Any methods on getting damsels out?

coralmoral · 11/10/2012, 09:05 PM

I have a 90 gallon display tank that is a reef tank and i put damsels into it for the biology of the tank to start. Now its been a month or 2 since the tank was fully cycled and I think its time to move on to nicer fish because it is stable. My only problem is these damsels are a HUGE hassle to take out especially with the tank being filled with rocks and having little hiding places for the damsels to go to. Does anyone have any strategy for taking them out? I mean other than taking all the rock out and taking the damsels out than putting the rock back because i have A LOT of rock and that'd be a lot of work on it. if that is the only way than okay, so does anyone have any ideas?

ArrowCrab · 11/10/2012, 09:08 PM

Try using a bottle trap. Some fish might be a little sluggish when the light is suddenly turned on at night so try that as well to get them.

sporto0 · 11/10/2012, 09:16 PM

LOL, I don't mean to laugh but us old time reefers have gone through this before, it used to be the "accepted" way to cycle a tank & then we discovered the Damsels were literally little devil fish, I do fear the only way is to remove the rock or drain the water far enough to trap them in front of the rocks, however that doesn't always work either, I have had zero luck with traps for Damsels, it will catch bristleworms & shrimps though. Good Luck to you! Oh & next time, use Blue/Green Chromis, they will get along with other fish & are very cool looking as well.

sasharotty · 11/10/2012, 09:23 PM

Pfft, get a trigger. He'll find them. J/K, you can try the trap its hit or miss. Next time just toss them in the sump.

Arc Drafter · 11/10/2012, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArrowCrab

Try using a bottle trap. Some fish might be a little sluggish when the light is suddenly turned on at night so try that as well to get them.

I have heard this several times turn all the lights on in the middle of the Night and it will temporarily blind the fish and you can practically pick them out with your fingers

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

coralmoral · 11/10/2012, 10:36 PM

thx for the idea! i will sure use the night trick and ill get back to u guys

Sk8r · 11/10/2012, 10:40 PM

Or put food in a largish net and feed only via the net, close to the glass; when you've got one inside, move the net rapidly to the glass, clamp it, and extract fish.

You can also rapidly dewater the tank leaving a low spot in one corner of the sand, fish will go there, rock won't be disturbed, nothing will be harmed, remove fish, then pump water back in speedily, ---set a mixing bowl on the sand to prevent sand kickup, pump water into that.

Sk8r · 11/10/2012, 10:41 PM

Or put food in a largish net and feed only via the net, close to the glass; when you've got one inside, move the net rapidly to the glass, clamp it, and extract fish.

You can also rapidly dewater the tank leaving a low spot in one corner of the sand, fish will go there, rock won't be disturbed, nothing will be harmed, remove fish, then pump water back in speedily, ---set a mixing bowl on the sand to prevent sand kickup, pump water into that.

bnumair · 11/10/2012, 10:49 PM

stun gun. lol

just kidding. all the information given above is the best u can get.

hossa81 · 11/10/2012, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArrowCrab

Try using a bottle trap. Some fish might be a little sluggish when the light is suddenly turned on at night so try that as well to get them.

+1 the bottle cap methid works! A simple way to set up. Don't feed your fish all day so they are hungry. Take an empty plastic bottle and cut the top off (where the top starts to become the main cylinder). Then put some fish food in the main cylinder. Finally take the main cylinder and put the bottle top inverted (upsidedown) in the main cylinder. It really works!!!

here is a picimage.jpg
Hope this helps, good luck

djsmallz · 11/10/2012, 11:00 PM

As hossa81 said, the trap works used it before. Ive also had success with a clear mason jar, I added string on mine and waited till the fish was trapped then I pulled the bottle/jar to the top and presto damsel in the sump.

Chief Hill · 11/11/2012, 08:00 AM

+ 1 on bottle. I used same one as Hossa and caught 2 at once in 10 min. Floating pellet food in the bottle and they were going nuts trying to get in to eat it.

fishy888 · 11/11/2012, 09:31 AM

Not to get too far off subject but my tank has all damsels in it, and so far so good. One blue devil, one yellow tail, and two maroon clowns. I am finding damsels to be fascinating. The only non damsel I want for this tank is a yellow tang and maybe a brown scopas tang. Since I have a 120 though it will be one tang or the other.

