Fed up with Aggressive Fish! Help!

[kaymac731]

We have 2 salt water tanks - a 46 gallon bow front and a 29 gallon Biocube. We inherited a snowflake eel with the 46 gal and we bought the 29 gal to put him in and turn it into our aggressive tank. Well, we got some aggressive fish, and then couldn't catch the eel. Now we can't keep any shrimps and are constantly replacing hermits/snails in both because of these stupid guys eating the poor little things.

I'm ready to put the aggressive fish in the 46 gal and move some smaller non-aggressive fish to the 29 gal. So here's what's in each tank:

46 gal:
-snowflake eel
-coral beauty
-flame hawk
-blue velvet damsel
-yellow finned damsel
-blue devil damsel
-4 stripe damsel
-clarkii clown
-cinnamon clown

29 gal:
-humu humu trigger
-spotted hawk

The flame hawk is very friendly and doesn't go after anything, so I was planning on moving him and the 2 smallest damsels (blue devil and 4 stripe) to the 29 gal, and moving the humu and the spotted hawk to the 46 gal. All the fish would then be around the same size. The 3 I'd move to the 29 gal are by far the smallest of all the fish.

My question is if everything will get along ok. Mainly the Humu and the Spotted Hawk with what I've got in the bigger tank. I already know the 3 small ones get alone as they are in the same tank now. And how hardy are these fish? Can I switch them right away? The temps in the tank are the same, but the salinities are just a tad different.

Any suggestions, advice, tips would be great. Thanks!

 

[OhNoNemo]

Hello,welcome

Your tanks are both over stocked and "too" small for the eel and humu,a humu will go crazy in a 46.....even though humu's can be PITA no matter what size tank they are in...mine is just evil!
I honestly think unless you plan a big upgrade(nothing smaller than a 125) you need to get rid of the humu and eel and all the damsels

side note: i don't have snails or hermits either,i actually feed hermits to my triggers

 

[14 gallon nanocube]

you need a bigger tank.an eel and humu humu are enough bioload for a fifty five gallon by themselves

 

[14 gallon nanocube]

Hello,welcome

Your tanks are both over stocked and "too" small for the eel and humu,a humu will go crazy in a 46.....even though humu's can be PITA no matter what size tank they are in...mine is just evil!
I honestly think unless you plan a big upgrade(nothing smaller than a 125) you need to get rid of the humu and eel and all the damsels

+1 i was thinking dump them all in two hundred gallon and let the strong survive:bounce:

 

[ErinCahir]

You are WAY overstocked in the 46 gallon. You also do not have enough room for the trigger. They require at least a 70 gallon tank.
Eels and triggers are not invertebrate safe. They eat snails, crabs and shrimp in the wild and that is why they are eating them in your tank.
Damsels are also very aggressive fish.
Please take some things back to the store.

 

[Northstar24]

I'm with everyone else here, both tanks are overstocked. You also mention that the non agressive fish are in the 46, but the stock list is all damsels and clowns - both of which can be some of the scrappiest/aggressive fish in a tank

 

[little_fish]

+1 everyone. You are seriously over stocked, and every single fish you have is an aggressive fish. Also the best way to make aggressive fish more aggressive is to put them into tanks that are too small and then put them in with too many other fish. You have done both.

You need to return both the eel and trigger. You should also return all the damsels, they will go after after any fish you add to the tank, the clowns probably will too.

I would put the clowns in the 29 gal and that is your stocking limit there. I would keep the coral beauty and the two hawks in the 46 and then you can add one more fish.

Please RESEARCH! first. These are animal's lives you are throwing around, and i know you mean well, but you are causing them harm because off all the stress.

There is a species data base on this site and Saltwater Fish: Marine Aquarium Fish for Saltwater Aquariums is a great place to research your future purchase. Please pay attention to how big of a tank your fish need, temperament and compatible fish.

 

[kaymac731]

I appreciate everyone's criticism of me, especially implying that I don't care about the lives of these animals. Let me be clear -- NO ONE cares about these fish more then I do. I sob when we lose even a hermit crab. So please do not be mistaken about my intentions. My husband and I care deeply about the quality of our tanks and spend hours on them daily.

That aside... As far as our "overstocked" tanks go... Our 46 gallon has been set up and established for over a year. Every. Single. Fish. in there gets along. We have NO issues. The most recent addition was over 6 months ago and again NO issues with compatibility and EVERY SINGLE FISH is healthy.

If I could get rid of the eel I would. But can any of you out there tell me how to catch him? Because we have tried everything. I refuse to take absolutely everything out of the tank, possibly lose corals and even fish (because YES I DO care about them) just to take him back to the pet store. By the way - he came with the tank, we did not purchase it, if we didn't take him the guy would've just flushed him. See - I care!

