Advice on catching a Purple Pseudochromis/Dottyback

[jfgoldfire]

...or any fish for that matter, in a tank with LR and some soft corals on the LR. The Purple Dottyback (1.5") has started nipping at a small Coral Goby (3/4"). I prefer to keep the Coral Goby, which means I'm trying to catch the Purple DB.

So generally speaking, once you realize you may have bought the wrong fish for your tank, and you want to get him out, and he's not that easy to catch, do you sometimes have to pull out some of the LR, and transfer it to another heated bucket/tank, even if it has some small softies on it?

(Lucky for him I created numerous hiding places in the rock for everyone.)

Or do you try to put a fish trap in there with some kind of irresistible food for him? What would be irresistible to a DB?

I can't immagine trying to do this in a 90g tank that's been up and running for 2 years, and in pristine condition.

BTW, if I catch him, he'll be "available" at the FRAG meeting next Saturday. I'll trade him for a "non-nipping" coral frag.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[EvilE]

Those pseudos can be quite aggressive little fellas, but they sure are nice looking, and fun to watch! I have one and love the little guy! He nips at my firefish once in a while, but my cinnamon clown, YT damsel, bicolor blenny, and YW goby all hold their own against him. It's kinda a semi-aggressive tank overall--theyre all tough. Anyway, my suggestion would be to have someone help you, both of you have small nets, and work together to scare him into the other net. You may have to move a piece or two of LR where he hides and scare him into your helpers net. That is the best way to do it without tearing your whole tank apart.

[EvilE]

actually, one of you maybe should have a medium sized net, come to think of it, that would better your chances of catching him.

[Kentanner11]

what evilE said works or you can take out some of the water making less room for him to hide

[ASU-Reefing]

I had a goby that was dropping sand on everything and i finally got sick of it so the time came to get him out, after moving all the rock around and trying to get him with a net i soon gave up and tried a less destructive method to the tank. A fish hook and some line! i went to sportsmans warehouse and got the smallest hook i could find something like a size 26? i think i de barbed it cause i didn't want to hurt the fish, then i went fishing i baited the hook with some scallop and with in 10 or 20 seconds i was goby free! fish was fine the hook came right out with no problem.

[EvilE]

Originally posted by ASU-Reefing
I had a goby that was dropping sand on everything and i finally got sick of it so the time came to get him out, after moving all the rock around and trying to get him with a net i soon gave up and tried a less destructive method to the tank. A fish hook and some line! i went to sportsmans warehouse and got the smallest hook i could find something like a size 26? i think i de barbed it cause i didn't want to hurt the fish, then i went fishing i baited the hook with some scallop and with in 10 or 20 seconds i was goby free! fish was fine the hook came right out with no problem.

[Kentanner11]

I have heard of that before, eek. that is up there with putting a fish "to sleep" by blender.

You can check out www.melevsreef.com for ideas on a fish trap.

[Helfrichs Chic]

^ fishing line and fine hook usually work perfectly. Actually less stressfull and does less body harm than nets IMO, its all over within seconds. You want to make sure you DO cut off the barb tho.

Never done it personally but saw a buddy catch a 5 inch terror gramma this way. Just gotta keep the other fish away, thats the tough part. Would I try it, maybe, I would be worried about the fish swallowing the hook.

Another method I have used, is getting a large sheet of acrylic, feed in the top corner of the tank for a few days, the fish will get used to it. After a few days position yourself with the acrylic in the same corner and start feeding, slowly lower down the acrylic sheet in the corner making a corrall. You still have to reach in or use a net but this way they cant get back to the rocks. Are you on the WS? I have been called the fish whisperer lol so let me know if you want some help. I caught JPs mandarin and about 20 other fish from fellow reefers tanks.

[bajabum]

I move my priceless fish with hook and line when they need moving. I also use 1 gallon and 3 gallon ziplocks. Get them to open up in the tank where the fish likes to hang out. Wait for the opertune time to chase into hiding place (bag), flip edge close, remove excess water. I will leave the bag in the tank for days sometimes so they become comforatble with hidding in it.
Hook and line sometimes needs a 5 gallon bucket with tank water to put the extras in and a pair of surgical clamps to grab shank of hook. I use a wet hand to hold them for hook removal. By far the least stressful of all methods.