Zen and the Art of Fish Netting--Any one up for it?

[rosita]

So here's the situation. I have a 2.5" Aulonocara nyassa (Kaleidoscope peacock) young female who's been carrying fry since last Friday. As my beloved companion, Tuffy, was ailing and then died Sunday, I was at my wit's end on how to help the little fish. She needs to be netted out and put in the hospital tank, but the dilemma is:
She's awfully quick, and I've got 12 other small fish (sig) in there. I've included a foto below. It's a 55g. Took (fake) plants out, moved rocks, tried nets small and large, a sieve, and even a divider to shrink her space--she and the brichardi would do well at an aquatic center!!

Is there anyone who can share wisdom in netting her before: she starves to death; the fry get eaten; whatever else that can happen (bad luck rainin' down this year). I'm hoping now to get some babies for an aquarium I'd like to set up at my new school. I still can't believe this little juvie had fry--altho at the rate my teenaged students get pregnant, I shouldn't be! And at the rate the Taiwan Reefs have been shagging on the large rock surface, I figure something might happen there!!

Thanks, I hope someone reads this and will be able to share some pearls of wisdom/experience. This may not be the correct forum, but I figured it gets the most traffic. ~r


http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/rosita417/8561e6a3.jpg

[psilo]

I had this problem with trying to get one of my female gouramis out of my 50 gallon tank. In the end i had to take out the plants to get at her. How large a net have you tried? I bought one that was 8 inches across and i caught her easily in that! goodluck!

[Penfan66]

Get a plastic divider made for a 55 gal, they are pretty cheap. Try coaxing the fish to one end of the tank to get it alone. Slide the divider in and then gently net the fish. I've used this method in the past and it worked well. Good Luck Rosita.

:)

[rosita]

Hmm, yeah, I pulled the plants out, no help. My largest net is 5", but seeing as how I have some fish that will get more bigger, I'll spring for a bigger one. Thanks!!

[Chickieepooh2u]

Well, I've found that swearing helps. :) Usually just get a bigger net. Its never a quick process.

[cajinfry]

You could always just get a wet/dry vac cover the suction end with Nylon pantyhose and suck the fish out of the water :thm:

Ok j/k'ing

:Angel:

[SynoSteff]

You could also empty ouy about 50% of the water and then used the divider. Should help, no?

[joylynn]

I have to try and corral my pictus catfish tonight, same sort of deal, very fast fish, only catch I have is I can't use a net witht he pictus, the spines on their fins get caught in them (I found this out the hard way). My thought is to drain the tank to about 5 inches or so of water and try to use a large plastic pitcher to scoop them. may also look for a divider to use to help herd them into the pitcher. By the way the pitcher is one I only use for the fish tanks, so I am not sure about using your every day ice tea pitcher as there may be soap buildup or soemthing. This is just my plan, it may fail miserably :) but this post is very timely for me as well, looking forward to more advice I can use too :)

[polocrosseplyer]

:OT:
hey rosita - where did you get your fake plants? i love the huge one in the left corner!

[SynoSteff]

With the spiny catfish, try use something that has holes in it to catch him otherwise it will be very difficult to scoop the fish out. Unless you are going to get the fish to swim into the pitcher.
My Synodontis also have spines and I just use a net with a very fine mesh and the spines dont go through. Helps a lot but not flawless

SynoSteff

[joylynn]

I was planning on really reducing the water level and trying to get the fish to swim into the pitcher. I tried a net I thought had fine enough mesh and turned out I was wrong :) I really don't want to go through that again. I have to move 3 pictus, 3 gouramis, 1 albino shark and 1 spotted pleco tonight and the low water and pitcher is the best thing I could think of to do to gett each of these species.

[rosita]

SUCCESS!!! I used a combination of suggestions--took out the plants again, shifted rocks, took small net and 5 inch net, and corraled her into the big one!!!! And yes, a minimum amount of cursing did help!! I have 2 pitchers dedicated to the fish, so I popped her into the smaller one with some anacharis for cover. Then I checked the tank to make sure I had the right fish, and then looked in the pitcher--6 FRY!!! She's been holding them so long---wow!! They're about 1/4 inch long--mostly eyes. This is a first for me--it's always been horses; they're alot bigger lol.