MrTuskfish · 11/11/2012, 09:44 AM

The first rule of keeping damsels; Never put them into a tank that doesn't contain fish that will eat them.

godsdoc · 11/11/2012, 04:58 PM

IMO damsels are a pain (when mine ate my cleaner shrimp after a molt I got rid of my damsel).
Definitely get rid of the damsels now and don't wait until they become a problem. If you have something like a large clear specimen container you can sometimes get them to go in there and trap them. I actually have a clear plastic breeding container I used to use for freshwater that I think works well because it allows the water to flow out through the slots.
Good Luck

11/10/2012, 09:05 PM	#1
coralmoral Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Mount Sinai, NY Posts: 58	Any methods on getting damsels out? I have a 90 gallon display tank that is a reef tank and i put damsels into it for the biology of the tank to start. Now its been a month or 2 since the tank was fully cycled and I think its time to move on to nicer fish because it is stable. My only problem is these damsels are a HUGE hassle to take out especially with the tank being filled with rocks and having little hiding places for the damsels to go to. Does anyone have any strategy for taking them out? I mean other than taking all the rock out and taking the damsels out than putting the rock back because i have A LOT of rock and that'd be a lot of work on it. if that is the only way than okay, so does anyone have any ideas?

11/10/2012, 09:23 PM	#4
sasharotty Moved on to my couch Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: se michigan Posts: 1,065	Pfft, get a trigger. He'll find them. J/K, you can try the trap its hit or miss. Next time just toss them in the sump. __________________ Go big or go home!!!! Current Tank Info: Just loungin

11/10/2012, 10:40 PM	#7
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Or put food in a largish net and feed only via the net, close to the glass; when you've got one inside, move the net rapidly to the glass, clamp it, and extract fish. You can also rapidly dewater the tank leaving a low spot in one corner of the sand, fish will go there, rock won't be disturbed, nothing will be harmed, remove fish, then pump water back in speedily, ---set a mixing bowl on the sand to prevent sand kickup, pump water into that. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

11/10/2012, 10:41 PM	#8
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Or put food in a largish net and feed only via the net, close to the glass; when you've got one inside, move the net rapidly to the glass, clamp it, and extract fish. You can also rapidly dewater the tank leaving a low spot in one corner of the sand, fish will go there, rock won't be disturbed, nothing will be harmed, remove fish, then pump water back in speedily, ---set a mixing bowl on the sand to prevent sand kickup, pump water into that. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

11/10/2012, 10:49 PM	#9
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	stun gun. lol just kidding. all the information given above is the best u can get. __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

11/10/2012, 09:08 PM	#2
ArrowCrab Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 166	Try using a bottle trap. Some fish might be a little sluggish when the light is suddenly turned on at night so try that as well to get them.

11/10/2012, 09:16 PM	#3
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	LOL, I don't mean to laugh but us old time reefers have gone through this before, it used to be the "accepted" way to cycle a tank & then we discovered the Damsels were literally little devil fish, I do fear the only way is to remove the rock or drain the water far enough to trap them in front of the rocks, however that doesn't always work either, I have had zero luck with traps for Damsels, it will catch bristleworms & shrimps though. Good Luck to you! Oh & next time, use Blue/Green Chromis, they will get along with other fish & are very cool looking as well.

11/10/2012, 10:36 PM	#6
coralmoral Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Mount Sinai, NY Posts: 58	thx for the idea! i will sure use the night trick and ill get back to u guys

11/10/2012, 11:00 PM	#11
djsmallz Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Tampa FL, near Ybor City Posts: 569	As hossa81 said, the trap works used it before. Ive also had success with a clear mason jar, I added string on mine and waited till the fish was trapped then I pulled the bottle/jar to the top and presto damsel in the sump. __________________ Upgrading is always possible. Current Tank Info: Dual stacked 40 breeders with sump. Halide/led combo up top T5/led combo on bottom

11/11/2012, 08:00 AM	#12
Chief Hill Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 64	+ 1 on bottle. I used same one as Hossa and caught 2 at once in 10 min. Floating pellet food in the bottle and they were going nuts trying to get in to eat it. __________________ 29 Gallon Oc Biocube.

11/11/2012, 09:31 AM	#13
fishy888 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Decatur, IL Posts: 156	Not to get too far off subject but my tank has all damsels in it, and so far so good. One blue devil, one yellow tail, and two maroon clowns. I am finding damsels to be fascinating. The only non damsel I want for this tank is a yellow tang and maybe a brown scopas tang. Since I have a 120 though it will be one tang or the other.

11/11/2012, 09:44 AM	#14
MrTuskfish Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: The Wild Blue Yonder Posts: 8,887	The first rule of keeping damsels; Never put them into a tank that doesn't contain fish that will eat them. __________________ If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat. Steve Current Tank Info: 180, 2-240 FOWLRs, 240 reef

11/11/2012, 04:58 PM	#15
godsdoc Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 49	IMO damsels are a pain (when mine ate my cleaner shrimp after a molt I got rid of my damsel). Definitely get rid of the damsels now and don't wait until they become a problem. If you have something like a large clear specimen container you can sometimes get them to go in there and trap them. I actually have a clear plastic breeding container I used to use for freshwater that I think works well because it allows the water to flow out through the slots. Good Luck