how to catch a pleco?

I'd like to net my 6" common pleco(aka Big Pooper) and trade it in for a bristlenose pleco. Here's the problem: it's in a heavily planted tank! To net this pleco would mean to practically destroy the plants.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to catch a pleco without tearing up the tank? a trap?

ORRRRRRR... would a full sized BN be just as big a pooper and wouldn't matter?

I wouldn't use a net. Easier to use your hand.

Have you tried to use your hand to steer him into a large glass, and then cover the glass with your hand and lift him out?
Has worked for me in the past.

do you feed the guy any kind of food?

put a piece of PVC in tank... one end close... i have catched many that way!

thanks for the suggestions! I'll have to try them out when I feel like wrestling with it!

So I take it that the common pleco should come out and make way for a BN? No one's said NOT to take the common pleco out LOL

yeah im not a fan of common plecos bc of thier size. go with a BN.

IMO the best way to catch a pleco is at night when you feed. Drop a zuccini disc or any vegetable wait for him to eat and scoop him up.. i would not use a net as you could hurt him badly. alternatively you could use pvc or a clear glass and put the veg in there ,when he goes to eat cover the open end and there u go.

I've always just put a large clear container at one end and shooed him in with my hand. They're pretty prone to the power of suggestion and will usually swim right in with gentle waving. If he's really big watch out for the tail. I had an 18 incher in a pond that I didn't know was there. Startled him and he sandpapered my arm for me. Their fins have tough sharp rays which is why you don't want to net(he'll get stuck and hurt himself trying to get out). But, if you try to grab him don't squeeze the fins or you could get a nasty poke.

Yikes!

yeah I'm not sure about using hands to scoop it up. It just has so many other places to flee and hide instead of a glass or a tube.

for reference, my tank was #5 on the freshwater pic of the month. that's the setup that Big Pooper can tear up should it decide to flail about in a panic.

You'd be shocked at how calm some of the plecos can be. I've had some where, as long as they see me approaching, they won't move. At all. I have had to literally tap them on the sides, as if saying "excuse me" to get them to move. They're tough and they know it. That's not to say all are that easy going but a lot are. They'll just flit to another part of the tank. That's why I like using a clear container. They don't even notice it there and swim right in looking for a quieter spot. The biggie is making sure the opening is covered before you move to pick it up. If you have a really cool LFS there you may be able to swing by and get them to demonstate how to do it. I learned it while working at an LFS. However, if you chose that route make sure the person showing you has been there awhile and actually knows what they're doing. Otherwise, you could get a demonstration on how to get it to fling itself wildly around the tank in a full out panic before shooting out of the water and on to the floor.

Don't know if your still having issues but I find the best way to catch em is put some log in the tank and wait for them to latch on. I just lift it out and they come with it! (a special log from a fish store of course, not the back yard by any means)

fishface30 wrote:

Yikes!

yeah I'm not sure about using hands to scoop it up. It just has so many other places to flee and hide instead of a glass or a tube.

for reference, my tank was #5 on the freshwater pic of the month. that's the setup that Big Pooper can tear up should it decide to flail about in a panic.

The hand really is one of the best way. You have to consider that their pectoral fins are spiky, they almost always stab the net, and force you to have to try not to break it's fin, while separating it from the net.

Hands are the best!!

I catch mine by hand all the time. It's usually the easiest way and avoids them getting tangled in the net.