So I need to catch a yellow tang from my 55, any tips to get him out without tearing apart alot of my rock work? I've heard people have had good luck with fish traps but am not too keen on spending $45 to catch a single fish haha.
Catching a yellow tang (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter WadePW
- Start date
a fish trap. 
Depending on rock work if you can create a divide to allow you to inert a piece of egg crate you'll effectively create 1/2 as large of a problem. Folks have has success going in at night/with a red light and netting them, never tried it myself.
a trap with some nori in it and you've have him out in a day or so. Tangs are dumb and follow their tummies anyplace.
Depending on rock work if you can create a divide to allow you to inert a piece of egg crate you'll effectively create 1/2 as large of a problem. Folks have has success going in at night/with a red light and netting them, never tried it myself.
a trap with some nori in it and you've have him out in a day or so. Tangs are dumb and follow their tummies anyplace.
Mandarin_Jake
Senior Member
Double nets. One in each hand, corral it to a corner. I have usually good success with that as long as your aquascape and coral placement isn't too complex.
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2009
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- 2,523
It took 5 min in my 300 with a fish trap and some Nori.
a fish trap.
Depending on rock work if you can create a divide to allow you to inert a piece of egg crate you'll effectively create 1/2 as large of a problem. Folks have has success going in at night/with a red light and netting them, never tried it myself.
a trap with some nori in it and you've have him out in a day or so. Tangs are dumb and follow their tummies anyplace.
I've caught several tangs by hand by getting them accustomed to eating out of my fingers (and then swimming into my cupped hand to get the the food between my thumb and index finger), and then grabbing at the critical moment. Really.
(You have to make this work the first time though - if you fail, and the fish gets spooked by the attempt, it will take time to regain the fish's trust - they have long memories.)
If you need the tang out right away, then this is maybe not an option though. You'd need to work with the fish for a while to get it ready for this.
(And my current purple tang has a whole different personality than the tangs I did this with in the past (a sailfin, and a Paracanthurus, and I think maybe a scopas once as well) that I don't know if this would work with that fish (this purple tang is not nearly so trusting - don't know if this is a species thing or an individual personality thing) ).
(You have to make this work the first time though - if you fail, and the fish gets spooked by the attempt, it will take time to regain the fish's trust - they have long memories.)
If you need the tang out right away, then this is maybe not an option though. You'd need to work with the fish for a while to get it ready for this.
(And my current purple tang has a whole different personality than the tangs I did this with in the past (a sailfin, and a Paracanthurus, and I think maybe a scopas once as well) that I don't know if this would work with that fish (this purple tang is not nearly so trusting - don't know if this is a species thing or an individual personality thing) ).
If you need the Tang out right away: take the water level down to just a few inches and put it into buckets. Then chase the Purple Tang into a specimen container with a net. Put the water back in afterwards. they can't see the clear specimen containers very well so their more apt to swim in. You can also use a red light which isn't in the spectrum fish can see. This makes them impervious to your efforts. Another good way to do this is to trap them while they sleep in the early morning hours. I did a video on catching fish in your reef last year.
[video=youtube;xREPjFKW-BM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xREPjFKW-BM[/video]
[video=youtube;xREPjFKW-BM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xREPjFKW-BM[/video]
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This will not be the last time you need it. Spend the money or make your own from scrap acrylic. Easy to build from acrylic scraps. The bigger you make it the better. Too small and tangs and larger fish are going to be apprehensive to get in.
Here is the one I made, It has never failed.
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f...inutes-or-less-66635.html?highlight=fish+trap
I tie the string to the door of the stand. Sit back in a chair with my leg within reach to shut the stand door when the fish is in. If doesn't go in right away. Leave it in the tank and only feed from it. A day or so later and fish are swimming in and out when your not even feeding.
Here is the one I made, It has never failed.
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f...inutes-or-less-66635.html?highlight=fish+trap
I tie the string to the door of the stand. Sit back in a chair with my leg within reach to shut the stand door when the fish is in. If doesn't go in right away. Leave it in the tank and only feed from it. A day or so later and fish are swimming in and out when your not even feeding.
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Gary, good suggestions, but you have to have the right sort of rockwork to be able to do that without tearing a bunch of stuff apart. It would not work in some of my tanks, for example - in my original reef tank there is a big open space under the rocks in the back where the fish would surely be when the water is lowered (that tank actually has a whole lot more swimming space in it than initially meets the eye).
(incidentally, I'm not trying to get my purple tang out - I was just using it as an example of a fish that might be too wary)
(incidentally, I'm not trying to get my purple tang out - I was just using it as an example of a fish that might be too wary)
My rockwork goes pretty much from one side to another, so its difficult to move just a few rocks unfortunately. Think i might just bite the bullet and buy one, Heard there is a diy 2 liter bottle one online, might look into that first.
David, the more I think about your trap design the more impressed I am. The ability to drop food down into it through the PVC pipe is kind of genius. I didn't realize how special this aspect of the design was until I reread your post above, talking about only feeding from the trap for a few days.
Here is my idea that's worked extremely well for me several times and is very low stress on the fish. It's also dirt cheap.
With your rock work being end to end it will only work if he tends to come to the front of the tank.
http://www.tcmas.org/v4/forums/showthread.php?t=59141
With your rock work being end to end it will only work if he tends to come to the front of the tank.
http://www.tcmas.org/v4/forums/showthread.php?t=59141
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nubbs
Senior Member
Are you close to North saint paul? If so you can borrow mine.
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