catching blennie

[blueboy]

i have a black sailfin algae blennie that i have to catch in my 120G reef. after about 2 years of model citizenship, he suddenly started biting at my squamosa clam; which was just added a couple months ago, and hadn't been opening fully lately. finally last week i saw it happen twice. he just swam up, and chomped the clam right in the middle of the mantle. the clam withdrew, of course, and only slowly began to re-open. then several hours later, i witnessed it again. so, i put one of those mesh cages over it, the ones made for keeping fry in the tank without being eaten. the clam just barely fits and can't expand fully in the net either. so, i really need to get that blennie out of there, but he is pretty swift, and hides as soon as he sees the nets. i've had the nets dangling in the water for a few days now, in hopes that he'll get used to them, but he's still very cautious. any ideas? i considered giving him another chance, now that the clam has been protected for several days, and see what happened, but i don't think i could trust him again, even though he's lived with two other clams for over a year now. i guess, like they say, no fish is "reef-safe".

[falcondob]

Abe,

Don't leave the net in there. When you move it later, that will cause everyone to scatter. Prey animals are very sensitive to movement ("here comes the tiger..", kind of thing). When something doesn't move, it is just the same as a rock to a prey animal. As long as it doesn't move; when it does, evolution kicks in and they "run" before they even know why. What you have to do is desensitize them to the net and to the net moving.

(1) Feed your fish with the net for 3-4 days. In other words, let them eat all their food out of the net. ALL of it. Leave it in, moving it slowly (very slowly at first, increasing later), until you are sure that all of the fish have made the decision that "Food is in that thingy."

(2) If they don't go in after it, take it out, refrig (or throw away, probably best option, spoiled food is bad), and try again later.

(3) If they still don't go after it, rinse and repeat the next day. "Fish, if you don't go in net, you don't get to eat."

(4) When the fish are going in after the food, you are slowly moving the net, and they eat all the food, the hard part is over. Perform the procedure for a few days, more is better.

(5) When you decide it is time to spring the trap, wait for the little stinker to go in, make sure you can get him, and pull the net even if you get some other fish.

(6) If, after 3-4 days of trying, the fish just don't get it, put the net in, and spread the food around with the net. Keep the net moving in and around them as they feed. Do this for a few days and start the process over.

If you can get him without scarying the other fish, the others will stay conditioned to the net.


If that doesn't work try a Fish Trap.

If that doesn't work buy a big Domino Damsel, he should get rid of just about everyone.

[blueboy]

that sounds like a good idea, i'll give it a try. i'm already resigned that this is going to take some doing.

[falcondob]

that sounds like a good idea, i'll give it a try. i'm already resigned that this is going to take some doing.

I had no choice but to remove a Blue-throated Trigger from my 300 gallon. I had sold the pair. I had to move EVERY piece of 400 pounds of liverock to get her out. And that was with two people chasing her. It was really ok, because we had planned a re-aquascaping anyway. But, it shows how difficult it can be to catch a fish in your tank.

[blueboy]

yeah, that's kind of what i have in the back of my mind( tearing down the whole tank). i'm debating if i should get rid of the clam instead(much easier to catch!), but i don't know how long the blennie will be trustworthy with my other clams.

[Viet-Tin]

You can try and make your own fish trap. I used a 2 liter bottle and cut a flap door on the side and put some food inside and held it near the bottom of my tank. Almost all my fish were inside within minutes of putting it inside. This is how I caught my kole tang and pygmy angel after they started to nip my clams.

[blueboy]

hmnn... i might have to give that a shot too!