How do you trap a damsel fish?

[EmergencyDpt]

Hi,
I have two damsel fish that I bought on the advise of someone. They are pretty but I want to get a pipefish or mandarin gobie now that my tank is more established. Any ideas on how to get them out? I haven't even tried to net them.
Thanks for reading this post.

[EmergencyDpt]

PS. they are evil.

[bixo]

Argg, doesn't that just stink. Can try a fish trap, many available, you can chase em around hopelessly or you can throw in a big grouper/lion.

I sank a large plastic bag with mouth open facing a large cubbyhole I knew they liked and sorta shoed em in. Nothing is easy though.

If they are anything like wild fish, they will use the same escape pattern repetively and you can get em with some patience.

Good luck

I lay odds on a grouper though

[EmergencyDpt]

LOL,
thanks. I was thinking maybe a small speargun fashoned from a needle and a rubberband. JK.
I think throwing a grouper in would be like the old lady who swollowed a fly... Ha ha.

[Mr_Quality]

I made a fish trap from a plastic Schweppes tonic water bottle. Schweppes works well because it has an extra large screw-cap opening – about damsel sized (lol).


cut the top off , about 2 1/2" from the opening

turn the top around so the top now points into the bottle

secure the reversed top to the bottle w/ tie raps

melt a bunch of small holes into the body of the bottle so water (and bate odors) can get in and out of the bottle

put a cube of frozen brine shrimp into the bottle

lay it on the bottom of the tank and wait

I caught 3 of the buggers that way. The time needed for each fish ranged from a minute to 30 minutes, depending on how cautious the fish.

[Ljam]

Have fun

[EmergencyDpt]

yea, that's a good idea. I cna mix gin with the schwepps first. Thanks

[Large Polyp Dave]

i had a bunch of damsels in my tank
i tried EVERYTHING to get them out. fish traps. luring them with food. they were even used to me feeding by hand, but they're pretty fast and are darn near impossible to catch

so i ended up going to a bait/tackle store. bought a really small fish hook for 15 cents. put some grouped on the end of the line. caught all 3 damsels in a minute flat

[hopper316]

did the same, small fish hook #20 I didn't even have to put anything on it just dropped it in and he took it.

kinda fun fishing for damsels....:P

ps i did bend over the barb and released him into my 10 gal and he's doing fine.

[barlav]

Try catching them at night after the lights have been out for a few hours. They might become disoriented for a few minutes when going in for the catch.

[jeffbrig]

Surefire way for removing damsels:

Step 1: Remove live rock
Step 2: Drain all of the water
Step 3: Remove damsels

They're pretty easy to catch at this point, flapping around on the bottom of the tank....

[sradmin]

The easisest way to get them out is to acclimate them to whatever device your going to use to trap them. It may take a while, but like everything else in this hobby it is best not to rush things.

Example: Hang a net in the tank for a week and feed the fish by putting the food in the net. Soon enough the damsels will swim into the net w/out a care in the world to get the food. Easy peasy after that.

[ToonPack]

I guess the moral of the story is don't get damsels.

I was gonna put three yellowtails in as my next addition (in about 6 weeks), think I'll re-consider

[mwm6]

I got two evil damsels out of a fully stocked 180 by using the night-time method.

I woke up an hour before sunrise, using a flashlight directed at fish, gently catching them in a net. The light completely stuns them.

It works!!!!!

[rooroo]

When I worked in a fish store, we had longish pieces of PVC pipe in there as hiding and decorations. The damsels will go in there since is seams like a super good place to hide. If you set it on the bottom, put one ends against the side of the tank and leave the other end open. Then go after them with a net until they swim in there. Cover the open end with the net (or your hand) and slide the PVC tube up the tank, keeping the other end against the glass. Then when you get a few inches away from the surface, quickly tilt the end that was on the glass up and out of the water, and slowly pull the whole pipe out. The damsel will drop right into the net when the whole pipe is out of the water. Takes a little time to figure it out, and usually works better when theres less rock in the tank. I like the idea of the soda bottle trap though! My mom used a small fishing hook and caught a nasty damsel that way as well.

[jenlovesty]

I had one that was practically hand fed. Hunger little sob would steal food out of my hand. So when the time came to get rid of the damsel, I sprinkled some food in with one hand and had a net ready with the other. Worked like a charm.

[SMI]

I'm a bit new. Apparently damsels are a bit of a headache huh? Will avoid when I stock my tank. Thanks!