Damsel removal

[Joey Reef]

I have a 75 gallon mixed tank. Any tips on catching Damsels?

 

[dedragon]

yes rip out every rock in the whole tank, then catch the fish. Being serious though damselfish are impossible to catch, maybe a trap but they are skittish about traps.

 

[DaneGer21]

I always recommend a fish trap and lots of time haha

I have trapped a lot of fish over the years, but believe it or not, not once have my two damsels went into the traps.

Like mentioned above, you may just have to suck it up and pull all the rocks to net them.

 

[ZoWhat]

Starve the tank for 2-3 days and then do the 2liter bottle trap.

Be patient on catching the damsel. 12,24,36,48 hrs. Once in the bottle the damsel can't figure out how to get out.

Forgive the annoying English accent:

 

[Joey Reef]

I was afraid this would be a lot of work!!! Thanks for all the input!

 

[JCTReefer]

I’m not sure what all you have in there livestock wise. As a last resort, when you’ve tried everything in the book to catch a particular fish or multiple. I just drain the tank. down to a few inches. I’ve done this in the past several times and it works well for those fish that don’t like to hide in the rocks. It does take a decent size pump and enough trash cans to hold most of the water. Drain quickly, catch fish, pump water back in. Depending on your rockwork, this may or may not be an option. Not sure what other livestock you have in there. Coral will be fine for a bit out of water. This hole process shouldn’t tank any longer than 30 minutes or so. Not ideal, but has worked for me as a last resort. I’d never thought of this until browsing on wetwebmedia 15-20 years ago. I can’t remember if was Bob Fenner, Anthony Calfo, Steven Pro, or another staff member that mentioned it. I’m thinking it was Anthony Calfo though. Lol. I’m curious as to what type damsels?