Help

Hello,

I have a bit of a problem. I didn't feel it was a full on emergency so I didn't want to clutter the emergency sub forum.

I'm in the process of taking the damsels out of my 65 reef setup. A little bit of info, my tank is an all in one, there is an overflow chamber with a HOB skimmer, that feeds to another chamber that houses my bio balls, which then feeds to another chamber where the pump lives and feeds back into the tank. Long story short I put the biggest, smartest and meanest damsel in by the pump (with it off) to hold her for a few minutes until I had the proper container setup for transport. (this was an oversight on my part). I didn't realize that there was a large enough slot in the bottom of the chamber for her to get under. On top of that there is a small "cave" thats been created in the bio balls just on the other side of the partition. Now I can't get her to come back to the side that I can catcher her on.

So now I've got a fish that is stuck and I'm having difficulties getting her out. I was going to turn the pump off and try to entice her out with some food. The only other option is to take some of my bio balls out for a couple minutes to try to catch her.

The "issue" with that is I've heard, maybe incorrectly, that if I go moving the balls around or taking them out even temporarily can cause the tank to re-cycle. I don't want to let her die, but I don't want to risk the rest of my tank either. Suggestions?

I'm including a couple of bad pics to help illustrate what I'm talking about.

Thanks in advance!

Zach

 

I got her! Pump off with some food and patience.