I Did a Dumb Thing...So How Do I Fix It?

[Barb7]

Hi All,

I have a 125 Gal tank that is a few months old and last week I added a Red Coris Wrasse before finding out anything about it besides that it was reef-safe. Yeah, I learned my lesson.....do the research before, not after you purchase an animal. Anyway, my intent is to keep a clean-up crew, a couple of peaceful fish and softies. But the wrasse has already killed all my snails...keeps flipping them over and eating them. I suspect the crabs are next on the menu. So any suggestions on how to get the wrasse out of my tank. I've got about 110 lbs of live rock...no way to catch him before he buries himself or hides in a cave. Do they eat dead shrimp? I'm thinking of trying to trap it in a net with something it will go after besides the living things in my tank.
Thanks for any suggestions!

[alexb518]

take a water bottle or soda bottle and cut it right where it starts to cone off. then take the piece you cut and place it inside out so the tip is going inside the bottle--then glue it. place food inside and you should catch him rather quickly. also, you can try leaving the net in the tank for a few days so the fish gets used to it.

[alan214]

You can try this DIY fish trap. Bait it with some frozen brine shrimp and weight it down with fishing weights. Tie some fishing line to the trap to raise and lower it into the tank.

http://coralcorral.com/id19.html

[Stanton]

If it buries in the sand at night you can scoop him up after the lights go out. Thats how I caught my yellow coris but I did have night lights to see where he buried himself.

[Barb7]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I don't have night lights so I won't be able to scoop it up when it's buried. But I'm going to try to trap it on Saturday and then bring it to a store that said they would take it. Do you think it can survive for about 30 minutes with no aeration during the ride to the store? Notice my optimism in catching it...I'm already preparing for the car ride. :)

[b.branscombe]

Yeah, he'll be fine for the trip.

[Nami19]

Getting it to the store will be the easy part, getting it out of the tank is the tough one!! :)

[old salty]

Make yourself a fish trap. This one worked like a charm for removing a flame angel from a 125 with lots of rock.


http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/olsaltybastard/IMG_1668.jpg

[crazyguy34834]

thats a great trap but i decided to go with a very easy way whenever I need to remove a fish. I put a frozen brine shrimp cube in a small glass jar to feed my manderin but the other fish like it aswell. As soon as the fish I want out goes inside, I just reach in and put my hand over the opening. Fish are not that smart and try to swim away but they just can't see that glass. Works every time in my 100g with 120lb of LR