Removing unwanted fish TOTW 1/10/05

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Have you ever had a fish that began to be a bully, grew too large, or started liking the taste of your prized coral? How do you remove the misbehaving fish without tearing your reef apart?

There are some options but none of them are 100% effective for each situation.
A fish trap often works with a little food in it. Tip1: Mount a small round mirror in the end of it and sometimes and aggressive fish will not be able to resist going in and fighting the reflection.

Purchase a yard or 2 of bridal veil from a fabric shop. Place it down the inside of the front glass and up the front of the rockwork forming a large U. Tie 2-3 fishing lines or strong strings along each edge. Feed the fish normally for a day or two. The fish will come right into the bridal veil/net. Once they are in the net draw the strings up and together (this may take 2 people depending on how large your tank is). Then use a regular net and remove the fish you want.

A baited #16 hook with the barb removed also works. (I know I've done it )There are a couple of drawbacks to this method:
You have to be quick to pull the hook up when the wrong fish tries to bite.
Be careful the fish doesn't splash your lights too much (halides & PC's can burst).

Wait until about 1 hour after the lights are off and you may be able to catch him sleeping.

TIP2: It's much easier to catch fish using 2 nets. Hold one stationary and spook the fish into it with the other net.

TIP3: Black colored nets work best (I catch fish for a living )

Regards,
Kevin

PS: Please share any tips or successful extractions

[Reefland]

This is an excellent topic Kevin.

I don't think it can really be called a tip, nor is it the method that is the easiest but...

For smaller tanks, sometimes it's best to take a day, remove everything from the tank and capture the pesky critter. For larger tanks, this isn's an option as it would take a week.

You can use acrylic sheets to section off the tank a bit (like a corner of a tank) to make the section that you have to catch the fish in much smaller. Place a piece of acrylic parallel to the front of the tank but as far away from the front gpane as possible. Have another piece ready that you can use to place perpendicular to the front but large enough that it blacks the entire section off. As you watch, when the fish gets in between the front pane and the parallel piece, put the other piece perpendicular to them blocking the fish in this section so he can't hide in the rocks.

[Poseidon]

WOW those are all GREAT tips! I use the REMOVE EVERYTHING get the fish out put everything back 3 hour long method... I will certainly be trying these next time though.

[zhenya]

A baited #16 hook with the barb removed also works. (I know I've done it )

I like that tip,Kevin, I was tempted to try it on my Clarkii clownfish several times but decided against it and let her have the tank for now.

[Samper]

My buddy that setup the 150 gallon has against my will put 4 damsels in it. Now he is regretting his decision after educating himself a little better and wants them out. I thought it would be impossible to catch them without taking out the live rock until I read the bridal veil idea. Thanks a lot for sharing that with me.

[ereefic]

I netted a pesky clown while it was sleeping in an anemone one night. This was after spending several hours trying to catch him with lights on.