Ideas on how to catch my royal gramma?

[ReefBud508]

Have a question for anyone ......i have a gramma i need to catch asap he really started being a bully to my lubbock wrasse which is 4 times the size of him and quite frank i can care less for the gramma i thought i would take a chance and see how he did and he has been great for over a month now but recently he's been really hounding on my poor wrasse! Yesterday he mad my wrasse jump out my tank in my sleep even with egg crate covers he found a small hole where i had to leave open for my skimmer when i found him he was prob out of tank for over a half hour he was dried up and did not move when i picked him up but i see him take a breath so i grabbed my hand on breeder thingy and put him in it and he is now fine like nothing happened thank god but i really hate this other guy and want him out i have a lot frock work but not to the point he's going to hide for days he comes out very frequently didn't know if anyone had any tips besides to grab a chair and a six pack and net and maybe be able to catch him by end of day tomorrow lol please help!!!!!

 

[Reeffraff]

I think the method all depends on the size of the tank and how many well encrusted coral colonies you have attached to the rock. Small-ish tank and/or easily removable corals = dismantle if you need it done asap. It can help to divide off the tank with a piece of 1/8" acrylic (or other reasonable material) and only dismantle the small section you trapped the fish in. A lot of times grammas tend to have a favorite hideout in a rock so you could potentially just scare it into its hiding rock and remove that one rock, fish and all. Alternatively, you could try to rearrange the rocks and increase feeding frequency, which may help to alleviate the aggression.

 

[OrangeCountyReefer]

Early morning after lights have been out all is your best bet. I couldn't catch a blenny for months and a guy recommend I try early in the morning when its dark. He said fish become dumb at night and sure enough I was able to catch the blenny my first try at 5am.

 

[AlexAbel197]

Cut a bottle right where it starts to curve and invert it, place food inside and then thank me later .

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Take the hook out of a fishing fly. It’s how I caught my engineer goby out of dads 80 Gal. They don’t let go. There’s no hook in there to hurt them but they bite the feathers and hang on. Just lift out of tank and place in new water. My engineer is 2ft long so if needed I could lip him. Not sure how big your gramma is.

 

[ThRoewer]

I used Japanese micro hooks to get some blennies out that had started eating my corals. A little on the brutal side but usually the quickest way to catch a fish.

Another option is a trap with a mirror on its end. Your Gramma is likely a male based on the description and he will go after another male if he sees one, even if it is his own reflection. This worked well for several fish that would otherwise never go into a trap.

With a Gramma there is another option: build him a "house" out of PVC fittings and tubing where he can build his nest in. However, this requires some knowledge about the preferences Grammas have for their caves and it will take a while to catch him this way.