Best way to remove emperor Angel from mixed reef?

JIsBusyReefing

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A few months ago, I wanted to try my luck with a juvenile emperor that my LFS had in stock in my 150 gallon mixed reef. I don't have a huge amount of corals, so I figured I try it out and see how it goes since some out there have defied the odds and successfully kept these things in their mixed reefs. I didn't have a whole lot for the fish to wipe out in case things went south, since it's a newer tank.

Long story short, the fish has rapidly gone aggressive these past couple of weeks after being in there perfectly fine beforehand. It nearly wiped out my zoas, picks at my GSP, picks my palys, and is now nipping at a brand new LTA I just added for my clowns. Little fella has got to go.

What would be the best method to catching it and removing it from the tank? I can't tear down the rock work.
 

Azedenkae

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A few months ago, I wanted to try my luck with a juvenile emperor that my LFS had in stock in my 150 gallon mixed reef. I don't have a huge amount of corals, so I figured I try it out and see how it goes since some out there have defied the odds and successfully kept these things in their mixed reefs. I didn't have a whole lot for the fish to wipe out in case things went south, since it's a newer tank.

Long story short, the fish has rapidly gone aggressive these past couple of weeks after being in there perfectly fine beforehand. It nearly wiped out my zoas, picks at my GSP, picks my palys, and is now nipping at a brand new LTA I just added for my clowns. Little fella has got to go.

What would be the best method to catching it and removing it from the tank? I can't tear down the rock work.
Turn all lights off, prepare nets and stuff. Then at around 3am when the fish are deep asleep, turn the lights on and swoop the angel out while it is still dazed. Tada! :D
 

JPM San Diego

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I agree with Azedenkae but use RED lights. We see red just fine, but fish are not very preceptive of red light.
It will give you a few extra minutes to find and net the angel. I had to do this with a Klein Butterfly in a very compact tank. It worked great as the fish slowly moved around half asleep giving me several attempts at getting it into the net.
 

RobB'z Reef

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I agree with Azedenkae but use RED lights. We see red just fine, but fish are not very preceptive of red light.
It will give you a few extra minutes to find and net the angel. I had to do this with a Klein Butterfly in a very compact tank. It worked great as the fish slowly moved around half asleep giving me several attempts at getting it into the net.
This does work, have tried it myself
 

JCTReefer

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Zoas are like skittles to most large angels!!! Seems some/most have a taste for corals that are fleshly and go jiggle jiggle!! Lol. I upgraded tanks “again” Just for an Emperor. My favorite reef fish. Researched out the wazoo about the likelihood of an Emperor decimating my reef. Had one several years ago in a tank with very few corals. Didn’t mess with anything. Any time I’ve been contemplating on whether or not to try a large Angel I ask myself. What’s your tolerance for nipping? What’s your tolerance for a specimen out right destroying a colony of some sort? What corals are most likely to be picked on? What do they tend to leave alone? Plan the coral around the fish? Keep them well fed. Austin Lefevre did a great presentation on keeping benthic feeders in a reef setting. At the end of the day it’s still a crap shoot. Well behaved fish for years grew up and decided to eat the whole reef. Lol. I wish these fish would just read the rules before entering our tanks. You know the “Don’t Eat Coral Rules”. I hope I have a little luck on my side when I try one. Maybe that is. I’m still not sure I have the balls to follow through with it. Pray to the reef gods. Really sucks your fish didn’t work out :( Their beauty is just so tempting. I could handle a fish taking out certain types of corals. But a fish that was after the whole reef would get the boot.
With a little patience you’ll fish him out of there. Good suggestions above.
 
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JCTReefer

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Get some Brute trash cans and drain the tank. Pick the angel off the bottom and the refill.

it’s easier than it sounds. Gl
My favorite method. Drained my tanks several times to get a fish out that couldn’t be caught with other methods. Anthony Calfo mentioned doing this years ago on wetwebmedia. Good suggestion!!
 

dedragon

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...more research should go into buying fish. It is not reef safe and requires a 200+ gallon aquarium. Every purchase made for a reef tank should be properly researched first
 

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...more research should go into buying fish. It is not reef safe and requires a 200+ gallon aquarium. Every purchase made for a reef tank should be properly researched first
And we have people displaying emps and regals in reef tanks tempting many of us.
 
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JIsBusyReefing

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Just leave it alone, it won't be in a mixed reef for long.

Just kidding, either a fish trap or figure out where it sleeps and catch it at night with a red light.
Yah I think a fish trap will be the way to go. That sucker likes to hide.
 
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JIsBusyReefing

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Turn all lights off, prepare nets and stuff. Then at around 3am when the fish are deep asleep, turn the lights on and swoop the angel out while it is still dazed. Tada! :D
I can't. It likes to hide in the rock work at night, unfortunately.
 
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JIsBusyReefing

JIsBusyReefing

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Zoas are like skittles to most large angels!!! Seems some/most have a taste for corals that are fleshly and go jiggle jiggle!! Lol. I upgraded tanks “again” Just for an Emperor. My favorite reef fish. Researched out the wazoo about the likelihood of an Emperor decimating my reef. Had one several years ago in a tank with very few corals. Didn’t mess with anything. Any time I’ve been contemplating on whether or not to try a large Angel I ask myself. What’s your tolerance for nipping? What’s your tolerance for a specimen out right destroying a colony of some sort? What corals are most likely to be picked on? What do they tend to leave alone? Plan the coral around the fish? Keep them well fed. Austin Lefevre did a great presentation on keeping benthic feeders in a reef setting. At the end of the day it’s still a crap shoot. Well behaved fish for years grew up and decided to eat the whole reef. Lol. I wish these fish would just read the rules before entering our tanks. You know the “Don’t Eat Coral Rules”. I hope I have a little luck on my side when I try one. Maybe that is. I’m still not sure I have the balls to follow through with it. Pray to the reef gods. Really sucks your fish didn’t work out :( Their beauty is just so tempting. I could handle a fish taking out certain types of corals. But a fish that was after the whole reef would get the boot.
With a little patience you’ll fish him out of there. Good suggestions above.
I know. I'm really bummed out about it. I was hoping it work but it just wasn't meant to be. The fish hinders what all I can put in the tank and that's no fun. Getting rid of it is no fun either. It's a lose-lose situation.
 

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