need some fish catching tricks please

[edshern]

ok, i've been tryin for 2 weeks to catch a couple of chromis. (fast little critters)
any tricks of the trade you can suggest.
as always the advise is appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Feed with a turkey baster in the same place for a while. The fish will come to know the baster means food. Then start feeding with the net in the tank. Leave it there. Then you can squirt food into the net and the fish will follow it. This will take time, and is the reason I feed my fish in the same way every day.

You can also try hitting the fish in the face with the light from a flash light before the lights come on in the morning. This sometimes stuns the fish making it easier to catch. Deer in the headlights kind of thing.

Fish traps also seem to work. You can usually rent or borrow one from you LFS.

Good luck,

RR

 

[Mike and Donna]

At the risk of being flamed, as a LAST resort you can try a hook and line. I had two very large engineer gobies who were playing havoc with my DSB. I tried all the tricks in the book for months to catch them without even getting close! I used thread and a very small fly fishing hook with some fresh shrimp. Got 'em both within 5 minutes. You can file the barb off the hook to minimize the trauma to the fish.

Again, I used this as a very last resort. Hopefully you'll get some other tips so that you don't have to go this route.

 

[fishfarmer]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

At the risk of being flamed, as a LAST resort you can try a hook and line.

That is my FIRST thought at removing troublesome fish. You can order very tiny hooks through flyfishing places like Orvis. Smaller hooks are numbered higher. I think a hook around size 22 to 24 would work.

 

[suckair]

you can purchase these clear acrylic tube like traps with a trap door.

you purchase the trip, then starve your tank for a few days to get them real hungry. Then you put some yummy food in the trap and sink it. You hold open the trap door with fishing line.. The hungry fish check it out.. then swim in and go for the food..

once inside drop the fishing line droping the trap door and presto you caught your fish.

Sometimes I have to catch all the fish in my tank before I get to the fish I want but it works every time!

Good luck.

PS I built my trap out of acrylic, but you can purchase them on line..

 

[sparks]

I had some success with the plastic coke bottle thing.
Cut a 1.25lt.Coke bottle right through a bit below the neck or more shoulders. Invert this section into the remaining bottom part (take the lid off & enlarge a bit maybe).Bait it and tie on a length of string.
It makes a sort of yabbie, cray, crab pot trap, with a small entrance, but once the fish is inside its not so easy to find its way out again.
Confused, I am now.
I've caught heaps of fish with this, except that BLOODY Tomatoe Clown that I want.

 

[Anonymous]

The easiest seems to be hook and line. Just be sure you use a barbless hook. Barbs can cuase terrible damage.

 

[jamesw]

Check the Hot Tips section of Advanced Aquarist for a couple of good tips on catching fish out of your reef.

Cheers
James Wiseman

 

[adamsaquatics]

Yes, a fish trap is the only good way to catch a fish in a reef tank. I was thinking of making some of these, do you guys think theres a market for them. I think everyone should have one. I tried to catch a fish with a net, forget it. they are just too smart.

 

[trustno1]

There are already a number of firms that make such traps. Flying Fish Express and Pet Solutions both carry various sizes. None are cheap. Some LFS let you borrow theirs. Some rent them.

I've had one and swear by it. Of course, as someone said, you often have to tolerate catching the most aggressive eaters first -- and remove them from the tank -- before the more timid fish enter the trap.

 

[Bucktronix]

i removed my troublesome angel with a big netfull of live brineshrimp, i just hung the net in the water and he finaly came over to it and started picking at it so i gentaly turned the net and he swam right in

 

[DEADFISH1]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by sparks:
<strong>I had some success with the plastic coke bottle thing.
Cut a 1.25lt.Coke bottle right through a bit below the neck or more shoulders. Invert this section into the remaining bottom part (take the lid off & enlarge a bit maybe).Bait it and tie on a length of string.
It makes a sort of yabbie, cray, crab pot trap, with a small entrance, but once the fish is inside its not so easy to find its way out again.
Confused, I am now.
I've caught heaps of fish with this, except that BLOODY Tomatoe Clown that I want.

</strong><hr></blockquote>

agree, Coke bottle worked great for me too.

 

[yellow_dog]

My ultralife reef trap was the BEST $30 investment I have made for my reef. Make sure you get the type with the fishing line (you) activated door and not the spring loaded (automatic) door. Also, don't feed you tank for a few days...happy trapping!