Super Aggresive Psuedo

[karaim]

I have 125 gallon tank with about 250 pounds of live rock.



First I bought 2 damsels (a yellow tail and a greenish one).



A couple of days later I bought a Purple Psuedo, a Blennie, 2 Peppermint shrimp, and 1 Turbo Snail (that's all the LFS had at the time).



A few days later, I bought 10 more Turbo Snails, 20 Nassarius Snails, 10 Hermit Crabs, and 1 Feather Duster (it looked cool).



When I threw in the Nassarius Snails and Hermit Crabs, the Psuedo starting nipping at them. It pulled a crab out of its shell and ate it before I could stop it.



I tried to capture the Psuedo but had no luck (in a 125 gallon tank with 250 pounds of live rock) - it is nearly impossible to catch a fish without removing the rock.



So I took out the crabs and Nassarius Snails until I decided what to do.



A couple of hours later, I came back and found the Yellow Tail Damsel all bitten up and half dead. I saw the Psuedo chasing it. The Damsel later died.



What do I do about the Psuedo? I thought they were reef safe and not too aggressive. But this one is INSANE. I am afraid it will bully all my other fish and eat all my crabs and snails. It even attempted to eat a Turbo Snail, but that was too big for it.



Any suggestions? I want to get rid of the Psuedo, but I can't catch it and I don't want to remove the rocks.

 

[CageUK]

Sorry to hear about your loss!
It does show the value of research though (if I have your fish correct). A quick google bought this up among others.

I have no magic answer about catching the fish without removing the rock.

If you have got a method of dividing the tank off (using tank divider or similar material cut to the rough shape of the rock pile) and try and trap the bully into one section of the tank then either move the tank divider or an additional one towards him to limit his space then plenty of patience with two nets and try to chase him into one of the nets. Sometimes you can sort of sneak up on them with one net while they are fixated on the other, but in all honesty it doesn't work often as they are normally more savvy than that.

Other than that, just bite the bullet and take the rocks out and be thankful you haven't got a tankful of corals as well!

Good luck!

 

[SkiFletch]

Not sure on which side of the Atlantic you reside, but here in the states you can get "The Trap" which is a fish trap designed to catch troublemakers...

You can also try and trick the fish by putting food in a net and getting him to swim in it...