My clowns are fine together, my damsels are good to go... clearly I shouldn't have asked my question on here since no one wants to answer it they just want to tell me to get rid of everything I have that has been fine for the past year.

 

[OhNoNemo]

OK ,slow down .....believe it or not we do want to help....it took my perfect "angel" of a Humu 2 years before he snapped and became a "killer" i can not add anything to my tank now(he leaves his fellow tank mates alone).....and you have one in a 29...he is surely going to go postal sooner than later...,and honestly its just too cramped for that type of fish....i think a little common sense has to come into play here...
If you can honestly sit back and look into your tanks and think they are properly stocked then i guess we're wrong.....

 

[little_fish]

i know you mean well

I know you care about your fish, but miss information is a real problem in this hobby.

But i really am baffled as to how you think it must be ok to keep a fish (the humu) that is going to get 10 inches big in a tank that is only 30 inches long. That is like try to live in your bathroom, would you be happy about that?

Also if you were truly that upset about losing the inverts you have put in there, you might have realized that triggers, the hawlks, and the eel are all designed to eat them and might have stopped putting them in there. I would highly suggest researching the habits of the fish you have purchased.

Also if you spending hours daily on your tank it tends to indicate that something is wrong. I would get you have quite a bit of algae growth in there.

Also a year is nothing on here, many people have had their fish for over ten years. And stress over too many neighbors, bad water quality (you might be ok on that, i have no idea) does wear on fish and will definitely lead to death. This is no different from humans, stressed people tend to get sick much more often then people who arent as stressed.


But you want an answer of how to get rid of the eel. So here is what i would, i would get several piece of plastic that is roughly the size of the tank. Then i would put that in the tank and slowly reduce down the area the eel is stuck in. Then i would remove the rock that he is in and then net him.
But good luck, its difficult to extract any fish.

 

[kaymac731]

I would get rid of the Humu, especially since all he does is cover EVERYTHING in sand. But my husband loves him, and doesn't tank "tank restrictions" seriously. I have to be the voice of reason, which is why we stopped adding to our tanks long ago. If it were up to him he would have one of everything. I understand that the norm is that all these fish are aggressive, but our 46 gallon has been perfect for so long. When we have to move the tank again (as we will since my husband is in the military) I plan to get rid of the eel, and hopefully I can somehow convince him to get rid of the humu. I just do not want to be misunderstood.

 

[little_fish]

If you are moving then you have the excellent option of upgrading! Then you can keep the humu!

And if your hubby doesnt believe in tank restrictions, restrict him to the bathroom for a day. I did that to my roommates when they would not shut up about putting a tang in my tank.

 

[kaymac731]

little_fish:

Have you heard of an exaggeration? We don't literally spend hours in our tanks every day. Our 46 gallon actually requires minimal maintenance. What I meant was we admire it. We make sure there are STILL no issues. We care about it. You can see for yourself that we don't have algae issues at all - as this picture was taken about one minute ago. (please excuse the water marks on the outside of the tank... I didn't get a chance to clean it before I snapped the photo).

And as for your suggestion to get rid of the eel.... if you mean tank separators we might as well remove everything from the tank because there's no way we can fit several pieces of plastic the size of the tank in there. And if you mean a tube - we've tried it he will NOT swim in... not even when there is bait.

 

[kaymac731]

We won't be upgrading because when we move it means he will be deploying, and I will have the 2 tanks already to tend to, plus our 2 dogs, and an infant. So I will pass on trying to start up a new tank. Plus, we can't afford to get ourselves a third tank, but thanks anyways.

 

[little_fish]

There is no immediate way you are going to get him out there without removing stuff. But what im suggesting is putting a partition in there and them move stuff to the other side of that partition, and then slowly make that area smaller until you can scoop him up.

But a suggestion with the tube trick. I would get the tube that you want to eventually catch him in and put it in the tank, leave it there for a week. Then i would start feeding him in there, for two weeks. I would first start by leaving both ends open and placing the food in there. then i would use a net to place the food in one end. Let him get used to eat step. Then when he is comfortable with eating that way, i would cap both ends with a net and pull the tube out of the water and remove him that way. It might take him a while to get each step figured out, but i cant think of any other way of removing him and leaving everything else in the tank.

Also if that fails and he escapes when you try and remove the tube it might take him months to forget that trick. They are much smarter than they look.

 

[meshman10]

+ 1 on everyone and please understand were just tring to help, it's hard to guess someone's demeaner by reading word's. by an agressive tank do you meen a PREDITOR tank? understand somehing your tank mate's are not good tank mate's and someone will become dominate eventially and everyone else will probally die..plz have hubby do some homework before buying...

 

[Rufio808]

Don't keep a humu in a small tank. Trust me. I see them when I snorkel and they swim like JETS!