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View Full Version : temp, corals, and a bad fish...


Brent RH
01/01/2009, 03:30 PM
Back in October I bagged all my fish but one, and on into another tank. The remaining bad boy is a pesky royal gramma. He has killed other fish(removing their fins over time), killed all my shrimp as I should have expected. To the point here...I have not put a spec of food in the tank since 10-30-08. I expected him to be long gone by this point. Is it just living on pods from my fuge? There is no way I am draining out half the tank and removing rocks and corals. I'm sure this sounds like a sob story to those who have tanks much larger than mine but I feel like I have worked too hard to get were I am. So my question is can I just shut off the heater and let the water drop to the low 70s to high 60s? This should certainly do the trick right? would this hurt the corals? I am only looking for suggestions that leave the tank fully in tact. I've tried traps, tiny hooks, leaving the net in the tank... this one is smart and very cautious!

MalHavoc
01/01/2009, 03:56 PM
Messing with your tank's chemistry, including temperature, will definitely affect corals. Have you tried herding him into a large container, like an ice cream bucket? You may have no choice but to remove rock, unfortunately.

viodea
01/01/2009, 05:14 PM
can you use a fish trap if you want to get rid of the fish?

nikon187
01/01/2009, 06:44 PM
pretty sure you are going to have to pull the rock to get him if you cant trap him. no you can't drop the temp, it will kill other things as well.

Brent RH
01/01/2009, 08:40 PM
Alright guys thanks for the tips. He won't go into traps. Any one heard of how long a fish can live in a smaller tank like mine with out eating human given food?

Brent RH
01/01/2009, 08:42 PM
This can't go on for that much longer right!!!???

otrlynn
01/01/2009, 08:51 PM
One more trick is to clear one front corner of sand and siphon or pump the water out of the tank into Brute trash can. The fish will head to the deepest water in the tank, which should be that front corner. It helps to have a partner to help with this, because you will want to get that water back in the tank ASAP after you bag the fish. The coral can be out of water for a few minutes.

loyalrogue
01/01/2009, 08:56 PM
One method is to scoop out a depression in the sand and then use a powerhead or a siphon to pump your water out to a container (rubbermaid tubs or garbage cans).
When the water is low enough he should make his way to the depression puddle and be easier to catch.
You won't have to destroy your rockwork and the corals will be just fine out of water for the 15-30 minutes it takes to drain, catch, and refill.


*edit* lol. Too slow on typing again. otrlynn beat me to it.

Brent RH
01/01/2009, 08:58 PM
kind of sounds like you're talking about draining the tank and refilling it. I'm thinking this could take a good period of time. My bed is about 2" deep

otrlynn
01/01/2009, 08:58 PM
Great minds think alike!

Brent RH
01/01/2009, 08:59 PM
really they can be left for drying for 30 min

Brent RH
01/01/2009, 09:02 PM
not to say your plan would not work but what if he decides to hide in the rock work, or are you talking about basicly taking out all the water?

loyalrogue
01/01/2009, 09:10 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14059317#post14059317 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Brent RH
really they can be left for drying for 30 min
At low tide, some reefs bake in the sun for a lot longer than 30 minutes.

http://www.agoodhost.com/reefcentral/reeflowtide.jpg


You've only got a 46gal, right?
Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to drain even with just a siphon hose.
Yeah there's always a chance the little bugger could get holed-up in the rocks, but I'd definitely try this first before doing something drastic like removing the rockwork.

Brent RH
01/01/2009, 09:13 PM
how long could this last with out a intervention? He can't live forever

Brent RH
01/01/2009, 09:20 PM
sorry to jump the gun there. So It would be uncommon to loose anything in this situation if I have the water in and out in a half hour? How about water quality? I will have really disturbed the substrate.

Brent RH
01/01/2009, 09:21 PM
(The substrate) just from taking water put and then back in