Help me catch a Powder Blue Tang
 

He's wiley.

Anyone have experience getting them out of fully stocked reef? Do they fall for traps? Any psychological tricks I can play?

Trap worked well for me. Just make sure the trap is big enough for the fish. Once in fish will struggle to get out so make sure trap has no sharp edges that could damage the fish.

Place trap in. Next day don't feed. Place food/nori in the trap and wait.
Good luck

I have the aqua-medic kind, is that the one that worked for you?

That trap should be fine as I used same one on couple of my fish and no more than 3 days in and fish out of my tank.:biggrin:
Why are getting rid of a fish that I have been looking to get for a long time..:biggrin:

Hi
 

Ask brad he is good getting fish from tanks

The peace and tranquility of my tank lol. I have a doliatus rabbitfish – I thought they were different enough to not have an issue with each other, but as they've both gotten bigger, what started as a minor skirmish here and there has turned in to something much more sustained. It's always the tang going after the rabbit.

I like them both equally, but the rabbitfish eats caulerpa and valonia. Both are present in my tank, but currently in check anywhere the rabbit can reach. Since he's doing work that I'd otherwise have to do up on a ladder with my butt hanging out of the cabinet, he wins.

Also, if I can get him out, he's yours. He doesn't have the shock of white on his chin/behind the gills that's typical of PBTs. Where you'd expect white, it's a lighter shade of blue than the rest of his body. Leads me to believe he's either some sort of weird regional variant, or a hybrid, so I'd understand if you don't want him. But he's fat as a house-cat, eats anything I put in the tank, is ich free, and has tons of spunk.

I just set up the trap. I doubt he'll go in to it if I put it on the sand, so I've hung it on the glass using three magnets in the same spot I normally put the nori clip. I'm freaked about the magnets in the trap slamming in to each other when I pull the trap away from the glass, so if he starts going in I'll slowly lower the trap every day until it's on the sand.

Catching that tang
 

Does she eat the algae when you scrap the walls? I catch mine with a big net while scraping the wall. Good luck

i stuff plastic bags into all the pass-throughs, caves etc which makes catching fish a lot easier.

My trap is modified and have no magnets.
Place the trap in with a fishing line holding the door open, place the food through the tube on the top as to have it dropped in the trap and wait...keep doing it for 3 days untill all the fish are very conformable going in with no issues as I don't want to spook them and have to wait another week till they are used to it again...then when least expecting it and happily eating I release the line to shut the door with mostly couple fish and the one I want out...voila fish out and to new home.
good luck and be patient.
Yes I would love to have your fish and trust you its healthy.
cheers

Well that was easier than I thought it would be. I now have a very unhappy PBT in the larges chamber of my sump.

Just posted him in the livestock section.

Tank divider
 

I have had luck with putting an tank divider from Big Al's

Basically get the fish on one side and put the divider in

Let him slow down a bit and go in for the catch

This way you only have to move a few rocks...well I guess it depends on your tank layout...

Good luck!

He has already got the fish out and I think with the trap it took Adam one day....and hoping within 48 hrs Powder blue will be in my tank :biggrin:

I came up with an ingenious and incredibly effective way to catch fish, especially tangs. I cut a small eggcrate wall, and use zip ties to create a hinge that attached to another piece, the door. I just place that in the sand bed to essentially create a "run", and leave it in the tank for an hour. Get your seaweed into the tank near the edge of the run, and slowly move it in, then when they swim in, you just close the door. The run is about as wide as my net, so it makes catching very easy!