Mr. Saltwater Tank TV Friday AM Quick Tip #124: How to Put Your Saltwater Fish In Timeout
These days, bullies are everywhere including the fish in your saltwater tank. While the easy solution is to remove the bully fish, sometimes you’re attached to the bully and you’d like to keep it around, assuming it learns to play nice. Here’s one way to attempt to teach the bully how to “just get along”
Browse the Store! Questions?
Mark, good tip. I used this process on my Bicolor Dottyback, he played nice for years and then he turned on his tank mates. After a “time out” in the sump, all is well again. 🙂
You can also ‘rearrange the furniture’!
Hi Mark,, great tip!! Thanks so much!!
I think I’m going to give that a try with my neon dottyback. I believe he is largely responsible for the recent demise of my Lubbock’s wrasse. I’m gettign ready to add a Carpenter’s wrasse and a Midas blenny. I’ll trap the psuedochromis and either move him to the sump or into another tank for a few weeks. I might try to re-add my Melanurus wrasse as well.
Placing a mirror at any point outside the tank will help to dispite bully fishes
Hey Mark i do that with my purple tang.i leaving in my sump for about a month when i get a new fish after that i put back in the main tank and he’s fine with the other fish!
Great tip!! I had a diamond goby that some how ended up in my sump on his own right after I bought him. I was worried sick he was going or could have possibly already gotten hurt getting there. I emptied that thing immediately and got him back into the main tank. Now I know if I put one there it’d be ok! I will surely try this if ever in need b/c I love all my babies!
I will pay well for a ‘contract hit’ carried out on a 5 yr old maroon clown living in my 120 mixed invert/fish tank. He mugs ANY fish within reach of ‘his’ four sister bubble tip anemones. I bought him as a fry as he was the smallest maroon I had ever seen, knowing full well that he would grow to be aggressive. Now he’s 4 inches of pure terror. Tried trapping and tried netting him at night ( for hours!)– no luck, the tank is full of very large pieces of live rock all glued together. So no ability to strip the tank down. Someone suggested ‘going fishing’ for him with a trout hook ( micro hook). I think I might try that unless someone here has any other ideas? I have three black and white domestic clowns ( very well behaved) living in the sump that need to get into that tank soon — but the maroon WILL murder them on sight, so in the sump they live. Desperately seeking a clever solution. JR
Just read the idea of the mirror I will try that at dusk tonight. Thanks, JR
Make sure you don’t put them in with the skimmer as the could get sucked to death on the intake.
That’s kinda what you bought, a maroon. I wouldn’t put any clownfish with that guy.
I have a big tube anime, can I cut him back with out hurting him several, fish missing .I have a lot of fish missing. I really need help please.
I’ve found this also works with troublesome hermits that might have tried munching a coral. A few weeks in the fuge usually gets them back in the habit of picking at algae again instead of your corals.
And this is just one more reason why the all knowing and wise Reef Gods gave us sumps … 😀
Wonderful idea to spread around… 🙂
Ever try getting a fish out of an established reef…..almost impossible ! They hide behind the rock when they see you coming. Good Luck.
Roger…catching a fish out an established reef is possible. Here’s how I caught my 6-line wrasse out my 90g tank without moving a single piece of rock
Before attempting this or any other invasive method, here’s another, very simple trick to try. Take a small mirror and place it against the glass. Often, the aggressive fish will either be most enraged by a conspecific in “his” domain or; like many bullies, will be knocked into a submissive mode by the appearance of “another” fish displaying an aggressive posture! I have successfully used this many times with the aggressor either becoming a more peaceful tankmate or, after exhausting most of its aggression on the reflection, becomes far more tolerant of the other fish in the tank. I’ve used up to 3 mirrors, adding the others; if needed, to “gang up” on the bully
Not trying to hijack your thread; Mark, just offering a little known idea that I learned way back when, in the freshwater side of the hobby. It doesn’t work every time but often. All depends on the fish; whether it truly is an alpha or just acting like one, in the absence of competition
great tip if you can catch a remove the bully fish
A helpful tip! Thanks!
Saw the video….you are quite the showman! It can be done, but I have to go out and buy a trap and wait around for the culprit to take the bait!
Another gadget to buy…..
Roger…roger…roger…I know you are already staring at your tank for hours on end anyways, so all you have to do is add in the trap. And wait…and stare….
You should have kept the wrasse. It gave your tank personality!
