Poor customer service

[Animal-Chin]

I don't know your tank but here is how I got my 6 line out.

My tank is 6 feet long and packed full of rock and coral, I was NEVER going to catch this guy with traps or nets so I started a mini tear down. I took everything out of 1/3 of my tank, the coral and rock and left it empty. I then made a cheap plastic divider that was the dimentions of the width and hight of my tank that I could slide in to divide the tank. I put it half way in so there was still a large opening under it. I then chased the wrasse to the empty side of the tank but instead of catching it I slid the divider down and trapped him on the empty side of the tank. I could then easily scoop him out as there were no obstructions.

Then put the side of the tank back together. It was a pain but better than a full tear down. Some fish are just uncatchable.

[mrhasan]

This should work pretty well if you are desperate and want revenge:



Jokes aside, I have also read about the sudden flash of light. And apparently, red nets also help since fishes cannot see red that easily.

[soapy]

I got one of these guys out with a bit of 3/4 inch ID tubing using the syphon method. The syphon pull is pretty hard if the fish gets close to it at all he will get pulled through. I chased the fish around a bit with some grabbers until he settled in a place he thought was safe then I slowly moved the syphon to where he was and bingo he went down in a flash. This doesn't hurt the fish either.

[Borderjumper]

I caught a nasty 6 line once by using a mirror as bait in my little homemade fish trap, he couldn't stand not trying to fight with him self!

[Snappy]

Many fish are hit & miss. I have a yellow clown goby and love it but I have a 400 gal tank full of sps colonies so he seldom spends too much time in any particular coral.

[brisco]

I just picked up an arrow decorator crab. The lfs DID tell me that they are not entirely reef safe. Love the guy but now he is wearing all of my fire and ice polyps on is left arm! Looks like a bouquet of flowers lol!

[Ram3500]

Originally Posted by The Guy

I'm told that when your tank lights are off and you shine a flashlight on them there blinded and you can snag them that way. Never tried it myself, but it's worth a try.

Originally Posted by soapy

I got one of these guys out with a bit of 3/4 inch ID tubing using the syphon method. The syphon pull is pretty hard if the fish gets close to it at all he will get pulled through. I chased the fish around a bit with some grabbers until he settled in a place he thought was safe then I slowly moved the syphon to where he was and bingo he went down in a flash. This doesn't hurt the fish either.

I have succeeded !!! I waited for about two hours after lights out got my trusty mag flashlight blinded the little bastard. Then I sucked him out with 3/4 inch tubing using the siphon method directly into my sump.Thanks to Laurie and Soapy the two methods worked great together.

[sumpfinfishe]

I have to throw in two cents here regarding the whole customer service issue. Sure it is great to have staff who know something about what they sell, however this is a very complex hobby, its not like a simple cat or dog market when it comes to buying the thousands of creatures that we all maintain in our mini ecosystems. Everyone who has a reef tank/ fish tank stocks it with there own personal preference of fish, corals, sand, rock, and equipment. Many people who work in fish stores may not even have a tank at home or they are new emloyees so we must remember to do our home work when making such purchases. I was once told by Eric Boreman that if a person can keep a thriving reef tank then you can basically consider yourself a mini marine biologist. So if someone at a store who does not have the extensive knowledge to answer a question regarding livestock or equipment remember that to be a successful reef keeper means reading tons of books and magazines, or countless hours of online articles and post, or simply years of experience in this hobby. A person cannot expect that just because someone works in a fish store that they can provide all the answers to your questions or provide the level of advice you want, especially if they are not personally involved in the hobby or if they have little hands on experience. Even if they have the experience, you simply cannot expect a fish store employee to sit down with every customer to spend 10 minutes listening as to what you have in your tank at home so they can advise you what to add or not. The responsibility is that of the hobbiest not a store or employee.

[fixerupper]

Agreed.
OTOH many of us aren't saying they should.
But if they don't know they should attempt to either find someone who does or admit they don't know. Anything else is well, LYING or crappy service. Shops that consistently have that calibre of staff don't deserve our business or our sympathy when (not if) they fail.