Catching an uncatchable fish
 

Nuff said. It can be a problem.
1. find out where they sleep and net them in the dark.
2. a liter wine carafe makes an excellent fish trap if the fish is eating well. Set it slightly tilted with its lip on the rockwork, and hope the fish will go in after the treat. Have your net ready. Fish don't navigate 'out' well because of the narrow neck.
Let me add, however, the thin glass display dome from our Anniversary Clock is nearly invisible under water and is one of the best fish-catching devices for somewhat larger fishes I have ever found.
3. feed in the net---closer and closer to the glass.
4. last-ditch: de-water your tank fast. TURN OFF YOUR AUTOTOPOFF AND PUMP. Dig a fist-sized depression in your sand in one corner, and pump the water out of the tank very rapidly into a garbage can liner'ed container, or a Rubbermaid Brute trashcan [wipe a new one down with white vinegar]. Fish will gather in the low spot. Take your pick. Caution: also keep a head count going, because a few species that burrow may stay too long in the rockwork---be sure you know where all your fish are. This procedure will not hurt corals, or inverts, or even sponges, which are ok so long as they stay wet, even if they are in air. Just don't let this go on long enough for them to dry. Nab your fish and dump him into the hospital, and immediately devote yourself to pumping water back into the tank---helping it along with a pitcher is not a bad notion. Turn ON your pump and autotopoff.

Catching them in the dark or while they are feeding are the two easiest ways to catch difficult to catch fish.

Thanks for some of the heads up!

How about a jar where you make a plastic disc for a lid... tie a thread to the disc, then put the lid on the inside of the jar so you can pull the string and close it. Now set it under water with food in it, so the lid is setting on the bottom of the jar. When fish is inside, pull the string, and not only does the lid close, but you can pull the whole jar up too.

I resorted to fishing to catch a very aggressive clarkii clown. Got the smallest hook I could find. Bent the barb down. Baited with krill and she hooked on in about 2 seconds. I felt bad about it but all was well. Traded her at the lfs. This was after months of trying every method I could

I use this trap and it works great. Its the Aqua Medic Fish trap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbJjJPEaWXo

I used this trap today and I had my fish within 5 min of baiting it. I put the the trap in tank 24 hrs previously to allow fish to get comfortable with it. Glad I bought this!

I have one also. Works great. All other home made ones failed.

woow!! i used this kind of fishtrap... it works really well....happr reefing guys.....hahaha

The photos online don't show the magnets in the video. Did you add the magnets or do they come with it?

cheers

W.

What would you guys recommend for a very shy fish, specifically a firefish. I can't get anywhere near him when the lights are on, he sleeps inside the rocks when they are off, and is completely afraid of everything I place in the tank...aka traps. Any thoughts? I just lost a powder blue due to ich, and I want to pull this guy "only other fish" and run the DT fallow to eliminate the Ich.

edit: I should have stated the DT is 180g.

Thoughts?

Use your own aglae magnets to hold it in place

Fly hook and fishes favorite food have always worked for me.. ;)

:)Thanks all will give that a try

where can I get one of this fishtraps???

Bought mine from Premium Aquatics

For a tiny fish I saw a guy put a hose near the fish's favorite spot, and with fast suction he siphoned him right out. Didn't even have to stand near the tank.

well after trying to capture my sixline wrasse for a week with the home made plastic bottle trick (with no success), i finally purchased one of these aqua medic traps (arrives monday). question, how long did you guys wait with the food in the trap holding the line before you gave up and tried the next day??

Not looking forward to standing there looking at the tank for an hour waiting and waiting. My sixline (flash) is very very quick and sneaky.

- james

The way I caught my coral nipping flame angel was to use a tank divider. I split the rockwork in the easiest place I could, set up the divider and only had to ruin about 1/3 of my tank. Overall, it was easier to catch this way than I thought it would be. If I would have been smarter or more patient I would have tried trapping it first, though.

i know this is a little old thread but found this video of the trap working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMlMF...eature=related

I have waited until after dark (so the sun isn't shining through the window) kill all the lights in the room and getting a really bright flash light and having my net handy. Kill the tank lights and use the flashlight to shine into the tank and once you have the light on the offending fish it usually will freeze or at least can not see the net coming. Ive used it to catch many different fish.

I have used the inverted cola bottle trick successfully 3 times... its a waiting game though. i would imagine the trap with the large mouth and the door would work very well. i almost instantly get the fish to go into the first part of the soda bottle, it takes much longer for them to go through the hole. if i could have just dropped a door on it, it would be easy. especially because i believe the acrylic box is basically invisible to the fish.

if the fish is in the rocks, how does shining a flashlight help?

Well, it wont. LOL I guess I have just gotten lucky and have caught mine out in the open. As long as all my lights are on my fish do not think it is "bed time" yet and are all usually out in the open. As soon as the "daylights" kick off they start getting ready for bed and will usually head into the rocks.

I felt the pain of trying to catch a fish in a 400g tank. I had to take out all my rocks and was hectic.

I was able to use a fish trap with a rotating door. My goal was to catch a sixline wrasse and was successful. Instead of food in the trap, I placed a mirror in there. 24 hours later he was trapped. :D