damsel problem - do they make a fish trap?

I

ilovetrains

New member
Well, like idiots we forgo the timely advice we had gottne and got a couple small damsels to through in the tank until we started getting "real" fish.

Saturday we added three starfish and imediately one of the damsels went after the starfish. A little research makes me think it is a devil damsel, and we decided to remove the pair.

Well, long story short one is still in there and I am afraid of terrifying the other denizens of our reef in making trying to get him out.

Do they make a fish trap?
 
Well, starfish aren't good news in a reef either, but to get rid of the damsels, try feeding cyclopeeze or mysis in a net and when the fish gets too cocky and goes in, rotate the net against the glass and you've got him.

There are fish traps: they don't work too well for the fish you actually want to catch. The good news is, most of the fish you want to catch are really aggro where it comes to food and can be got that way.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9735131#post9735131 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
Well, starfish aren't good news in a reef either, but to get rid of the damsels, try feeding cyclopeeze or mysis in a net and when the fish gets too cocky and goes in, rotate the net against the glass and you've got him.

There are fish traps: they don't work too well for the fish you actually want to catch. The good news is, most of the fish you want to catch are really aggro where it comes to food and can be got that way.
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Why are the starfish not good news? They came out of a reef tank at the LHS.

Are cyclopeeze and mysis types of food?

Do you have a link to someone that sells a trap? Might try it anyway.
 
I dont think you have any problems with starfish, I have always kept them in my reefs for a little bit of mystery b/c I have no clue what they eat but they keep on truckin' I guess it depends on what starfish you bought, bittles can be a PITA but linkias, although finicky, are great once they establish themselves. Try doing a search using "search tools" on the left hand side on the home page and searching for a DIY trap, I know a lot of people make them out of empty 2 liter bottles and they work just as well as the store bought--only cheaper
 
If they're linckia stars [red or purple or blue] nobody knows what they eat: they're reef safe, but they only live in the most established reefs and your lfs shouldn't be selling them to someone with a new tank. If they're brittle stars, [snaky, with bristled arms and brown and white stripes] they're ok. If they're green serpent stars, they're not reef safe. There are a lot of starfish but only the brown/whites are good for your tank at this stage. Sorry to be so abrupt, there.
Cyclopeeze and mysis are frozen fish foods, delectable to meat eaters.
Among our sponsors at the top of the page you'll find Foster/Smith and their branches Live Aquaria and something or another else. They're good guys, and they sell a pretty good trap: you can bait it. Netting is a knack you learn over years, and admittedly it is not totally easy. But damsels are such pigs they often chase food in deep and they're pretty easy targets if you have your net near the glass: just flip! and they're penned.
 
TURN THE LIGHTS OFF IN THE TANK AND TRY TO CATCH THEM IT WORK FOR ME THEY DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO FIGHT UNTIL THEY WERE OUT THE WATER..
 
Thanks for the link

Thanks for the link

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9736161#post9736161 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by andrewr
http://home.att.net/~ophiuroid/html/main.html
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I think two are brittle stars. One looks like something you find at a souvineer shop in the Keys, small, white and gray strips with a sandpaper texture. Immediately buried himself in the sand. One other has long spindly legs with a hair that reminds of you of a tarantula. The last has shorter legs, all brown, smooth.

LFS advised avoid anything with a large body or bumps as they were probably predators.

Hope he steered us right!!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9736081#post9736081 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
If they're linckia stars [red or purple or blue] nobody knows what they eat: they're reef safe, but they only live in the most established reefs and your lfs shouldn't be selling them to someone with a new tank. If they're brittle stars, [snaky, with bristled arms and brown and white stripes] they're ok. If they're green serpent stars, they're not reef safe. There are a lot of starfish but only the brown/whites are good for your tank at this stage. Sorry to be so abrupt, there.
Cyclopeeze and mysis are frozen fish foods, delectable to meat eaters.
Among our sponsors at the top of the page you'll find Foster/Smith and their branches Live Aquaria and something or another else. They're good guys, and they sell a pretty good trap: you can bait it. Netting is a knack you learn over years, and admittedly it is not totally easy. But damsels are such pigs they often chase food in deep and they're pretty easy targets if you have your net near the glass: just flip! and they're penned.
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Thanks for the advice, will check there link. need a few odds and ends anyway, so might as well place an order.

Are damsels considered "meat eaters?"
 
I made the mistake of buying a 2 damsels after I got my tank cycled. They started picking on the more expensive fish I bought after them. I ended up having to pull all the live rock to get them out. Major pain. Hopefully you can get it out without resorting to that.
 
I have a damsel in my tank. I cant get rid if that bastard to save my life! Ive tried netting, tried a fish trap. I think I may have to either quick-drain the tank or try the old bait and hook method.

The stars are fine as long s they arent the GREEN brittle stars... they will catch slower fish and other inverts like mandarins, gobies, blenniesm etc (in SOME cases... they are mostly ok, as most creatures are too fast for them.... but just know that they are opportunists!). I have 2 black brittle stars, and they are great. you NEVER see em... and they eat detritus and OC all day every day! Best janitors in the tank, next to the nas snails!

Good luck with the damsels. If the methods above dont work, you can always try TNT or a nuke. :P
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9742345#post9742345 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JeffersonReef
I have a damsel in my tank. I cant get rid if that bastard to save my life! Ive tried netting, tried a fish trap. I think I may have to either quick-drain the tank or try the old bait and hook method.

The stars are fine as long s they arent the GREEN brittle stars... they will catch slower fish and other inverts like mandarins, gobies, blenniesm etc (in SOME cases... they are mostly ok, as most creatures are too fast for them.... but just know that they are opportunists!). I have 2 black brittle stars, and they are great. you NEVER see em... and they eat detritus and OC all day every day! Best janitors in the tank, next to the nas snails!

Good luck with the damsels. If the methods above dont work, you can always try TNT or a nuke. :P
Click to expand...

As I told my wife last night, it's nothing a stiff shot of boubon and a hand granade can't fix.:D
 
i've heard of a small harpoon,(remember the darts in school with a pen, a rubberband and a homemade dart) sounds mean but i had too pull all my rock out to get a wrass that was beating all newcomers up, i wont do that again, LFS guy says next time let nature run its coarse(one fish dies) and if the fish is gonna limit you to no other fish,sorry, gotta go fishy, i also heard not to feed them for a couple days and when there eating, swoop, good luck
 
damsels suck! haha, mine where a pain! so i put them in my brothers tank when i caught them...theres a lion fish in there :D
 
Steven Pro gave a good solution to the trouble fish. Put a towel over the tank for several hours and then all of a sudden turn the lights on and remove the fish while it is stunned, it is definately good to know where it sleeps when using this method....I have done this with a Surefire flashlight (EXTREMELY BRIGHT flashlight off of my M4 for close quarters combat, if it will stun an Iraqi it will stun a damsel for sure :) )
 
Damsels are the devils spawn! After a hurricaine & no power for several days they were the only things that survived in a 75 gal tank. Ya cant kill em! (or catch em). Took 150 pounds of rock out of the tank b4 I finally netted them.
 
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