anyone know how to catch a dottyback?

[hiepatitis]

i have this strawberry dottyback that keeps attacking everything i put in the tank so i want him out. i've tried catching him but he's fast and would hide in the rocks. then i tried a fish trap made from a 2 liter that i've read about and he won't go in. anyone have any ideas how i can catch him. if anybody wants the dottyback it's yours but it is super aggressive.

 

[Sk8r]

He might attack a mirror. If you can get him busy in the right position you might net him. I think Foster/Smith also sells a fish trap. They're sly, cunning, and learn quickly. Don't depend on tricking him twice the same way.

 

[hiepatitis]

i'll try the mirror thing if this trap doesn't work by 2m

 

[TOURKID]

ohhhh, i had to catch a sunshine dotty because i couldent add anything and she kept biting a young hippo tang..

try right as lights go on when they are less active... what i had to do was net the whole rock... i had a rock with a cave in it, her home.. i netted the whole thing, put it in a bucket

now i miss her, and the hippo got ick *grr*

 

[hiepatitis]

trust me i won't miss this one. it's been attacking everything even the snails

 

[lawboy888]

very very hard....what they will also do is go into the rocks and disappear...short of tearing down the whole thing if your tank is large..

 

[lilleahseafreak]

i made the mistake of adding a falco hawk to my 40 gallon first and he attacked every one i added. (made the firefish jump out, harassed my coris wrasse so it never came out) i knew i needed to get him out, redo the rocks and then leave him in my nano untill i got all my other fish.

i witheld food from my tank, i then took a bit of fine mesh and put a cube of unwashed frozen brine, some pellets, and freeze dried krill in the mesh, added a rock and tied it and put it in the bottle. all my snails went in there right of the bat! i then just kept an eye on it. i knew that he'd get hungry and go after the food, 2 days later to my shock i looked over and he was in it! i put my hand over the hole and pulled him out. shure enough having him out of the tank for 3 weeks and adding him last worked and he is chummy w/all the other fish.

but yeah, catching them in a rock works great too. for me the only fish that is easy to catch is my bicolor blenny, all i do it take his entire barnacle out w/him in it!

 

[wombat2]

www.marinedepot.com

 

[robertloop]

Its a shame those fish get so aggresive. I had one a few years ago. When it matured it went after the shrimp and killed them. Hilarious behavior and a spectacular copapod (sp?) hunter.

 

[Marc Daniels]

Real small barbless hook.

 

[lilleahseafreak]

i am so glad i never picked up one of those fish, i almost did a few months back

 

[fishstixs05]

how big is the tank? at a certain point, its almost easier to pull all the rocks out, but thats only feasible if its under 40 gallons.

 

[hiepatitis]

are you serious about the hook marc? my tank is 45 gallons i'm thinking about pulling all the rocks out

 

[Marc Daniels]

Yes, I was joking.

 

[hiepatitis]

sorry marc i'm not the brightest.

 

[wombat2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7106961#post7106961 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hiepatitis
are you serious about the hook marc? my tank is 45 gallons i'm thinking about pulling all the rocks out

That may be a bit easier. The fish traps really are very simple. You just put a little flake or chopped shrimp in there. Fish like dottys and wrasses are real quick to figure it out.

I actually have caught a couple large fish using a tiny barbless hook in situations where a trap was too small and breaking down the tank was unfeasible. Harder than it sounds. I had to do this with a large lunare wrasse, hippo tang, and racoon butterfly.

 

[marilynrn711]

Does that marine depot fish trap work? I am trying to catch a bi-color dottyback and a coral beauty.

 

[hiepatitis]

i made a trap from a two litter bottle. cut the neck off then cut the top portion. invert the top portion and insert into the bottom as if it were a funnel. attach it using twist ties through holes on the side so you can disassemble if the wrong fish is caught. just put some brine or krill in there and wait until they go in. once in there they'll have a hard time getting out if the hole isn't too big.

 

[marilynrn711]

I am having a hard time picturing that. Are you saying you cut the top off invert it and and push through the bottle to the bottle?

 

[TCC]

I've caught fish with a black net and a cube of frozen bryne. I don't feed for a couple of days, then put the cube into the net. Eventually, the fish have gone right into the net. I've caught over five fish this way, only two of which I was after. I've tried it more than once and it's worked every time. I actually have to shoo fish away! You just have to be patient and move the net around a bit to keep the food inside.

It may sound weird, but this only worked with a black net.