Capturing a fish without tearing up the whole tank.

Surely someone has a fool proof way short of draining a tank till there is no escape for netting a fish.
I've got 5 juvie Angels in a tank with 4 serpae's that are making life miserable for the angels... AND, it's a well planted tank.. I've tried sneaking up on them in the wee hours of the day, at first light and nothing has allowed me to snag these sob's without wreaking havoc within the environment... A big dose of Quaaludes?..

Have you tried using two nets and getting on both ends of them? Or you can take a piece of acrylic and section off a portion of the tank and they will have less room to move around, hopefully making it easier for you to grab the little buggers.

Yea.. the two nets are tomorrows solution. but it will still tear up the tank.. oh well. ... bite the bullet and the plants will grow back...

Go to Youtube and type in "fishtrap", neat ideas and fun to watch.

these traps work everytime.

I have found the two net solution works great !

here is a trick i use with my fish, i hold a mirror up to the aquarium, and the fish becomes captivated with the other fish(actually himself ) and i net them from behind quite easily Works with aggressive fish really well

Deadred wrote:

here is a trick i use with my fish, i hold a mirror up to the aquarium, and the fish becomes captivated with the other fish(actually himself ) and i net them from behind quite easily Works with aggressive fish really well

Haha! That is a great idea I almost want to try it just to watch them now

I pretty much always use two nets to speed things up. Although at times I wish I have one of those traps... Luckily I don't have to move the fish very often!

lol you guys like doing things the hard way... by a trap you wont even get your hands wet:)

well CW.. ya gotta tell me about this trap!... These fish are atop my workdesk,,,no access to the back of the tank (29Bow), alongside my monitor.. so it's great viewing but sucks when ya need to work on it.... plus... the tank has a brace across the middle!

Here is one I found.Price is a little high but I am sure there would be others out there for less

LINK

here's where I bought mine...
http://coralnuggets.com/product_info.php?products_id=272

Both solutions look great! But me being me (frugal), I'll probably modify a "live bearer" container by cutting a hole in one side and baiting that... the container I have in mind has chambers at each end that holds air causing it to float just at the surface. BIll

I make my own trap and it works great. In this situation it will work even better, because you can make the opening the right size for the tetras and the angels won't be able to fit.

Take a soda bottle (20 ounce or 1 liter) and cut off the top just where the neck meets the tubular body of the bottle. Invert the top and shove it inside the bottle so the screw-cap neck is now inside the bottle. This will resemble a crab trap in design. I use duct tape to secure it.

Put some delicious food inside and submerge. The fish swim in through the narrow neck, but once they are in they can't figure out how to get back out. If the screw-cap neck is a bit small cut that part off to make the opening a bit bigger.

TG.. your approach appeals to my frugal mindset!.. Love the idear!... Dear!... Tks for sharing.. and do you realize...that right now.. including you.. of the 18 online, 7 are part of the Va chapter!....we freaking rock!...

DUH Bill. I like that idea TG wish I would have read that about a week ago when I moved my serpaes. Had to move everything in the tank to get them lol.

and why is no one in chat hmm!

Im there now...

Tankgirls method is a method I tell people to use when they have a loose snake in their house.... didn't think about using it for fish....I've used it for hermit crabs, snakes and geckos.....

lol thats a very old method. sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't:)

cwhip wrote:

lol thats a very old method. sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't:)

Like everything else. I can't wait for the new technology that is being developed for catching aquarium fish.....

the new method that works everytime has been discussed.
better yet get yourself a tiny little barbless hook and go fishing
or wait till early morning have your net ready flip on the light and catch them when they are still half asleep.

Oh Oh !! #22 hook , 1/2 pound test mono ,,, bait ,, and you be fishing !!! Yee Haw !!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^whats the true meaning of DIY??? drum roll please......"Destroy it Yourself"

i dunno how my husband does it but he even catchs small really fast fish in my heavy planted tank without moving a thing..... i dont know his secret so cant tell you.... maybe just patience or the fear ill kill him if he uproots everything?