used half a cotton swab to make it a little puffy. Packing tape: the poor man's laminate. Also makes a good transparent anchor to the bottle bottom, stabilized by the Southdown sand. The small air bubble inevitably trapped inside the decoy means it stands upright in the water better than out. Now, to wait...

[NexDog]

Can you do a post detailing that simple fish trap?

[Beandawg]

DUDE!!!!!! Is that a vertically situated, over-engineered, DOUBLE 2 liter soda bottle trap, with a picture of a fish taped to it? To catch a 2 inch DOTTYBACK? All you need is 1 16oz. soda bottle. Cut the top off like you did on your soda bottle submarine. Put a little sand in there while still apart. Dunk both halves in the water, and assemble underwater without using tape (Prevents air pockets). Stuff a chunk of raw table shrimp or scallop in there and wedge it between some rocks HORIZONTALLY. Do not feed the fish until you catch the one you're after. Sometimes you end up having to put more bait in. Most times you end up removing non-target species. Think of it as collateral damage. If you are worried about catching other fish, put the cap on the bottle and cut a 1/2" hole in it. Good Luck.

[Triple One]

Originally Posted by Beandawg

DUDE!!!!!! Is that a vertically situated, over-engineered, DOUBLE 2 liter soda bottle trap, with a picture of a fish taped to it? To catch a 2 inch DOTTYBACK? All you need is 1 16oz. soda bottle. Cut the top off like you did on your soda bottle submarine. Put a little sand in there while still apart. Dunk both halves in the water, and assemble underwater without using tape (Prevents air pockets). Stuff a chunk of raw table shrimp or scallop in there and wedge it between some rocks HORIZONTALLY. Do not feed the fish until you catch the one you're after. Sometimes you end up having to put more bait in. Most times you end up removing non-target species. Think of it as collateral damage. If you are worried about catching other fish, put the cap on the bottle and cut a 1/2" hole in it. Good Luck.

thanx for the tip... the dottyback ended up jumping out months ago. have since covered all openings with mosquito net to curb further collateral damage

Originally Posted by NexDog

Can you do a post detailing that simple fish trap?

sorry i didn't get this sooner nexdog... i forgot to subscribe to this thread. the decoy didn't ever work, and i think beandawg had a good point about the trap being overbuilt and huge. building it a second time, i would use food, not a dottyback decoy, as bait, and i would use a smaller bottle not only for the relative target size but also for ease of placing and removing the trap. but i haven't had to build it a second time because i got Grammas after the Pseudochromis died.

[Zalick]

Originally Posted by Beandawg

.... Stuff a chunk of raw table shrimp or scallop in there and wedge it between some rocks HORIZONTALLY.....

Digging up an old thread but I made the mistake of getting a neon dottyback. It absolutely terrorized my yellow and purple wrasse. I tried the bottle trap and it wasn't working. I was using reef plankton and mysis shrimp It poked its head in once but darted back out.

I read this thread this morning and tried the table shrimp and also a cube of formula one. Additionally, I cut a couple slits on the bottom of the bottle to allow a little water to flow through thinking the dotty may be more inclined to enter. Within 30 seconds of putting the bottle down, it went right in. Its now safe back at the LFS.

I had tried for about a week or so with the bottle and mysis. I added to this thread in the hopes of helping someone else. Too bad I already ordered 50 size 24 hooks for $8 this morning!

[ca1ore]

Hmmn, had a splendid terrorizing my 265. Took note of where he slept at night then ambushed him around midnight. Maybe just dumb luck, but got him quite easily.

[Sk8r]

Harder? Ghost eel. But only barely.
I caught mine using the glass dome from an anniversary clock. He was spooked of narrower openings.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by Zalick

Digging up an old thread but I made the mistake of getting a neon dottyback. It absolutely terrorized my yellow and purple wrasse. I tried the bottle trap and it wasn't working. I was using reef plankton and mysis shrimp It poked its head in once but darted back out.

I read this thread this morning and tried the table shrimp and also a cube of formula one. Additionally, I cut a couple slits on the bottom of the bottle to allow a little water to flow through thinking the dotty may be more inclined to enter. Within 30 seconds of putting the bottle down, it went right in. Its now safe back at the LFS.

I had tried for about a week or so with the bottle and mysis. I added to this thread in the hopes of helping someone else. Too bad I already ordered 50 size 24 hooks for $8 this morning!

The trick that always worked for me was putting a mirror at the end of a trap. With that you can usually catch every bully.

BTW, I'm still looking for another neon dottyback to get a pair together...

[RDtrack]

Check out your lFS and see if they have a trap.

I know ours has one. I can catch any fish within a 24 hour period with one.

This is what I've found works. I place the trap in the tank and wait 24 hours. I'll leave the door open during this time. I also don't feed. Then the next day/evening I'll place a chunk of frozen food in the trap. Key here is to make sure you keep the food in the trap; using flow, angle of the trap, and door. Your more aggressive fish will normally enter the trap first and try to pull the food out. Here is where you have to work the door.

If you can (and it's not to difficult to do) keep the food in the trap you can catch any fish. Another trick to do is using a food clip (magnet). Wrap the food in cheese cloth then using the food clip, clip it to the back of the trap. This keeps the food in but drives the fish crazy with the smell.

Good luck. Beats draining or tearing down half your tank to catch a fish.

[brett559]

Fish traps like the ones in this video have worked for me.

Fun video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xbUEqv5Zqs