So, she's in the 5g hospital tank with the snail, i put a layer of the 55g substrate, and some of the water with the cichlid salts in it. Covered waterfilter intake tube with stocking. And the conch shell--I correctly figured the babies might go straight for that :D But momma's frantic, all alone, but I don't know who my baby daddy is, and fear any other fish would eat them and cause problems She's such a young mother--teen mom!! Gosh, I hope some survive. That would be sooo cool for my new students!! New school. Thanks so much everyone!!

POLOCROSSEPLYER: I got the 36" long "Giant Plant"--that one is adianthus or something like that,,and a bamboo leaf one--really nice, from PetSmart. At the store they're 15 bucks, on line 9!!! So in case you don't know, just find it on their website and print it off, and they'll honor the reduced price. I did a big order a while ago so just ordered them (free shipping!) BTW, how big a string do you keep?

:thm: :dive2: Thanks again!!!!!!!

[itvilcu]

this morning with one of my mamas. What I did, was buy a piece of plexy glass just big enough to fit inside the tank, and then heated up a drill bit so that I could drill holes in it. Then, I coaxed her to the one side and "locked her in". I didnt have to worry about catching her!

I was soo ploud of myself cause my brother in law was here, and told me I couldnt drill holes in plexy glass without it cracking, but I DID!!!!! AND, I trapped her!!!

:joke:

[DeBree420]

i have a kinda bizzare idea...but it has worked for me for fast tetras...
get a funnel...hold your thumb over the small hole and place it in the water so its holding a huge bubble...get near the fish(above works best depending on hight of tank)then just release your thumb..the fish will be sucked into the funnel and if you have a net handy(this is really easy with 2 people)you can trap the large end of the funnel and just slowly lift it out of the water
done!
hope this helps

[DeBree420]

i also used that technique for spiky catfish and that damned coolie loach that just would not come out from behind the filter!

[Star_Rider]

next time you have to net a fish..try it in the morning ..mine are lazy..I can easiiy net them at first light.

[stillaround55]

I once had to net 6 zebra danios out of a 55 with a 5" wide net. You want to talk about ridiculously fast fish. Trying to maneuver the net with that frickin' support bar in the middle of the tank was just absurd. In the end, the only thing that worked was to hold the net in one half of the tank and just kind of slowly coral the fish into the net with my other hand. This method took about 10 minutes to work..............as opposed to the 2 hours it took me to successfully catch ONE of these speedy buggers by chasing them around. And this was before I had all the plants that I have now.....so they had plenty of room to swim around and avoid the net.

So, in short, bring the fish to the net....not the other way around.

[lousybreed]

use two nets. keep the larger one stationary and use a smaller one to chase the fish out. Position the larger one in an area that the fish used and bam! you got it.

I worked at an aquarium shop for several years and this is the trick I always used.

If this fails get a clear plastic "specimen" holder and use a net to corral the fish into the plastic box. Once it is in the box make sure the net has the opening sealed and pull it out!

[12 Volt Man]

another tip from another former LFS employee is always chase the fish into the corner of the tank or to an end and scoop upwards with the net.

never chase the fish around and around with the net.

as mentioned, use your other arm or another net to get the fish into a corner, then move in and scoop upwards.

for large fish, net them nose first, and get them up and out of the water as quickly as possible.

this reduces the splash time and stress on the fish as it will try and swim down into the net while in the water.

once in the air, they generally are much more calm.

