saltwater newbie attempting a 55 gallon reef

BTB0923

Candiru
MFK Member
May 2, 2008
680
0
46
Morrisville, North Carolina
One thing I'm still struggling with is how to remove the damsel in my tank. He hasn't been as much of a bother as I thought he would, but he still bullies my clown every once in a while. I also think he eats a lot of the bugs that live in and on the rocks that I want to save for other fish (like a mandarin goby) that ONLY eat that stuff, so he's got to go.

I made an attempt to use the bottle trick a while back, but failed miserably. The trick is to cut a liter bottle in half and tie it to some string. You then put the bottle in your tank for a week so the fish gets used to it, and then put some food in the bottom of it. The fish goes in to get the food and BAM you pull the bottle up trapping the fish. My damsel never got used to the damn bottle. Wouldn't go near it even after I loaded it with shrimp. Anyways, here are some pics of the rig...


 

BTB0923

Candiru
MFK Member
May 2, 2008
680
0
46
Morrisville, North Carolina
I've added one of my favorite "common" saltwater fish to my tank, a mandarin goby. Very colorful fish, but also only suited for well-established reef tanks. It only eats amphipods, copepods, and other tiny creatures that live in the live rock (big reason why I want to remove the damsel). You can buy live food for it, but it's not practical to do so because live bugs are so expensive.

First day I had it just kinda explored the tank checkin' stuff out. Second day pretty much the same. Third day it was gone. I couldn't find it anywhere and assumed it had died and been eaten by snails. Well, a few days later I went to do the weekly water change and found it swimming around in my refugium. I have no earthly idea how it got in there, but I was relieved to find it.

Here are some pics...







 
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