Get Out of My Tank!

[cward]

Your article in this months RK magazine was very enjoyable to read.

[Steven Pro]

I am glad you enjoyed it, Chris.

[CaptainDave]

yup, it was hilarious, Steven. thanks for all the useful tips, too.

I had a particularly skittish and fast yellow tang that I finally corralled by placing a barrier (eggcrate) in the tank, placing his algae clip inside this barrier for about a week, then swinging the wall shut on him and trapping him in a corner.

[Steven Pro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7509829#post7509829 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CaptainDave
yup, it was hilarious, Steven. I am glad you enjoyed it. I hoped people would find the ending amusing, but not over the top.

[Steven Pro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7509829#post7509829 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CaptainDave
I had a particularly skittish and fast yellow tang that I finally corralled by placing a barrier (eggcrate) in the tank, placing his algae clip inside this barrier for about a week, then swinging the wall shut on him and trapping him in a corner. That is a pretty good tip, too!

[Lenny C]

Good fun article and solid ending! I'm just a little confused on the soda bottle trap. Do you have any pics or diagrahams of it?

[Steven Pro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7513543#post7513543 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lenny C
Good fun article and solid ending! I'm just a little confused on the soda bottle trap. Do you have any pics or diagrahams of it? I meant to cut a bottle and take pictures of it, but simply ran out of time. But, I did track down a website with a diagram and pictures here,
http://www.floridadriftwood.com/fish_trap.htm

[Ladipyg]

I LOVED your article...I found a Sabiki rig with the barbs of the little hooks crimped and a small piece of squid (very tough for fish to remove) threaded onto the hooks worked great to get an aggressive lunare wrasse out of my tank. Sabiki rigs can be found at the saltwater section of Bass Pro or Cabela's or any fish tackle store with a saltwater section. The very small hooks of the rig make is unlikely that the fish will be injured. I use these rigs to catch baitfish off of Pier 60 in Clearwater Florida...I have also caught Lookdowns, triggers, puffers, cowfish, wrasses, grunts, pigfish, parrotfish, squirrel fish and numerous other small fish that I would have loved in a large aquarium. Some can be kept with a permit or license and others are not allowed. Enjoyable either way.

[andrew_kin]

Love the article. Spices up the fish-catching process!

[rxinc]

Great article Steven, one "long term" methd I've been doing is when feeding my fish with dry food I put it in a fish net, then submerge it under the water, over time they will learn to go into the net to get the food, and then when you need/want one, you got it.

[ikatobiko]

Great article, especially the joke at the end that mentions the Flight of the Valkyres!!!

I have a Harwicke Wrasse tht I can't catch. I used a home-made fish trap and was successful at catching every fish in my tank, except for the stupid (or smart?) wrasse. He will not go near the trap.

I do not think the "night time" methid would work since he sleeps buried deep inside the rock-work. Nor would the draining method work since I have arather large tank sith lots of rock.

I am tempted to try the "fishing" method. But how do you keep other fish from going for the bait? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[Steven Pro]

Larger, aggressive feeding wrasses are one of my favorite targets for the hook & line method. They are generally first to get to the bait as they are fast and have a good mouth for hookig as well as unhooking.

[ikatobiko]

Hi Steve!

Thank you for the reply!

Is a size 6 hook too big?


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7574817#post7574817 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Steven Pro
Larger, aggressive feeding wrasses are one of my favorite targets for the hook & line method. They are generally first to get to the bait as they are fast and have a good mouth for hookig as well as unhooking.

[Steven Pro]

I don't know size numbers. I just buy whatever looks right to me at the store.

[Sparkss]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7566187#post7566187 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ikatobiko
Great article, especially the joke at the end that mentions the Flight of the Valkyres!!!

I have a Harwicke Wrasse tht I can't catch. I used a home-made fish trap and was successful at catching every fish in my tank, except for the stupid (or smart?) wrasse. He will not go near the trap.

I do not think the "night time" methid would work since he sleeps buried deep inside the rock-work. Nor would the draining method work since I have arather large tank sith lots of rock.

I am tempted to try the "fishing" method. But how do you keep other fish from going for the bait? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

When you tried to catch the fish with the trap, did you skip a couple of feedings leading up to it ? I found that the ones that normally won't go near the traps will go into just about anything when they are hungry. I am not advocating starving your fish, but skipping a meal or two then putting the "target" fishes favorite food into the trap has always worked for us.

Or at the very least, try it first thing in the morning, before their morning feeding. Most fish are hungry from the night before and will be trapped a bit easier (at least in our experiences).

Best of luck you ya :)

[Sparkss]

I found the links I was looking for. Here is the trap design that we found worked the best for us, catching just about every fish and shrimp in our tank :

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6200425#post6200425

We made our own and it worked very well for us. Again, best of luck to ya :)

[ikatobiko]

Holy CRAP! :eek1: :eek1: :eek1: That trap is ingenious....since I have lots of scrap acrylic, I gotta build one. It looks like it woul work really well and you can build iit as small or as large as you like!

I'll post my results after I build and use this trap!
Thanks a bunh for the link!


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7582879#post7582879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sparkss
I found the links I was looking for. Here is the trap design that we found worked the best for us, catching just about every fish and shrimp in our tank :

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6200425#post6200425

We made our own and it worked very well for us. Again, best of luck to ya :)

[Ladipyg]

Don't leave the trap clear...that's what spooks them, running into something they can't see...partially bury the trap with some rocks...or spray paint it in a hit or miss manner, the wrasse will think he's getting something out of the rock work..and feel right at home

[bjgarst]

I'm not sure it will apply to my engineering goby, who has overstayed his welcome. I think its going to take the barrell and the removal of the rock. He's moved them enough, its my turn!

[Steven Pro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7723900#post7723900 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bjgarst
I'm not sure it will apply to my engineering goby, who has overstayed his welcome. I think its going to take the barrell and the removal of the rock. He's moved them enough, its my turn! I would try a baited trap near its burrow first.