How to catch fish without a teardown

vypre

vypre

New member
I've been trying to catch a tomato clown and move it but I'm having the hardest time trying to catch him. I waited a few hours after lights out and he still has evaded me. Any tips or tricks to go about catching him? I have about 80 pounds or so of LR so I really don't wanna take it all out. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Usually clowns sleep very heavy and if you have just enough light to see and are fairly quick about it you can just scoop them right up.

In tougher cases though I have just drained my water in brutes, scoop fish, pump water back in, that is least invasive if you have a decent pump and can take just a few minutes, done it many times.
 
I don't think I have enough buckets nor do I have an extra pump. Well I guess I have a shopping list now lol
 
I had a tang once that took me 1.5 hours to get out. I ended up using a bunch of that egg crate/light diffuser/plastic grid stuff to isolate parts of the tank and ultimately corral him into one area to scoop out.
 
Fish trap from 2 liter bottle, make 2 of them and place both in the tank at the same time. Some other fish might end up in the first trap so leave them there unless they start to freak out. If they do then remove that fish into a 5 gallon pail and reset the trap. Repeat until you catch the desired fish. Use a good food that they like to go for. It also helps if you have not fed them yet that day.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I gave up on trying to move him on my break. Gonna try again tonight after lights out and if that doesn't work I'll try draining or using a trap. Thank for the advice.
 
Last time I caught a maroon that had to go I used my bicycle light that has a red LED setting, it was just bright enough to see, this is key, and to have everything in place so you can be quick and stealthy.
I pulled my maroon by hand, put her in a cup, and watched her wake like a minute or two later and freak!
It's kind of funny and amazing how stupid sleepy headed they are at night.
 
I caught one of my clowns once with food in a cup just to prove I could. I put the cup in the water and let the clown swim in after the food, then pulled the cup out with the clown. That clown doesn't like cups to this day.
 
In the last 2 months I removed a Tomato clown and damsel fish from my DT,each on separate occasions. The first time was for a big 4 inch clown in my 220 gallon XH.I managed to get it after 2 hours,and did not have to move any rock.The floor in the living room got a little wet in a few places,because of all the thrashing around with two nets.But the aquarium was unscathed. Yesterday I removed the oldest fish because he was attacking everything else in the aquarium,a 5 inch damsel....the evil monster...
He lived in a cave in the bottom(or at the base of a huge pile of LR that was 28"tall).I had to dismantle all the LR,to open up the cave, there was no other way to get to him.
I would like to say that because I carefully removed the coral and rock,the extraction of the fish went smoother,than the first time...however,there was still difficulties,but because he was so big he was easy to get once he was out in the open.Removing a fish in a reef is never easy.
 
I have had good luck placing a mirror against the glass. The fish get so distracted trying to attack their
Own reflection that you can scoop them up
 
I just caught him. I used the red lens for a flashlight to spot him and I had no trouble at all scooping him up. Thanks again for the help
 
Well I have damsels to move next idk if I'm gonna be able to get them without removing the LR lol they're so fast
 
Dig a hole in the front left corner (if you're right-handed), pump water out---and you can probably get them --- they'll go to the deepest water, ie, the hole. Damsels hide in rock when alarmed, so be sure if you move rock that you set it down in exactly the same orientation or you can do in a fish who can't get out. This is why the slow de-watering is safest.
 
Sk8r said:
Dig a hole in the front left corner (if you're right-handed), pump water out---and you can probably get them --- they'll go to the deepest water, ie, the hole. Damsels hide in rock when alarmed, so be sure if you move rock that you set it down in exactly the same orientation or you can do in a fish who can't get out. This is why the slow de-watering is safest.
Click to expand...
Definitely gonna have to do that I'm getting me a pump today or tomorrow whenever I have time to go out and get it
 
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