How to Catch Fish and Critters in Displays

[stevedola]

i made a cheap fish trap yesterday that worked great for me. I used a pastic bottle that I cut the neck off and tied some fish string to. filled with water then sunk some mysis and bloodworms at the bottom. Dropped the bottle in the tank and let it sit there. For the first half hour it only caught my nass snails but then my psuedo chromis started sniffing and went in...pulled it up and Voila! my display is now safe from his terror. Banished to the sump until someone with either a large tank or less dociile fish can take him off my hands.

[roblack]

I have pulled out several fish and bothersome crabs (2 evil stone crabs) by removing the rock they were hiding in and placing it in a bucket of tank water and slowly working, shaking them out. More difficult with the stone crabs, who needed alot of prodding and poking, but effective and well worth it. I will never put strange crabs from the beach in my tank again! Did this years ago before I knew better, and just got the last one out a month ago. As with most reef issues, doing some research before adding new creatures is the best bet.

[burdenpi]

this worked for me, based on someone suggesting the plastic bottle technique for me. My lawnmower blenny was so hungry, he came out at the sight of the food in the bottle and I netted him! So the gently starvation method works too! I assumed he was eating the algae on the rocks, it had been about 3 days since the last tank feeding.

[surfjeepzx]

This may be another version that someone has tried but I haven't read of it yet. I found I have a form of bristle worm in my tank that eats snails and clams. I can't remember the name but it's about 6-8" long, brilliant orange and fast as lightening when you spot him.
It's just about depleted my snail population so I'll be giving my new trap a try next week.

A simple baby bottle will hopefully do the trick. I plan on buying about 10 snails and baiting him with them in the baby bottle. The trick is I removed the nipple, cut the tip off to make a small opening so the snails can't get out, then invert the nipple so it's in the bottle. Pretty similar to any crab or lobster trap. The particular baby bottle I have was part of a welcome gift basket. Both ends of the bottle unscrew. The base has a rubber part with holes in it that allow the baby to draw formula but not create a suction in the bottle. I will remove this part and screw the palstic cap back on which has very small openings that are too small for the worm to get through. So I'll see if I can get that guy without much hassle.

[Lint_Licker]

Originally posted by Anthony Calfo
The JAR METHOD:

Have you every seen a hermit crab hanging front and center in the middle of your aquarium pane? Ahhh... no.

And they cannot climb the glass walls of a pickle jar, or the like, either.

I came home from vacation and found a small blue legged hermit near the surface of the front glass. hahaha.... mond you that glass hadnt been cleaned in over week and there was some hair algae growing a little bit as a result of an inlaw over feeding, lol.

[eyebedam]

Great thread. I need to catch a engineer goby thats around 12inches long out of my 180. Which of the methods listed above do you think would work the best other than the drain method?

[coffeenut]

im trying to catch a black damsel in a 300 gal sps tank.. he wont go in the fish trap, only sit out side it, and catch the particles of food.. he is so smart, and mean.. any thoughts? I have a fish trap.. i have sat for hours, waiting, but never will he go in..

[coffeenut]

im trying to catch a black damsel in a 300 gal sps tank.. he wont go in the fish trap, only sit out side it, and catch the particles of food.. he is so smart, and mean.. any thoughts? I have a fish trap.. i have sat for hours, waiting, but never will he go in..

[eyebedam]

I caught him. I used a 3 liter bottle with the top cut off a put back on inverted. I placed it back in the tank and about 5 hours later the goby was stuck inside.

[cilyjr]

i had a wrasse that was uncatchable with a fish trap...was afraid of it even after it had been suspended from the center brace for 4 days. so i tried gone fishing. i got a very fine barbless flyfishing hook i think the size is 18 but i tossed the package. put it on a line with a sinker and baited with clam meat. then i fed normal while dropping the lead in the tank. i used my turkey baster to fend off the other fish (which made them want it more). he grabed at it, got the meat and nothing. i tried again and again, finally on the fourth try he came up for a nibble i gave the other side a tug and got him! he is now in my sump awaiting a new home!!!! no more peppermint shrimp snacks for him!

[elblond]

Hi guys I've to catch a red spotted hawkfish, he's in my 65g Hex, the tank is 36" deep. There's a lot of live rock, etc...
Which method you think is the best for me?

[elblond]

Hi guys I've to catch a red spotted hawkfish, he's in my 65g Hex, the tank is 36" deep. There's a lot of live rock, etc...
Which method you think is the best for me?

[ihopss]

Damsels or smart, I have been trying to catch 2 for a week(no luck).

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Anthony Calfo
The DRAIN METHOD:

Prompted by a query in another thread, I thought it might be useful to remind folks that need to remove fishes or motile invertebrates from established tanks that it is not effective or helpful to relentlessly chase the animal around the tank with a single net until exhaustion. Thats not good for anyone... especially a sick fish that needs to be pulled for QT.

