Fishing for a Lunare Wrasse

[jcnkt_ellis]

So, I made the mistake of putting a 4 inch Lunare wrasse in my reef tank because of how beautiful they look and now majority of my snails and crabs are gone and I'm left trying to catch what seems like a very smart fish. I've currently tried the following:

- Soda bottle fish trap (he looks at it but never goes in)
- frozen food in a fish net (he eats the food that falls out of the mesh)

I'm staying away from chasing him with a net, tearing up the rock work, or draining the tank because he burrows in the sand when frightened. On that note, I can't get him while he sleeps for the same reason.

I'm looking for suggestions above and beyond the norm at this point...

[Flyride95]

This may sound wild but you can go down to academy and get some very very small hooks that have no barbs on them and actually fish him out. I haven't done it yet as the soda bottle trick always worked for me but I have seen one get caught like that.

[Zen Reef]

I have a fish trap I made that you can use. I had a hard time getting my clown wrasse to go in it but after a week of putting food only in the trap, he finally went for it. Then I decided to keep him..lol but that's a different story. Let me know if you want to give it a shot.

[reefreak]

i have one of tuans fish traps i can lend you just to pass it on.

[Sherita]

If you can borrow a regular acrylic trap, try putting a laminated picture of a lunar wrasse at the back of the trap where he can see it. They hate themselves, he will most likely charge in there to fight with the other "fish". A mirror will get a reaction too. Mine routinely fights with his reflection, LOL.

[Zen Reef]

If you can borrow a regular acrylic trap, try putting a laminated picture of a lunar wrasse at the back of the trap where he can see it. They hate themselves, he will most likely charge in there to fight with the other "fish". A mirror will get a reaction too. Mine routinely fights with his reflection, LOL.

What an awesome idea! I think I have a piece of mirrored acrylic somewhere. If I find it, I'll cut a piece you can insert into the fish trap. I bet that would work on tangs too since they hate anything that resembles themselves.

[Sherita]

My tangs hate EVERYTHING, lol. But you haven't seen upset until you see a male zebra bar goby catch his reflection when he is in spawning mode. Four inches of the maddest thing you will ever see.

[jcnkt_ellis]

Thank you for the responses, I'm going to try the mirror idea, I think. Tuan, I'll give you a PM about when we can meet up, I think we're pretty close to each other.