How to Catch a Damselfish?

[BassMekanik]

So when I set my tank up almost a year ago I made the rookie mistake of cycling with Damselfish. I was given 5 to start with and now have 2 left (one Domino and one Striped). In this time my tank has evolved quite a bit with the addition of more liverock, more fish and coral. Up until now the 2 Damsels have been OK with newcomers. They would usually harass them for a few hours and then leave them be. All of the fish currently in the tank get along quite well and have formed quite a tight-nit community.

About 10 days ago I tried to add a Yellow Tang to the group. That didn't work out so well. The 2 Damsels were immediately on it, harassing and nipping at it until it would hide in a tight spot in one of the rocks. This went on for a week until the Tang died.

I've come to the conclusion that I can't add anymore fish until I get rid of these guys. The question is: How the hell do I do that? I've tried everything I can think of including:

- Making a fish trap out of a 1-litre bottle. I caught every fish in the tank but the Damsels....
- Sitting a net on the top of the tank for a few days to get them used to seeing it, then luring them up with food and trying to scoop them out when they eat. They're too fast for that....
- Using a Sabiki rig (for catching baitfish) and LITERALLY going fishing in my own tank. They just snatch the food off of the hook and swim away....
- Flat out chasing them around the tank with a net. Again, they're too fast and I don't want to level the place for these 2 fish....

I even thought about pulling everything out of the tank and the snatching them out, but after I calmed down I decided against this as I don't want to have to start over because of these 2 fish.

So with all of that being said, does anyone here have any recommendations for catching these guys?


And BTW.....Once I do get my hands on them (IF I get my hands on them) I will be returning them to the LFS where they came from. No fish will be harmed in the removal of these fish. ;)

[randomfishguy85]

i would just bite the bullet and remove everything.

[Tat2demon]

I'm with Random. I know it sucks to tear down a tank but sometimes you need to go to extremes and this sounds like one of those times. If you want your tank to to continue growing you've gotta get those little bastards out.
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[pinnatus]

1 stick of dynamite. When they float to the top, scoop em up.

Thats how we fish here in Louisiana.

[insomniac2k2]

I had to stress out the damsel so much that it finally just gave up. I know its wrong, but after all my effort that I put in to try to do it nicely, I could have cared less if the damn thing dropped dead.

And yes, both of mine lived after a nice stressing day. As they always do...

Report me to the PITA police!

[J2T]

Yeah, I don't think its going to be easy sorry to say. When I made the upgrade to my 75g from a 30g the damsels did not make the trip, they went to the LFS. In fact the guy I got most of my rock from had to tear down a 200g tank to catch just one destructive damsel that killed everything he put in that tank.

[snorvich]

Surefire way to catch fish is to drain the tank, saving the water in brute cannisters until the water level is about one inch. Easy to catch them then.

[seapug]

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/spearguns/pics/4d38.jpg
short of one of these, you're likely going to need to drain the tank. I had an evil damsel in my 90 gallon for 5 years that I finally was able to remove when I upgraded last fall. As punishment for all the times he bit me an harassed other fish over the years, he now lives in fish only tank at a doctors office.

[BassMekanik]

I think maybe before I tear my tank down I'm going to build one of these (http://www.saltwatereddies.com/content-product_info/product_id-2355/precision_marine_fish_trap.html). I do alot of custom fabrication for car audio so it shouldn't be too hard.

Then, if that doesn't work, I'll take more drastic measures. I just really hate to tear apart my setup I've worked so hard to build for these 2 stupid fish. :mad2:

[snorvich]

I have used controllable fish traps with much success but some fish are really good at avoiding. As mentioned above, slurp guns work too!

[rjcranor]

Might put a divider in then move other rock to other side so you can catch them

[BassMekanik]

I thought of another tactic today. I'm going to put a piece of mirrored plexiglass on the outside of the tank, and hopefully while he's busy trying to attack himself, I can scoop him out with the net.

[Indymann99]

rent a Lionfish from your LFS... :uzi:

[zwalk1839]

I tried like hell to catch an undulated trigger for 4hrs with one of those acrylic traps with no dice. ended up tearing the reef insert out and scratching the **** out of the acrylic tank! **** buffed out but i learned my lesson 2 people with 2 nets hasnt failed me yet. damsels suck lionfish would be fun too watch though

[Six line]

I tore down my tank to get rid of an angel which, while supposedly only a coral nipper, went so far as to be an obligate corallivore. It ate nothing but coral up to the week that I took everything out and scooped it up in a net.

Try setting up a bright light before the lights go on while its dark that attracts the fish and scoop it up from an angle where it can't see your body. I suppose you could try the old rod & reel before giving in.

[ConnorG]

I ended up using a HUGE net and cornered mine! He went back to the store after he was nipping my poor Picasso:(