And... there is not need to tear down the rockscape in part or whole just to make the same above attempt in what will be muddy/turbid water

No...if you need to trap this or any such fish... DO NOT tear down the tank, but instead set up some water holding vessels/clean garbage cans (well worth the $8 at Walmart if you have to buy new)... and use one of your powerheads/pumps or just a length or large bore tubing (1-1.5" from Home Depot) to drain the tank fast. Even a small powerhead of say 400ghp will pump a typical tank dry in mere minutes.

Thus... when the fishes are in low water (scoop a low spot in the sand if substrate is in the tank to force them into a really tight spot) you can effortlessly catch the targeted creature without stressing it or other fishes badly.

Then... simply pump that water right back in. You can drain and fisll even large aquarium in less time than it takes to eat lunch

As for the exposed rock/coral... I promise you that the 2 week dry import of live rock and the daily exposure of most reef corals to equatorial sun at low tide is far more stressful than the 15-20 minutes in a climate controlled house that it takes for you to drain and refill your tank

Ah, but what of anemones? Well.. the anemones would be better than most any other creature with this imposed "low tide." Wholesaler's ship and import most all of them without water to improve shipping survivability (they cannot pass waste in their own shipping bag water and pollute/kill themselves).

In time I will post other methods of trapping fishes and critters... and I'm asking fellow aquarists to do the same here too.

having tried many methods to catch a zebra striped damsel with no luck i would like to try this method
My main concern is the other fish that like to hide in the reef esp my sailfin tang and regal tang--they slither sideways into there little piece of the rock. If I drain the tank down quickly I see them getting stranded??

[Akaash]

For everyone asking about a commercial product with the fishing line trap.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/214304/product.web

It's the same concept, the door pivots though instead of sliding. Pull the string and your fish is trapped. Nice thing about this is you can turn it on it's side, it'll still hold the water. Works rather well.

[SWaquariast]

how do you put pics beside your acount name or pics under messages

[Untamed12]

TRIGGER IN A VASE

I don't know if this works as well for other fish, but it will work for Triggerfish.

A trigger's instinct is to lock himself into a hole when threatened.

Provide a nice attractive, dark hole by sinking a small ceramic vase to sleep in. Wait for the trigger to adopt this as a sleeping spot. If you have to, alter their existing sleeping spot so they seek a new one. They will adopt the vase, and as soon as lights go out, take a small lid...cover the opening and lift the vase out.

I had one today actually remain "locked" in the vase even when the vase was inverted and drained. Absolutely refused to leave.

[baloutang]

Ok, I've been trying to catch my most aggressive fish (damsel) that has literally cost me at least a hundred dollars in livestock (I didn't realize he was killing all my new additions until too late).
I tried the inverted fish trap, didn't work. Damsels are smart and fast. I also tried the fish hook with no luck.

What worked was the idea from Atlantis. Tonight, after months of struggling to catch this fish after all the lights were off for at least 3 hours (room was dark). I flipped on my MH lights, waited a few mins and my sailfin was the first to crawl out of his house. After about 5 mins. I saw my prey and within less than 30 seconds I had netted the little guy. You could tell he realize he was caught a little too late and was ****ed.
It is true, the fish are stunned and very slow to respond with this method and they do move out of hiding.
This was definitely a sure fire method and I wish I would have tried it earlier.
My wife toasted me with a glass of champagne for being victorious, but in reality now I can sleep better at night knowing there's not a bully in the tank.

[pammy]

I was having a heck of a time trying to catch a Coral Beauty in my tank. Tried different methods over a two month period. Bought the following "Fish Corral" and caught him in 2 minutes yesterday!!
Fish Corral

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by SWaquariast
how do you put pics beside your acount name or pics under messages

the pic beside your name is an avitar---go into the options in my rc and there is a spot to upload or use one of the existing ones available from RC

adding pics to your posts
join www.photobucket.com and create an album---its free
upload your pics from your computer to your album--you will see the upload buttons at the site
under each pic will be 4 codes--select the last one--the "img" code and it will flash copied very quickly
return to your post and click paste from your mouse or browser
the code will be translated to a pic when you submit the post

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by coffeenut
im trying to catch a black damsel in a 300 gal sps tank.. he wont go in the fish trap, only sit out side it, and catch the particles of food.. he is so smart, and mean.. any thoughts? I have a fish trap.. i have sat for hours, waiting, but never will he go in..

I still contemplating on using it--but somewhere I read on here of using a small shop vac to catch a damsel

[Mac Inger]

[b_vanfossen]

great thread...

anyone have a good suggestion on how to catch shy camel shrimp?

I have tried netting, and the horizontal glass jar/plastic bottle with no luck...

thanks

[gasman059]

And for those impossible critters to get out there's always the mini version of a hawaiian sling. Cruel but functional.

[spawn1]

so how do u get anomemes off of rocks safely?