how to catch a DESTRUCTIVE DAMSEL!

[lReef lKeeper]

good luck with that ... probably being sarcastic. best bet is to probably remove everything.

[mtodd001]

no, I would never hook 'em. I'll give 'em time and maybe he'll settle down once he's familar w/his new tank mate. Heck...there's only 2 fish in a 54 gal. tank!!!


thanks, mike

[lReef lKeeper]

it MIGHT happen, but remember ... it's a DAMNsel fish. DAMNsel = aggressive. and it only gets worse the bigger they get. thats my exp. anyway. that is why i HAD to remove all aquascaping and get them out of the tank.

[dsfdbutterfly]

Mine did just fine I thought. Then I started to grow with the hobby and wanted to add more fish. If all you ever want to keep is the two fish in your 54 gal then you will be fine. They don't really go after other things (like coral)that I am aware of. The thing is that you will probably want to bring home some show fish. This will create the problem. If you just have one damsel then he will more than likely just Terrorize the new fish. When you are trying to aclimate a new tank mate this can create problems. I didn't actually have a problem until I added a few other aggressive tank mates and they fed off of eachother. The damsels were able to just go after the new guys better because of their size and the fact that they were a pact. If that makes any sense. I also noticed that the larger they got the worse it got. So the longer it stays in the tank the more likely you are to have trouble. That is not to say that you can't own one of these fish. Just don't plan on owning anything shy, smaller or intimitated easily or else it won't hold up to them. They are relentless in their pestering.

[mattsfishin2989]

OOOH OOOH OOOH pick me i know lol umm the best way to get any fish out of your tank is to get a piece of fishin line like 8 lb test or 4lb if you can find it. then tie the best knot you to a 1/16 or 1/24 size hook. Clean it with hot water then get a piece of frozen food such as brine or sponge and cut a 1/4 of it and stick it on the hook, be sure to have a little bit of the tip of the hook stickin out that way its easy to hook em. Then stick in in the tank real slow as you would feeding them and dance it about midlevel around the tank but dont shine it in his face. when he bites on it give it a little pull (hook em) then yank em out and throw in the toilet.

[mikeniccy]

I just caught my damsel. I used a suggestion I think I found skimming this fourm if I remember correctly. I let my net sit in the tank for about a day for the damsel to get used to it. I put the net near his spot in the tank. then I used brine shrimp in the net while holding the net about 3 or 4 inches above the water and would keep pouring a few shrimp in to the net and sure enough he came to get a bit and whamo I caught him. It took about 3 min. Maybe I got lucky? but its worth a shot...

[gobbler]

Good Job! We just caught a yellowtail blue and a large (and aggressive) Chromis out of our 75 (130 lb live rock and some coral frags). Didn't want to dismantle either. Set a soda bottle trap, didn't work; tried nets and bait, didn't work; tried the hook and line method (fish too small or hook too big!), didn't work. Finally took my largest net, cut off the netting, paperclipped a clear fish bag as a net, let it set in the tank for a day or 2 and let the fish feed in it. Let my wife (more patience) sit quietly and put surface pellets above the net and waited until each got in on their own!

[mtodd001]

I think I'll try the net method w/the brine, he loves to eat brine shrimp. Last nite the Damnsel was picking up the small crabs and dropping them from the top of the tank. I don't know why, but it really p#@#& me off!!

[lReef lKeeper]

he was probably trying to break thier shells so he could eat them. its the same method the Golden Eagle uses on turtles. they fly them about 500 feet up and drop them on a rock to break the shell for dinner. i saw that on the Discovery Channel the other day.

[Randy-L]

Sounds like fun. I have 3 to catch. :-(