question about temporarily removing rock to catch fish

[mvallee]

I have three problem fish, red lyretail hawkfish that did not turn out the way I wanted and are now limiting the kinds of fish I can add to my tank so they gotta go.

The problem is I have fairly extensive rock work with lots of hiding places and these guys are smart and super skittish of the net. They are very bold fish but as soon as the net comes near the tank they are like houdini's. I have gotten up in the middle of the night a few times hoping to catch them sleeping out and no such luck so I have no choice but take all the rocks out.

My question is should I get tubs or totes big enough to hold the rocks and make sure they stay submerged in tank water while I work on catching the fish? I am guessing some of the rocks could be out for about an hour depending on how hard the fish are to catch. I have some corals LPS, mushrooms, ricordea and such that I will make sure are submerged buts lots of rock is just rocks but I have lots of critters in them like those little brittle stars and small hermits etc.... I am thinking yes keep them submerged but sometime I make so much work for myself just making sure it is really necessary.

On a side note anyone with a predator tank interested in some Lyretail Hawkfish

 

[mnavick]

I would keep them submerged especially with all of the life in/on and around.

Have you looked into a fish trap?

 

[ro_nicu]

Put a fish trap in and get them used to eating in the trap, than one day just spring the trap and end the problem.

 

[mvallee]

I have three of them amongst all the other fish and I have a feeling I might catch one like that but these guys seem too clever to not realize what happened. maybe I am giving them too much credit but they seem smart, maybe I'll give it a shot though, not looking forward to tearing apart a couple hundred pounds of rock and I am sure I will never get it the way I like it again.

 

[ro_nicu]

There's a red colored fish net that is advertised as invisible to fish, I found it to work quite well, most of the fish do not even realize they are being netted when you go for them.

 

[s_kelley]

Just fill a tote half way w water and take some of the rock work out. Make the water as similar to your tanks as possible. I've had to do this in the past too

 

[reefstarter]

the one thing nobody has mentioned , is be careful about stirring up sediment and detrius . you will probably get a nitrate and phosphate spike when you do this . so be ready for a water change after

 

[s_kelley]

^^^^ooh yeah good thinking, what he said^^^^

 

[mvallee]

thanks for the tip on the water change, Ill make sure I have both of my brute barrels full and ready to do a water change.

 

[Marty B]

I have a piece of plexiglass. I clear one side of the tank, get them eating a piece of lettuce and then cut off the tank so they have no place to hide. This limits the amount of rock you need to remove.


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[mvallee]

i forgot about that trick, I used to use eggcrate back in the day to corral cichlids that I needed to remove, for them it was because of there speed but could work for this too and save some heavy lifting.
thanks

 

[wpeterson]

I just went through this to get a Cardinal and three Zebra Barred Dartfish out of our display for treatment in a hospital tank.

I have a 28 gallon brute I use for mixing saltwater for changes, which I filled with fresh tank water that had been mixing for a few days. I removed the rockwork from the display and into the brute with a heater. It took about 1.5 hours to remove all the rockwork and catch all the fish, which was a miserable experience - but I was able to get all the rock work back in with minimal damage to corals and life on the rocks. I broke a piece off of a monti-cap accidentally, but otherwise everything was OK. Having broken down all the rockwork and then setting it back up it seems like it never quite gets back the way I originally had it which drives me nuts.

If you can isolate the fish in a portion of the track and catch them, I'd recommend it. We use a transparent acrylic box to catch them without netting for minimal stress.

 

[QUIG]

I had a cinnamon clown I couldn't catch and used a super bright flashlight at night to blind it and net it up. I also had 2 problem wrasse I removed using a water bottle fish trap...cheap and easy. Good luck hunting!

 

[mvallee]

blinding with a flash light, first time I have heard that one. I said I did not want to go the DIY route but these bottle traps seem pretty popular and super simple so just might give that a shot.

I do have a couple brute barrels but was hoping to have them full with replacement water if I trigger a nitrate spike in the process. We shall see might be the incentive I needed to finally build that mixing station I have been planning so I can free up the Brute barrels

 

[QUIG]

Yea I did some reading and clownfish have super good sight, so at lights out hitting them with a flashlight is like deer in headlights. It kind of stunned him and he couldn't see the net when I swooped in on him. LOL

 

[dz6t]

There's a red colored fish net that is advertised as invisible to fish, I found it to work quite well, most of the fish do not even realize they are being netted when you go for them.

Where can I buy a red fish net?

 

[twiddledog]

Red fish nets are sold by Foster and smith. I have them..don;t work that well. This is the BEST fish trap I have ever seen..and used. I have one..Just keep it in tank a few days for the fish to get used to it..then start putting food into it and they all get used to going in.

http://www.ocreef.com/acrylic_fish_...inch_opening?category_id=0&search_string=trap