how to catch a fish

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redchick2

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Messages
348
Location
Central Texas
I wold be really thankful for any advice or "tricks" to catch a fish without having to remove all the rocks. I have a fish that has to go! I even open the cabinet to look at the net and it hides in the rocks. Any suggestions?
thanks!
 
I have actually put my net in the tank overnight or 2 so they get use to seeing it then try to catch and it has worked once
 
The two liter coke bottle trick works well too. You can also try to grab it at night abour an hour or so after lights out, turn the lights on and snag it.
 
My fish love my net... they come to it everytime I put it in. It probably has to do with that I feed them from it;)
 
I think it would take more than a couple of days to convince the fish the net was a friend, and the fire shrimp may not thave that long.....

Melosu58.. read the article... Can't imagine fishing for the little guy, but might be fun! :) but most of the other info was useful. thanks!

Roka64 .. could I have a little more detail on the bottle tecnique?

Hadn't thought to train the fish to eat out of the net, so too late for that one, but definitely something to keep in mind.
 
You take an empty coke bottle and cut the top off, right where the bottle starts to curve. Turn the top around so it fits back into the bottom of the bottle, cut the top out so it's big enough to let the fish in, add some food and let the fish swim in and it will have a hard time seeing how to get out....


From
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to
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Does this make sense? THe top pic is before you cut off the upper part and the bottom is after you have cut off the upper part of the bottle and turned it around so it fits back into the bottle....
I had to add the dots so the pic would work.
 
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are you guys serious? i have removed my fish a few times during power outages and such and when moving between my g/f's house with my hands.

just put your hand in the tank, corner the fish near the top of the tank then bring the fish up and grab it, if it jumps out then pick it up then put it in a bucket of water.

ive tried a net before but they get snagged on rocks, your hands are the best tools.
 
I've tried it with my hands and end up getting more water out of the tank than keeping it in the tank! LOL! I guess it really depends on tank size and scaping.
 
you cant run your hand through the water all crazy like.

you need to calmly lure the fish to the corner, if you can clean the inside of your tank w/out the fish going crazy, then they wont have a problem with your hand getting close enough to grab them.
 
I just leave the net in there for a few hours, eventually he'll adjust to it... leave the lid off the aquarium.

Doesn't hurt to put some food inside the net either, but where he can't access it... (only smell it). He'll try to get the food through the net and begin nipping at it... when he's not expecting it move the net and trap him against the glass, and slowly pull him up to the top.

Works every time.
 
Hopefully that will work, and bought a new net today that he "supposedly" can't see.
IF I can't catch him by Sat, will have to take out all the rocks... grrrrr
 
just take everything else outta there and leave him!! ha ha ha thatll teach'em
lol lol lol
 
are you guys serious? i have removed my fish a few times during power outages and such and when moving between my g/f's house with my hands.

just put your hand in the tank, corner the fish near the top of the tank then bring the fish up and grab it, if it jumps out then pick it up then put it in a bucket of water.

ive tried a net before but they get snagged on rocks, your hands are the best tools.

I have a Lionfish and a Rabbitfish...i think that method would be a bad idea, lol. ;)
 
you need to calmly lure the fish to the corner, if you can clean the inside of your tank w/out the fish going crazy, then they wont have a problem with your hand getting close enough to grab them.

Obviously never tried that with a damsel. they are small, quick and go right into the crevices if you even look at them the wrong way. :)
 
i have a 4 striped damsel, he's been in my hands a couple of times. once you get a fish in a corner it should stay there unless you stop for a moment too long.

has anyone ever had a coral randomly show up in the tank? i have two little things growing on an old rock, they are too too small to tell what they are, they are deep red and look like miniature cup coral, are there any corals that lay seeds of any such and remain dormant for months until preferred conditions? it could very well be a two tiny leather corals as they are just a couple of inches away from one but in no way have physical contact w/ each other. these two things are the approximate round size of a BIC pen cap, they are flat on the top, round, have a stub stem like a mushroom, do not have a center mouth, and have micro round polyps all around the edges. the micro polyps are bright red, and the body of the coral is a red/purple.
 
Have you tried dividing off the tank? i have 125g and when I need to catch a fish. I turn off the pumps,feed the fish on one end of the tank, when they come to that end of the tank I slip in a divider, my 6ft tank becomes 2ft, I then move that small section of rock to the other side of the divider. :D
 
I finaly got him out but it involved emptying the tank. Should have thought to try to use a divider. Tried the bottle fish trap, the clowns went right in. The guy I wanted wouldn't come out of hiding till the trap was removed.
 
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