Help!!! a.s.a.p. a non reef safe fish in my tank,

[chuppy]

Hey guys,
my roomate... got this Clown coris or clown wrasse which is not reef safe and just put it in my tank.. and i got shocked this when i saw this god knows what in my tank!!O.O I did a little read up on it as my roomate really likes the fish but i make him lose his interest when it could grow to a whole new different fish.. lol...

So the thing is.. the fish is in there for a couple of days, so far my snail (yes i only have 1 so far, hard to get snails here) has fallen victim to the juvi. my shrimps are too big for him though..

So my question is, is there a method to capture it without a whole tank rescape??? I just did 1 not along ago to get a tomato clown and an african clown so i would'nt want to disturb the water chemistry by another rescape(take out all LR and corals, catch the fish , reassemble)

I also read that it is a burrower? By my observation i won't see the fish from 3:30pm onwards till next morning where it will be out and about.

So like i said.. HELP!!!! i still like my corals/shrimp

Drew

[RickySan]

try to bribe him with some mysis shrimp

[rkelman]

You could try the mysis in a net... Or buy a fish trap. And / Or kill your room mate for putting a fish in without talking to you first... :) Good luck.

[Dingo Dog]

Good luck.
I tried all the suggestions you'll probably be getting but finally had to remove almost every rock to get the fish out because nothing else was working. You might get lucky. If not, you'll have to do what I did.
Then you'll want to bill your roomate based on your time and trouble for having to un-do what your roomate did without asking you first.

[chuppy]

He's gonna do a years worth of water changes if i have to tear down the lr again! rar!! will this trigger another cycle?

[CleveYank]

Get out the fishing pole. lol

Or
Sometimes you can get lucky and have the lights go out. After about 2 to 3 hours and the fish are asleep. You can net them or blow them with powerhead out into the open and net them and safe house them in sump in large peice of screen until you can sell/give them to fellow hobbyist or return them to the store.

I knew someone with bad wrasse...when tank was asleep. He noted place in sand where it slept and netted the fish right out of his Sandbed.


Might want to learn from this lesson to research everything you intend to put in the tank BEFORE you go goo goo over it and buy it based upon how cool it looks. Or what the salesman at the pet/fish store tells you.

Good Luck with that.

[chuppy]

hmm i have no idea where it sleeps though.. in the caves i made with the lr mayb..
since its still a juvi... my shrimps arent harmed
but i saw it nipping my polyps!!! hmm i gotta observe them.. strike t when it is most relaxed...

Fishing pole? You serious!? lol

OH fyi. there isnt a good supplier of mysis shrimp round thses parts of the world.

Drew

[CleveYank]

it's either in caves or it sleeps in the sand. You will have to shut off lights and have a low/dim light on somewhere that will be dark enought to let fish slowdown and yet light enough for you to see where he's at. It may take a few days for tank inhabitants to adjust to sleeping with a bit of light...kinda duplicate really bright full moon. With patience you can figure out where he sleeps. It's just a fish...not ORCA ya know?

Sometimes you can have the lights off. Turn them back on 2 to 3 hours later and move a couple rocks and find out where a fish is and scoop him out before he knew what hit him. Or placing a powerhead to force a heavy current hole by hole, cave by cave will throw the fish off and it will have to find a new hiding place...one that may be easier for you to catch him without tank tear down. Or catch the shrimp and start a nano.

I was joking about fishing pole. But I have heard of it being done...and yes in a reeftank.