[gatotsu77]

I have to try and corral my pictus catfish tonight, same sort of deal, very fast fish, only catch I have is I can't use a net witht he pictus, the spines on their fins get caught in them (I found this out the hard way). My thought is to drain the tank to about 5 inches or so of water and try to use a large plastic pitcher to scoop them. may also look for a divider to use to help herd them into the pitcher. By the way the pitcher is one I only use for the fish tanks, so I am not sure about using your every day ice tea pitcher as there may be soap buildup or soemthing. This is just my plan, it may fail miserably :) but this post is very timely for me as well, looking forward to more advice I can use too :)

I had to catch a pictus cat that I felt had outgrown my 55g tank. (I've since switched to smaller schooling fish... but **** I loved that fish) The only way I could catch him was to use a 2L ziploc food container (rectangular, almost clear) set down in the bottom of the tank, and I had to chase him into it with my hand, which I wrapped a scrap of old pillow case (thoroughly rinsed) so as to give some protection against his spines. I had to take all of the plants and decorations out of the tank, and it took me **** near 20 minutes, but I finally managed to corral him into the container and scoop it out before he could swim back out. (I actually caught him 3 times before that, but he kept getting out before I could get the container out of the water) A pictus cat's fins will not get caught in bed sheets/pillow covers, so if you make a small bag out of one, it would be great for catching them also. (used by large catfish owners because its easy on the fish and lets water out of it slowly so as to minimize stress)

[Cathy G]

Rosita, when I have to net a small fast fish I usually go in with both hands/arms. I herd the fish with my left arm and scoop it with the net in the right hand... I have a big black net.
Cathy

[electromen]

In one of my 75g, I find the easiest thing to do (although maybe not the safest for the fish) is to get my girlfriend to help. I'll be on one end of the tank, she'll be on the other. She'll trap the wanted fish in the corner and try have a "controlled scare" to get the fish to fly to the other side of the tank where I eagerly await.. As the fish approaches I play "goalie" and try to catch it in mid-swim.
We've found it to be quite effective and really entertaining. I'm getting quite good at it. It does have its negative effects though. The fish can ram pretty hard into the net, putting it into a stupor.. and my girlfriend will b*#ch at me about getting her arms wet..

[DeBree420]

I had to catch a pictus cat that I felt had outgrown my 55g tank. (I've since switched to smaller schooling fish... but **** I loved that fish) The only way I could catch him was to use a 2L ziploc food container (rectangular, almost clear) set down in the bottom of the tank, and I had to chase him into it with my hand, which I wrapped a scrap of old pillow case (thoroughly rinsed) so as to give some protection against his spines. I had to take all of the plants and decorations out of the tank, and it took me **** near 20 minutes, but I finally managed to corral him into the container and scoop it out before he could swim back out. (I actually caught him 3 times before that, but he kept getting out before I could get the container out of the water) A pictus cat's fins will not get caught in bed sheets/pillow covers, so if you make a small bag out of one, it would be great for catching them also. (used by large catfish owners because its easy on the fish and lets water out of it slowly so as to minimize stress)
this is an awesome idea...i would like to cut one of my bigger nets and sew in bed sheet (using invisible thread[nylon]) but my worries are that the cotton or linen or worse (petro-chemical fabrics) would put bad trace elements into the water or do something not good to fishes slime coat? i am now trying to find a nylon alternative, as i know this is safe, but i guess you only use it for such a short time it shouldnt matter...i will just have to research the many possibilities!
thanks so much for the idea!:dance2:

[KateCB]

know this may sound silly, but i have had success with clown loaches (VERY FAST!) using an 8inch fine net and dangling it in the water for ages until they sort of get used to it being there - one swam in to have alook (easy!) the next one swam behind it and I simply inverted the net and caught him!

the jug has also worked for me, large plastic jug, scooped up the female platty who was ready to release fry!

Good Luck!

[Richard McC]

I think every angle has been covered here. I am a big fan of using two nets.

In my preferred way, the trick is to not chase the fish with a net. Set a (large) net in a likely place - this is the catch net.... keep it very still ...- and using a chase net, gently persuade the fish to swim to a spot above the catch net. Then, using a swift upwards motion, the fish ...et voila.. is yours!

After six or seven attempts, this usually works.