catching fish in a planted tank.

[timwag2001]

so i have some fish that i no longer want in my main tank. but its pretty well planted and fish dont like to be caught. so they hide and i cant get them.

anyone have any tips other than tearing out the plants?

 

[Canuck]

Not sure if this would be effective for your fish or not (and I've never tried it). But when I feed frozen food (with a net) a lot of my fish will swim right into the net in order to get the food.

 

[timwag2001]

i'll give it a try. i have a tiger barb, cherry barb, and 2 tetras that need to go. the barbs are fast!

 

[Zaffy]

That's a great idea. I just use 2 nets and try my luck.

 

[thebrandon]

take all the plants out? lol

 

[stratusfearrr]

It took me 3 hours and I removed all my plants and two pieces of driftwood to get my zig zag yellow tail eel out.

Goodluck!!

 

[SubRosa]

There are commercially available traps that are normally used to remove problem hitch-hikers in SW reef tanks. There are also easy ways to build your own. You have to be there to actuate the trap but it beats getting stressed out chasing them with a net.

 

[SnakeIce]

The food in the net idea is one I haven't tried, but it might just work.

The system I have used with success with planted tanks takes patience but it does work. You will need two nets, one as big as can be reasonably used in the tank and the second as small as you can get. The idea is to move the small net around slowly keeping the fish moving. Only move the big net to scoop fish up (the less you move it the better). Where patience comes in is that if you get the fish moving to fast it is harder to catch them. If you have a lot of fish to catch you may have to spend several sessions hours or days apart to get them all. If you happen to have stirred them up to a frenzy you won't be able to catch them and you just need to wait for them to calm down.

 

[chonhzilla]

I've used traps like this to get them out.

First find a bottle like a water bottle or anything as long as its cleaned out pretty good. Make sure the bottle's opening can fit the fish because it'll be swimming in.

Cut the bottle into two pieces. Like the picture below and it doesn't matter where you cut it just make sure there's enough room for the top half to flip around and slip into the bottom half.

Like I mentioned, slip the top half into the bottom half. You can place food to attract the fish. I've used this method over and over and its proven to be effective. Just place it anywhere you like and just sit and wait.

Excuse the poor illustrations but I hope you get what I'm trying to say.

Good luck!
-Chonh

 

[Bk718]

all of you are over thinking the process..
Just catch the fish after the lights have been out for a few hours.