How to catch yellow wrasse that only jumps out of sand and right back in

[Ryand63]

So I bought a yellow coris wrasse 3 weeks ago and 5 minutes in the tank and it was in the sand. Has come out twice for one minute a piece so I think I'm going to sell him back to my lfs. Any suggestions on how to catch this guy?

[tony11387]

I have no suggestions on how to catch him, but I do suggest that you give it a little more time. When I first introduced my Melanurus Wrasse into the system, he remained burried for 4 days. Now, he is an active swimmer and quite frankly my favorite of the fish I care for.

Also, if you keep trying to catch it, it will stress out and stay burried even longer. Just walk away from your tank for a couple of days (minus the feeding of course) and I'm sure you'll be enjoying your new wrasse in the end.

[rps3]

I would put a cup over it while its in the sand and then try to slide something under it so trap it. But give it sometime to acclimate before jumping the gun.

[dannyp02908]

agree with giving it time. My first wrasse i didnt see for a couple weeks. Then i noticed he would be out in the AM before the lights. As long as i stayed away from the tank, he would swim. After a while, he never hid and swam everywhere. I gave him away when he got too big. i now have a yellow coris and he only took 3 days before he was the life of the party. Easily my favorite fish in the tank (For comparison, i have a kole tank, yellow tang, pair of black occelaris, pair of true percs, bangaii, zebra damsel in addition to my wrasse).

[Ryand63]

don't you guys think 3 weeks is enough time for him to get acclimated?

[tony11387]

Have you been trying to catch him already because that could be delaying his acclimation? Also, what tankmates does it have? Bullying could be the cause of its behavior.

If you don't mind me asking, what harm would it do to just leave it in the DT?

[Ryand63]

It's a 29 gallon with a clown, and bangaii cardinal. The only reason I want him out is bc I'm limited to how many fish I can have and I don't want to keep a fish in affecting the biology that only comes out once every other week

[tony11387]

It's a 29 gallon with a clown, and bangaii cardinal. The only reason I want him out is bc I'm limited to how many fish I can have and I don't want to keep a fish in affecting the biology that only comes out once every other week

Oooooohhh. Gotcha.:thumbsup:

Here's a fish catching trick that might work. Drain the water into a receptacle until the water level in the DT is at about 2". This should make it easier to catch the fish. When you're done, just replace the water back into the system. HTH.

[jinks]

If all else fails you can always bend the barb down on a very small hook and go fishing. Hard to do if you have other active feeders and not the best option but it can work in a pinch.

[betamed]

A healthy yellow wrasse will be out and about all day long. It is very normal for them to take cover for a couple days after entering a tank and in fact he may be comming out more than you realize. If you leave him alone he will come out assuming he is healthy. stress him and he'll prolly die.