How Do You Catch Damsels Without Tearing Your Reef Apart?

jesse92

jesse92

Member
I have 2 terror yellowtail damsels and theyre wreaking havoc in my reef tank. i have already removed 2 humbug damsels but i refuse to take my reef apart again:tumble:.......can any1 help me?
 
thadscottmoore

thadscottmoore

Member
I had the same problem once- researched online and found the solution- take a water bottle and cut about 1/4 to 1/3 of bottle from screw top opening- take the screw top opening and invert it into the bottom half of bottle. add some bait "fish food" into the enclosure and sink it to bottom of tank- the damsle will swim into it and have a difficult time getting out- may catch one- or two at a time.
 
marine281

marine281

Member
Speargun.. :)

I used a coke bottle & some food, had tried the cut & invert thing in the past & never had any luck, but caught both of my yellow glown gobies using this method not long ago.

Don't feed for a few days so they are hungry enough to go in without thinking.
 
SeaLover

SeaLover

Member
jesse this really sux.! I had this same problem with a damsel in dec. I tried the pop bottle trick. No luck. It ended in me having to tear a 75 gall totally apart to get it out. Good luck
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
A question that has been asked many times.
The best luck I have had is one of two things.
Either train them to eat from a net over a week or more, and then scoop them up once they get used to the net. Other option is to get a fish trap. Believe it or not, they do work but they can take some time.
 
jesse92

jesse92

Member
thanx heaps people.......and ill be sure to try that bottle trick for a while before i consider tearing up my reef....again thatnx heaps
 
M

Megabyte

Member
Construct this.......................... l__l use pvc pipes. Then wrap window screen around it creating a corral. Basically your making a fish net larger with no chance to escape on top, bottom or sides. Then you can chase them in the corral and then lift them out with your net

Megabyte
 
jesse92

jesse92

Member
the damsels r way to quick to chase with a net :s.......and as soon as they see a net or anything foreign they go into hiding and keep a good distance, but thanx for the idea Megabyte
 
M

mikethebike7

Member
drain the water down to one inch, or whatever low level you can get to without endangering your other animals, catch the fish quickly and pump the same water right back into the tank. You could use a plastic garbage can to hold the water, and a little water pump to drain it. You could even pump the water through a muslin screen into the can to filter it before pumping it back. If you hollow out a depression in the substrate , when the water gets low the fishes will tend to gather there. I believe this method can be done carefully so not to injure any corals, since they or their ancestors probably have dealt with similar situations in nature. Mike.
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
They are little terrorists who tend to be agressive. Also people generally want to catch them so they can add other fish to the tank that are not compatable with the damsels.
Some of them are gorgeous and if they are not causing problems for you, then enjoy them.
I was recently shocked when I saw an adult domino. They get a lot bigger than I ever imagined.
 
jesse92

jesse92

Member
hey hey all......well ive been trying out the inverted bottle trap for a couple of days and have managed to catch almost all the fish in my tank.....well all except the damsels....but this morning the trap caught 1 on my little blue terrorists:)
 
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