Re: Free: 2 Black Clowns ... if you can catch them.

[audioslave_36]

you should contact xenon here on Ovas, he built a trap to catch his tangs without dismantling his tank.

[AdamN]

cool .. thanks for that tip, I will do that!

[saltynewb]

I would love to take these fish off your hands, but by the sounds of it I dont think I would have much luck! If you do get them out and they dont have a home, please let me know!

Thanks

[AdamN]

well so far, no luck. there is a pop bottle trap in there, but somone is going in at night and taking out the food, and the fish dont go near it during the day.

[xenon]

If you can't build your own from scrap pieces of acrylic you can buy one pre-made.

http://oceanaquatics.com/store/product/264/AquaMedic-Fish-Trap/

[AdamN]

yeah I was looking at that ... these fish would never fall for that one haha

[xenon]

yeah I was looking at that ... these fish would never fall for that one haha

You can also drain 95% of your water from your display tank and net them. Then simply pump the same water back in.

[AdamN]

thats probably one of the only things that would work, actually never thought of that one .... although, that would be alot of containers, and knowing these fish, they would probably scoot into the rockwork as I was draining and I would never find them

[assiegordon]

I caught 5 chromis out of my 120 with the pop bottle trap, but had to cut the top off the bottle to make the hole larger. 

What you should do is build the trap and install it (just below the water level on the same side you usually feed your fish).  Leave it there for 3 days with no food in it to let the fish get use to it being there.  Do not feed the fish for the three days, get them nice and hungry.  Then put some food in the trap.  You still have to watch the trap.  The fish will eventually find their way out of it, so once they are in pull the open end up above the water and the fish will be caught.  You can catch them pretty quickly in succession, just don't drop any food in the tank.

Have fun,

Jim.

[AdamN]

If this works, do you want them?

[buzzard]

I was trying to catch a Blennie out of my reef tank for about 2 weeks.
I found out the fish was smarter than I was.LOL
I used a Crown Royal mickey bottle with a string around the top and food in it and he would just sit at the opening untill I left the room, he would then go in and eat the food and wait there with his head sticking out of the bottle untill I returned, ZOOM, GONE.
After carefull consideration, I decided to run the string into the kitchen and peek through a crack in the door untill he went into th bottle, Guess what, this fish can see through walls and wouldn't go neer the bottle.$#^&@!(*&#$%.
After 2 weeks of this cat and mouse game I finally caught him off guard (sleeping IN the bottle) at 2AM when I had to go for a P$%S in the middle of the night.LMAO
He is now in my bare 10gal. awaiting his new home???
Good luck in your adventure.
I wish I had the time to try and catch them for you, I love fish that have a good personality and I think I could provide those 2 with a good home.(29gal. all to themselves) well maybe a smart Blennie for company.LOL

[AdamN]

haha man, you got lucky!

[Severum]

Hilarious story! Damn those cute and loveable and adorable fish that make fools of us! 

[rnish]

I don't have salt water but my Africans can be a devil to catch.  Now I just drop the water level before I even try to catch them.  Just a word of warning about the pop bottle technique. i was trying to catch the babies in my 77 gal. i used it  and caught a few in about 1/2hr of watching.  Then the fish were not interested. I left it in my tank for 1 1/2 hours by mistake.  It  had a bunch of fish and most were dead by the time I remembered to check.  I'm not sure if the larger fish thrashed and killed the smaller ones or they ran out of O2.... Next time i will put small holes in the bottle...   if i use it again.  Another person suggested a large plastic bage weighted with stones.  This works well if you are herding the fish with a net.  Good luck
Jade

[AdamN]

Thank you Jade

[AdamN]

well at least now I know how to catch cleaner shrimp! buggers!  ... the fish are too smart for the trap though. Oh well. Guess they are staying put.