Taking a fish out of community tank?

hmm.....luring with food? I don't know if this will work but maybe you can put a net in, drop some floating food, and when they are eating see if you can net any.

When I have trouble netting a fish I will put the net in and then leave it there for a bit and then come back and try to scoop them after they have come out from hiding. Another trick I use is try to "heard" a fish into the net instead of chasing the fish with the net. Leave the net still but ready to move it with one hand and with the other hand chase the fish into the net. I use the handle that holds my algae scraper fittings.

Hope that helps

either try to lure them with food, or turn of all the lights in the room, aquarium light off, and shades down. so the room is almost completely dark. the fish will then stay in one position and rest (just like at night, cos the fish will think it is night and rest). then just scoop them out.

I do what abesapian does, hearding or leaving the net behind the fish, when the fish turns to swim around, it is in the net. A couple of fish don't even seem to know they have swam into the net either. I can lightly pull them up to the top and they don't turn to swim out of it.

The zen of fish netting.

Lisa

I moved my livebearers out of my 66g tank this morning. (coincidence) The guppy were easy to catch, running right into the net and scooping them up.
However, the female swordtail and the platy were smarter. Going behind the driftwood and sinking to the bottom under the plants.

I let the net dangle in the tank awhile. Finally they figured th threat was over when they saw me put in some tubifex...yum. I wigggled the net a bit but didn't chase them. I let them eat. I inched the net closer and closer, but didn't chase them.

A half hour later I did it again. A little food, but this time they weren't expecting the net and I got them. Now they're in a new 25g livebarer quasi south american biotope tank. It takes patience.

i recently had to take some zebra danios out of a tank. anyone that has had them knows how hard that is, especially in a heavely planted tank. Diversions and speed are pretty much your only tools when catching fish, if you can't net them after hearding them, you might have to do what i did, i pretty much drained the tank to 10% of its volume, and then set up barriers until they had nowhere to go.

Patience is important when trying to net fish that are hard to catch. Leaving the net in long enough for the fish to get used to it is a big help. I also like to use one big net for the catching, and a smaller one to chase them into the bigger net. I find if I move the big net hardly at all, the fish will sometimes swim right into it while escaping the small net. It can take a while to catch certain fish - just keep at it and don't give up.

use large rocks to hold tall plants down for an open tank, or just wait till 2 hours past lights out, all the fish will be sleeping and wont notice the net at all. zebras are the easiest to catch like this,they all float at the top in a group, ive gotten 10 out of 12 w/ 1 scoop.