How to catch a sixline.

[WalrusKisses]

Hi guys, I put a sixline in my tank a few months ago to try and get rid of some planaria, but all he does is beat the crap out of my purple firefish. I just saw the firefish today and he's down to skin and bones because he doesn't leave the rock to eat.

Anyone have any ideas on how to catch the wrasse?

Thanks, Forrest

 

[swk]

How to catch a sixline.

Do you know where he sleeps?

Ps - how's the doser working on your 12 gal?

 

[WalrusKisses]

I don't

Hahaha, you mean my water change machine? Lol, it's still in the box, awaiting the 40 breeder.

 

[shades_of_blue]

I would try to hold a piece of food with tweezers maybe a while krill or mysis. And get him to the bait with a net behind the bait and try to net him..its such a small tank you might be able to get him pretty easily ..good luck. Congrats on the Doser have fun

 

[swk]

I've never had to do this in a reef, but I did use this method to catch little 4" fish to strip the fry from the female when I was breeding cichlids.

Basically you need to black out the tank for a good couple hours. After that you should be able to look around with a red led flashlight without disturbing the fish too much. You can use a white one too, but eventually the fish will come to faster than with a red one. This works best if you have an idea of where the fish is. In this state, they're slow and easily disoriented which will work to your advantage.

If the fish is buried in some rocks a blast from a baster full of water can encourage them to move without waking them up.

Good luck. I used this method repeatedly to catch little 4" fish in 180 gal tanks in under 5-10 minutes.

 

[ThreeMoneyJ]

Sixlines make a mucus membrane that they sleep in. Generally they sleep in the same spot. If you figure out where and wait for him to make his little sleeping bag he will be very easy to catch.

 

[Reef Bass]

Drain tank to an inch of water above the sand / bottom. Net fish. Refill tank. Fast, easy and much less stressful to both you and the fish than chasing the fish around. Keep a spray bottle with reef water handy to moisten things should it be necessary.

 

[zeroinverse]

Drain tank to an inch of water above the sand / bottom. Net fish. Refill tank. Fast, easy and much less stressful to both you and the fish than chasing the fish around. Keep a spray bottle with reef water handy to moisten things should it be necessary.

Ha!
Depends on how big your tank is and if you have a reservoir large enough to hold all that water.

I would not do it on my 150gal.

 

[WalrusKisses]

Wooooooooo! Into the back chambers he goes! Anyone want a free wrasse?

 

[shades_of_blue]

How did you end up getting him so quick

 

[WalrusKisses]

I went ahead and drained the tank down to about 4 inches of water and cornered him, then filled it back up. The whole ordeal took about 2 minutes. Surprisingly, with rock and sand my tank is only about 5 gallons of water.

Thanks for the advice, Ken!

 

[WalrusKisses]

Wrasse is spoken for

 

[woodnaquanut]

Wrasse is spoken for

So with all the good luck you seem to have lately, have you considered a lotto ticket! :lolspin:

 

[Reef Bass]

You're welcome. Good job.