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View Full Version : Trouble catching Royal Gramma


BigGimp77
03/27/2011, 08:40 PM
I'm using an old pop bottle as a trap and using some frozen Mysis/krill as the bait.

In 3 days, all I've managed to catch are some Nassarius snails :mad2:

If I keep the trap baited long enough, will he eventually go in? He has to get hungry at some point, right?


Any one have any other suggestions other then tearing the tank apart? He's a complete wuss and darts behind the rocks as soon as I go up to the tank.

duncantse
03/27/2011, 08:51 PM
Here's a good link: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1991474

BigGimp77
03/27/2011, 09:07 PM
Ty for the link.

Trying to catch him with the lights out would mean I'd have to take apart the rock work to find him.

I tried feeding him with the net in the tank but he won't even come out.

How long can this guy go without eating? Hopefully I can wait him out till his hunger gets the best of him.

mktang
03/28/2011, 11:51 AM
have you gone without feeding him for 2-3 days and then tried the trap?

Chris27
03/28/2011, 12:37 PM
Does it have a cave of sorts that it calls home? If so, see if you can quickly grab the rock, turn it up, and pull it right out of the tank and into a waiting bucket of SW. Little scared fish are very difficult to catch, much smarter then larger fish. Perhaps it's because they are so small, they need brains to survive the reef, not muscle.

aleonn
03/28/2011, 02:27 PM
Once you know which rock he lives in, it's a matter of isolating that rock and pulling it out before he jumps. Easier said than done, though, especially if you have lots of overlying and surrounding rock work.

BigGimp77
03/28/2011, 03:51 PM
I have an idea of which rock it is. Unfortunately it is a rock on that is in the back and has about 2-3 other rocks that it holds up. Plus it is buried about 2-3 inches in the sand.

I've been watching him all day. He's hangs out 2-3 inches by the trap ALL freaking day. Just will not go in. Really frustrating if I do say so myself.


He has one week to cooperate. After that I'm digging his *** out.

mktang
03/28/2011, 06:35 PM
catching fish in a DT can be very frustrating.... some people use hooks.

BigGimp77
03/28/2011, 06:58 PM
catching fish in a DT can be very frustrating.... some people use hooks.

Oh wow. That seems a little cruel:fun2:

I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm gonna go 3-4 days without feeding him then reset a trap. See if that works. If not... Sat night when the lights go out... WE GON FISH HUNTIN :uzi:

cloak
03/29/2011, 11:09 AM
I'm not sure how big your tank is, but I had great success removing two damsels from my 20 gallon reef by draining all but an inch of water from the tank. It was a piece of cake actually. This may not be feasible if you have a larger tank, but if you have a lot of 5 gallon buckets laying around or even some large icechests you might want to give it a try.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/sp/index.php

duncantse
03/29/2011, 11:22 AM
Here's another method.

Get one of those large ziplock bags from the grocery store.
Put a piece of Liverock in the bag and place it in your tank.
Leave the zipper part half open
Put some food into the bag
Let the fish get used to the bag
Don't feed the fish
When the fish goes in the bag to try to get the food,quickly close the bag
Lift bag out
Done!!

BigGimp77
03/29/2011, 11:37 AM
I'm not sure how big your tank is, but I had great success removing two damsels from my 20 gallon reef by draining all but an inch of water from the tank. It was a piece of cake actually. This may not be feasible if you have a larger tank, but if you have a lot of 5 gallon buckets laying around or even some large icechests you might want to give it a try.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/sp/index.php

It's a 120g Reef tank. If I could, I would. Unfortunatley I have no where to store that much water lol.

The zip lock bag trick seems pretty similar to the 2L bottle trap. If the bottle trap fails again, I'll try the ziplock bag route.

I'm hoping by Thursday he is good and hungry. Then his stomach might over power his brain lol.

Thanks for the tips thus far.

BigGimp77
03/31/2011, 06:28 PM
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/2986/20110331201329742.jpg

HE IS MOCKING ME :furious::furious::furious:

He hasn't eaten since Monday. I put the trap in at 6:30 and he's been swimming right next to it ever since. HE HAS TO BE STARVING. HIS FAVORITE KRILL AND MYSIS ARE IN THE BOTTLE. GO INTO THE BOTTLE AND EAT :fun2::fun2::fun2::fun2:

kevin21
03/31/2011, 06:53 PM
Good Luck man, seems like its going to work. Might I ask why your trying to catch it? I was thinking about getting one for my nano and dont want to make a mistake!

BigGimp77
03/31/2011, 07:05 PM
Good Luck man, seems like its going to work. Might I ask why your trying to catch it? I was thinking about getting one for my nano and dont want to make a mistake!

Want to put him in qt. I wanna get the dt ank ich free before buying new fish. Its a really pretty fish, but rarely comes out unless your completely still in front of the tank.