Good Luck

[Sk8r]

Here's a scary but infallible method.
1. get some white polystyrene buckets from the paint dept at Lowe's or a 32g Rubbermaid Brute trash can, and a maxijet 1200 pump with a matching hose.
2. gently punch a depression in the front corner sand of your tank. Turn off your autotopoff unit, skimmer, and your return pump AND your heater.
3. put the pump into the tank and pump all the water out into the bucket/can
4. the fish will all go to your hole, the last spot with water.
5. extract the offender and put him in a ziploc bag with some of the water you pumped out. Float him in the can. Transport him to the lfs for credit.
6. lay a sheet of bubble wrap or other plastic that will float, across your now waterless sand.
7. pump water back in as fast as you can, aiming the hose at the plastic: this protects your sand from being kicked up and spoiling your sandbed filtration.
The whole operation should be done with a pump large enough to do the whole operation in 10 minutes or less. I suggested the 1200 as good for smaller tanks [you should put your tank size and specs in that space where it says: tank, so we can give your better advice.] Corals, shrimp, inverts and anemones can easily withstand 10 minutes of no-water. Fish of course need to breathe sooner than that. Depending on how fast you can rewater, you may need to bag all your fish until you can get water into the tank.

Before you start this operation, plan your movements as if you were choreographing a ballet: you need to be fast, and accurate, and having a friend stand by to hand you towels, cut off/on the pump, hand you a net, change the pump about from hose end to pump end in the tank [the flow comes OUT the hose] is very useful. You end up with no disturbance to your rockwork, no overturn of your sandbed, no ripped fins, broken corals, and no chiropractor bill from trying to net a fish for 3 solid hours.

[TOURKID]

oh skater thats a great idea. I may be catching me an angel soon :D what do u mean by "punch a depression in the front corner of your tank"?

what about the other fish?

only thing that may get in trouble are the sponges.. anems may get angry.... I like the idea. easier than mine

(i take the rock out of 1/3 of the tank, then chase the fish to that side and 'lock it' over there with a huge piece of needle point plastic. then chase it around the 1/3 of the empty tank with a pitcher until its caught... fish hate it... lol

[CleveYank]

Excellent idea for us DSB folk.

Guess the barebottom folks are out in the cold.

:)

[Sk8r]

Just gently move the sand aside to make a well: try not to kick up any more crud than you can help.
All the fish will head for the hole together: make it big enough for them to be in it at a tilt.
Nems will pull in. Sponges are generally ok, so long as they keep the surface tension of water on their surface: ie, sopping wet. If there is any possibility of a delay in re-watering even by 3 min, have a spray bottle with salt water and spritz them.

I've done this more than once in my career. I wouldn't hesitate to do it with a 'show' tank---but I'd want a helper standing by [somebody who can keep his mouth shut, keep his advice to himself, and obey orders. ;) It's scary, and you need absolute concentration so as not to bump a coral or drop a struggling fish: you also have to remain calm and prioritize: when you've caught your offender, your partner should have an open, water-filled bag ready for you; drop him in, then reorient to the rest of your outraged, gasping fish and set the plastic and hose near them, while your partner drops the pump into the water source and turns it on AT YOUR ORDER.] You can see how things can go awry if you have an argumentative advice-filled partner, or if one step isn't ready.
Choreography is all important on this.
But it does less damage than almost any other procedure with a fish that's too wary to trap. The only better thing is if you can start feeding the rascal in a net and after several days just get him overconfident, over eager and too near the glass---he gets actually into the net, you slam net [and him] against glass, and retrieve. But you can only do that with experience on your side and overweening confidence/aggression on the part of the fish.

[kathainbowen]

*giggle*

Sure fire way to get a wrasse out of a tank- fall in love with it. As soon as you do, they always end up carpet surfing. Jk.

[chuppy]

Ahaha well thats a lot of technique! and man sk8r... u made me want to do yours if general netting fails... (taking out lr is a hassle)hmm have a little well eh? will the corals be effected when this happens?

Drew

[Playa-1]

My vote is for the Harpoon :(

[chuppy]

Lol maybe the cat in your avatar snipe off the wrasse with a net-bullet kind of thing ahaha then i'll give the wrasse to you at my roomies expense lol

Drew

[kau_cinta_ku]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11117520#post11117520 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chuppy
Ahaha well thats a lot of technique! and man sk8r... u made me want to do yours if general netting fails... (taking out lr is a hassle)hmm have a little well eh? will the corals be effected when this happens?

Drew

the corals will be fine as they are out of the water at low tides alot of the times.