What did you end up doing with him?
I gave him to a local fish store. Then everyone from the local club came to visit the bully! It was like visitation!
My refugium has a 24/7 lights on schedulle, my question is: is it ok. to leave my bullie fish with that conditions and for how long?
ncamarop..I’d set your lights to an on/off/daylight schedule while the bully is in there.
True. I do stare at mt tank, but more so at my wife when she wears that mini-skirt!
It beats the reef tank any day!
Hi Guys!
Since I’ve been putting the Carbon and GFO in a media reactor as opposed to just floating the bag in the sump, the chaeto in the refugium is gradually losing color. The phosphates and nitrates are zero. The corals ( a complete mix) and fish are happy campers.
Should I dump the chaeto or just let it come to some equilibrium? Let the cards fall what may.
I’ve caught most fish with just a piece of clear acrylic (plexiglass) that has the same height or a little more than your tank. Just stick in inside the aquarium in a corner without rock (there must be at least one corner without rocks 🙂 Feed the fish, once he enters close the corner, now it’s much more easier catching him there even if other fish were trapped too. Btw great tip Mark!
Roger…The cheato has been robbed of nutrients which is a good thing. Therefore I’d remove it. If your nutrients rise again, you can add the cheato back in
Roger…you are the guy who has the topless water change wife right?
jasPR, to remove her, check out the link Mark posted about catching his 6- line.. If you don’t have a trap and don’t want to buy one, you can make one using an old plastic soda bottle (cleaned and sanitized of course). There are lots of videos on how to make one on YouTube. It’s how I caught my Maroon when I finally got tired of her biting me and attacking everything else in the tank.. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the help Betillo, But I’ve tried the trap route with a minnow trap and also an inverted bottle. This clown stays close to the anemone and is VERY cautious about foreign objects in the tank. tried the trap for days and he won’t venture out of the safety of the anemone. Once the trap is removed, he extends his range. This is also a ‘smart’ fish as he now knows he is my ‘prey item’ and if I even stand in front of the tank races for the anemone or behind the massive coral wall. Smart. And so now you know my frustration and desire to ‘bump him off’! I’m now going to combine the mirror idea with the apple juice bottle trap I made- gluing the hand mirror onto the bottom of the apple juice bottle and put the cut off neck in backwards so that it is like a minnow trap. The bait I used ( food) didn’t work. But he so territory minded, maybe his reflection is the best bait of all? JasPR
Hi Mark, A Friday quick tip suggestion: When considering building a stand for your aquarium, always put adjustable feet on it. Your house may not be level (very common in my country – old wood floors) or your stand may be out. It also allows air under your tank stand in case you have a ‘flooding’ mishap – which we all know is inevitable in the hobby. Thanks for the videos, keep them coming. Always like the longer ones you do , reviews etc. Cheers
JasPR get a simple fishing pole(bamboo or top section of a fiberglass pole), use sinker lead(or lead strips to hold down freshwater plants) and a small hook. Bait it with squid or I used Formula One Ocean cubed food, break a small piece and go fishing!!! Place baited hook near problem fish and pull it up when fish you dont want hooked go for bait. Took me 3 tries and Shazam I yanked my clown wrasse!!!
I was about to bring up the 6 line wrasse trap. Funniest thing I ever saw..definitely check it out.
thanks for sharing mark……. i tried it on my damsel and my chromis, both the time it worked great….. but im still concerned on buying a 6line, coz since ever i got into reefing, its been my fav lookin fish… i have a breeding pair of clowns and 2 tiny local gobies, jus scared of adding it…. what do u suggest?
That’s funny, like giving them their own apartment for being bad. If anybody has had a bad fish like my Clarkii that like to pull food off the clips, rocks or anything else I try to use to feed nori give the guys at: http://www.new-era-aquaculture.com/
a try. I was giving my clown fish a sharp scolding until I discovered these food discs that attach to the glass. Now he behaves himself and everybody eats. No more clips for me
Stunning discovery: My ph has been running 8.3-8.4. I then recalibrated the Pinpoint meter (last time was 1 year ago), and the real ph is 7.9-8.1. You think it’s time for buffer? I have been using the 2 part C-balance (5ml twice a day of each for a 75 gallon reef). Should I up the C-Balance or should I use Kalkwasser in the RO replacement water?
Hey Mark,
Soo funny! I got the the beach bikini water change wife !