Any ideas on "trapping" fish?

[Nomadu571]

Hey guys and gals, just wondering if any of you have come up with a nifty way of catching fast (were talking very very fast) aquarium fish?

Story goes, that I was trying to take him out as he is getting big and is going to a friends tank who can home him, however he is very fast and using a net is seeming impossible, have tried two nets and baiting him but he won't have none of it, was thinking about cutting a plastic bottle down putting food in the bottom and waiting for him to swim in the quickly drop a net on the top of the bottle? Any other methods ideas that people know work??

Any ideas are welcome.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

what is he? how big is the tank? imo dont do the bottle, it may be sharp and cut the fish.
do u have a lot of decos? what are they?
its all important x

 

[redsea]

You could try leaving the net toaeards the bottom and when he swims over it lift it up......

 

[vundercoverdog]

I usually use a plastic see thru container to catch him. If he swims mostly towards the top of the tank use the container and sink it causing a vacuum and suck him in. A little stressing but it works and no need to buy one if you have one laying around or even the container top for the API Master test kit works too!

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

i have a broken vase ornament that i 'herd' the fish into, they cant escape from the neck of it and i cover the hole with the net so they HAVE to go into the net.

 

[BBradbury]

Trapping Fish

Nello Nomad...

If you haven't taken all the tank decorations out, then that's the first thing to do. Second, I use a net that's nearly the same width as the tank. You lower the net into the opposite side as the fish and slowly move the net to the other side of the tank.

Again, you have to remove anything that will get in the way of the net, but you'll get the fish.

B

 

[epiphysis]

Just today I went to get some kuhli loaches. The poor guy at the pet store spent almost an hour trying to get 5 of them. Eventually he did with 2 nets.

 

[Nomadu571]

Hey, thank you for the replies. Yes I have deco, lots of it, stones, rocks, wood, ornaments, and plants both planted and fake. It's a 24 gal, he's a golden barb, around 2.5" now at most. He's a very clever fish.

If I hang the net around on one side he will stay at the other end until the net is gone, he knows what it looks like, if I follow him he will hide at the bottom or dodge to the top he has no specific hanging out area, he's all over the tank.

A big net might work, but when I get close to catching him, he will get faster and he is more than prepared to jump out of the water in order to evade either one or two nets as said before, when we brought him they guy took 20 mins to catch him, thought it was funny at the time, how wrong one can be.

He will hide in a corner or under the filter, if I get close or just madly swim around. I've tried waiting and hoping for him to swim past and catch him off guard, but he just won't go near the side of the tank with nets, and one at either end, he stays in the middle, I don't own three nets....yet.

The vase idea sounds good but how do I get him in there in the first place? Food? Last resort maybe a hook and a worm....lol obviously I am prepared to empty the tank of deco but im curious if there is another way. I tried using a jug I use for water changes on another tank, hoping to suck him in container style, but he doesn't come near the jug either.... Starting to think I may have to take everything out, lower the water level and restrict his movements with some sort of divider.

 

[Bubble_B0y]

I turn off all the lights and try to catch the fish in the dark!
- the fish can't see as effectively.

 

[Nomadu571]

Ok I'll give it a try tomorrow, was on m for nearly 40 mins, i don't wanna stress out the tank too much so I'll try again tomorrow and I'll keep you guys posted. Lights off may work as he does calm down a little when the lights go out. Thank you again for replies, keep them coming!

 

[reefdiver]

Do it next time u have a water change that will limit how far up ha can go.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I turn off all the lights and try to catch the fish in the dark!
- the fish can't see as effectively.

This works really well. I caught 8 tetras like this. Turn off all the lights (even the tv) and wait for them to calm down/go to sleep, then about half an hour later go in with a led/bright light and shine it at them. It temporarily stuns them. Then quickly net him!

 

[Nomadu571]

Excellent, I shall try that one later, thankyou all again for replies, very much appreciated.

 

[NoMoreGoldFish]

You don't really have to do it in the dark, just put some red clear plastic over your light source like your torch. They have very poor eye sight for seeing red lights.

 

[Aquaman22]

Just use a bottle, cut off and invert the top, and place bloodworms or some other type of food in there, and wait a few hours leaving it on tje bottom. It alqays works and is very simple. Jist make sure no other fish get trapped cus they tend to do that too.

 

[Nomadu571]

Wikid, that was the original idea, if youve tried and tested it, I'll give it a go. Cheers.