Catch me if you can...

[HoppyBunny]

...that is what my six line wrasse was thinking as he nimbly avoided my attempts to catch him. In a few minutes the lights will go out and I will attempt a sneak attack, but I have an inkling that this will be unsuccessful as well.

Please tell me that someone has a fantastic way to catch a six line that does not involve removing all of the live rock from my tank. Any help would be appreciated.

[Gseclipse02]

feed and scoop with a pond net lol

[HoppyBunny]

feed and scoop with a pond net lol

He sees that net coming from a mile away...

[hobogato]

you can try a fish trap. there are a couple of them that i made floating around somewhere here in s.a.

[Pennies2Cents]

Not sure what your tank size is but in our old 240 we used 2 pieces of egg crate placed together to off set the squares and the length and or height of the tank and corner him.. :) then slowly minimize the space he is in.. then scoop him right up! :)

Hoppy Fishin' hope this helps for you like it did for us..

[HoppyBunny]

you can try a fish trap. there are a couple of them that i made floating around somewhere here in s.a.

I may need to see if I can get my hands on one.


Not sure what your tank size is but in our old 240 we used 2 pieces of egg crate placed together to off set the squares and the length and or height of the tank and corner him.. :) then slowly minimize the space he is in.. then scoop him right up! :)

Hoppy Fishin' hope this helps for you like it did for us..

This is definitely worth a shot, we have plenty of egg crate laying around.


Who knew such a little guy would be such a bully! He is doing his best to tear apart our mystery wrasse fin by fin. We have put the mystery in the QT tank for now because he was much easier to catch, but I was hoping to put the six line in the QT while the mystery got established and they trying to reintroduce the six line. As hard as he has been to catch, I think i might be better of selling him or taking him to a LFS than putting him back in. I would hate to have to try to catch him again if he continued to bully!

[txmaverickmh]

I hate to say it, and it is rather embarassing, but I have had to take my 40gal cube apart THREE times trying to catch fish that were too elusive. I have never tried a fish trap, but putting a bunch of buckets on the floor, filling them up with water, and then all of your rock and stuff, and then you catch whatever darn fish you were hunting.

I hate catching fish, sounds so easy but so rediculously hard!

MH

[HoppyBunny]

I am proud to say the nighttime sneak attack was successful! I waited until the six line was asleep and carefully slipped a gallon size ziploc bag over the rock he was sleeping in. Then quickly lifted the rock from where it sat and closed the bag. Then I crossed my fingers and hoped he was in there...and he was!!! Now the six line is in QT and the mystery wrasse is back in the DT.

Yay!!!

[Mike]

Our sixline was also a bully to our mystery and had to go. It seems they can be hit or miss since we had had the sixline for like 2+ years before he was a problem.

Congrats on your successful catch. We have a couple of fish in our display we cannot catch. Very frustrating...

[corruption]

The problem with adding a 6 line and a mystery, is they're from the same genus. They will always fight, even in large settings most likely -- they view eachother as direct competition. The 6-line is far more likely to be the agressor in that relationship as well :)

HoppyBunny: I know you're not going to like the option, but you need to choose between the 6-line and the mystery wrasse -- or find another tank to add the 6 line to -- because this will likely never go away, even with separating them in different tanks or breaking up the existing dominance (rearranging the tank when adding the fish back).. I expect that no matter the situation, this will always be a fight, and it WILL be to the death.

Edit: For reference, both the mystery and six-line belong to the Genus Pseudocheilinus :)

-Justin

[HoppyBunny]

I know you're not going to like the option, but you need to choose between the 6-line and the mystery wrasse

That is exactly the plan, the six line will not be going back into the DT. We did read about housing the two in the same tank and thought that it might work because the six line is a new inhabitant and is substantially smaller than the mystery. Obviously, we were wrong, and thankfully we avoided any casualties.

[corruption]

Yeah -- unfortunately, its largely an inevitability with a pair of Pseudocheilinus... You can try other Sp. wrasse, depending on the size of the tank -- fairy wrasse and flasher wrasse don't usually have as many aggression issues, but they're not unheard of either.. just less common than keeping conspecifics :)

-Justin

[HoppyBunny]

My tank is a 110. I think i will just stick with the one wrasse, I don't want to have to deal with this again!

Hmmm...unless I find the perfect Scott's fairy wrasse...

[corruption]

A 110, with a good amount of hiding places, should be ample for your mystery wrasse and a different Sp. of wrasse to co-habitate happily.. Can't guarantee it, because there are precious little guarantees in this hobby, but I'd give it a good chance of working :)

-Justin