Tips on Catching A Fish

[Kyle Hyde]

I have an overly aggressive Acara that needs to be taken out of the tank, but for the life of me I can't catch him.

Any tips for catching the bugger without having to take out my rockwork that I worked SO hard on setting up? I'm about to do a 10% water change, maybe when the water is a little down it will help.

[RTCfan86]

If you have any caves in the tanks, try and chase him into one of them and pull the whole thing out, using the net to cover the hole or the bottom. If you don't have any caves, you might want to get a cheap one if he's really that hard to catch.

[beblondie]

2 nets one large net to recieve the fish one small to drive it into the larger net

[12 Volt Man]

the best tip I can give for catching fish without removing all of your decor is....








take out all your decor first :).


its way easier, you don't run the risk of the fish injuring itself as it swims away from you and smashes into stuff etc.

another tip is never chase the fish with the net - you'll be there all day, always scoop from underneath the fish. its easiest to do this by cornering the fish.

[likestofish]

Well for better netting methods is have a large net and dont chase them you can never win sneak attack them using a upward scooping motion. Also corners and the surface are life savers.

[all_or_nothin]

i feel your pain i had to take a 3.5" yellow lab cichlid out of a 120g with a 4" net it was crazy hard!!!!!

[fobrinkle]

Do a 50% water change and get him then. Using two nets is the best way though.

[vaine111]

heres where i corale all of my fish. it's a piece of slate in one end of my 120 that needs nothing under it to hold it up(i wonder what it's doing to the silicone).

[gt1009]

Take an old t-shirt, tie the sleves together, and try to get the fish to swim into the shirt's open end.

[Ak-Kronic]

two nets works the best....one large one small. it's less stress on the fish than chasing him around for 15min.

[Krennen]

Another trick is the late night flashlight netting. Turn off all your tank and room lights, wait for a few hours until everyone in the tank has gone to sleep. Then sneak in with a flashlight and a net. Most of the time you can flashlight the fish you want to catch and net them easily since the flashlight blinds/confuses them so they don't see the net coming.

[t tong]

Fishing pole and a hook! That would be the funnest way! LOL!......... get a large fish bag put it in the tank and trick him into it. Thats the best way to remove him without hurting his fins. GL

[Thedaniokeeper]

I keep chasing the fish around the top levels with two nets until I can catch him...

[n4red]

Another trick is the late night flashlight netting. Turn off all your tank and room lights, wait for a few hours until everyone in the tank has gone to sleep. Then sneak in with a flashlight and a net. Most of the time you can flashlight the fish you want to catch and net them easily since the flashlight blinds/confuses them so they don't see the net coming.

U know fish never sleeps ? :) but i guess thats not ur point :D just funny see alot of ppl thinking that theyr fish is sleeping.

[monty_javier]

Two nets is definitely the best way. Also, not sure if its just my fish, but I have a red net that seems to work so much better. The material is the same(holes are a bit larger). But I don't think the fish see it as well. Only problem I have with it is other fish thinking they want to be caught, and they just swim right in there. Except the one I am going for of course.

[Thedaniokeeper]

Fish do however go into a hypnotic state similar to sleep, bt they have no eyelids and stay alert to sudden movement

[weedamese]

i usually catch my fishes when they are feeding i would scoop them real quick. I tell ya catching fishes in a big tank thats longer than your arm sucks!

[Ak-Kronic]

i also have a red net....does work a bit better i guess never payed attention says it's invisible to fish!!! ahha

[seamus]

I tell ya catching fishes in a big tank thats longer than your arm sucks!

And more braces = sucks even more.

[vaine111]

And more braces = sucks even more.
especially when you net a 20" pacu and he slams your arm into the brace.

[Danger_Chicken]

two nets works the best....one large one small. it's less stress on the fish than chasing him around for 15min.That and dropping the water level to cut down on room for them to out swim you

i usually catch my fishes when they are feeding i would scoop them real quick. I tell ya catching fishes in a big tank thats longer than your arm sucks!Soo ture

And more braces = sucks even more. even sooo truer when combined with a deep tank.

[Freezekougra]

Here's what I got when I googled acara:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=acara&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi :ROFL:

[gwrace]

Bump

[SeaweedPimp]

Take an old t-shirt, tie the sleves together, and try to get the fish to swim into the shirt's open end.


That could be a good idea man. Smart guy. Not being sarcastic lol..
Got any silk shirts? Cotton wont do... j/k

CAST NET :headbang2


I would suggest a trap. how big is he?

[LD50]

+1 for the 2x net method, I have always found i to be the easiest method.

[bud]

I know this is a old post but what I do is leave the room as dark as possible for a few hrs then flip on the light in the tank and net them up usually works great

[boldtogether]

the best tip I can give for catching fish without removing all of your decor is....








take out all your decor first :).


its way easier, you don't run the risk of the fish injuring itself as it swims away from you and smashes into stuff etc.

another tip is never chase the fish with the net - you'll be there all day, always scoop from underneath the fish. its easiest to do this by cornering the fish.
Its funny cuz its tru. Im not laughing cuz of the suck factor of hours of rock work...Im laughing cuz Ive had to do the same thing myself, MANY TIMES.All part and parcile to fish keeping. SUX!!! Good luck.

:ROFL::wall::wall::duh:

[Hot Pursuit]

I can give you my advice, but I do it with some hesitation. I posted this on another site trying to have a laugh and now I get deleted for almost everything I try to post. I like it here at MFK & don't want to get kicked off. Oh well, let's hope I would just get a warning. If I do I will not try this again. Here's what I posted.

Aquatic Secrets
(Number 18 in a series)

Today’s Subject:
How to catch almost any fish without causing damage to your reef tank.

List of items you will need
1. Pepto-Bismo
2. 4 or 5 table shrimp
3. 2 cookie sheets
4. A colander or tea strainer
5. A small order of Mu Shu Pork (May substitute Mu Gu Guy Pan) *See note 1 below
6. One Sleeping Pill *See notes 2 & 3 below
7. Small amount of flake fish food
8. A plant mister
9. Access to an oven
10. A small pan
11. A Food processor
12. A standard fish net
13. A small paint brush


Who among us has not at one time or another has not wanted to remove a troublesome fish from our reef aquarium only to find the task nearly impossible without resorting to ridicules extremes. I personally had that experience with a Blue Green Chromis once, but that’s another story. Today I will share a little secret with you on how to remove almost any fish easily and painlessly without disrupting live rock and corals etc. Let’s begin.

Put the table shrimp in the pan and add about one cup of fresh water (Not salt water) bring this to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to stand for 30 minutes. Strain this with the colander or tea strainer and save the water. Discard the shrimp. Add one table spoon of Pepto-Bismo to the water. The shrimp flavor will help mask the taste of the Pepto-Bismo Now take the first cookie sheet and spread out enough flake fish food for a single feeding of your fish. Add the shrimp water to the plant mister and spray the flake food on the cookie sheet. SPRAY VERY LIGHTLY! You do not want to soak the flakes. Now put this in the oven at 225 for 12 minutes or until flakes are dry again. When this is accomplished mark it pan number one and set it aside for the moment.

Take one cup of the Mu Shu Pork (or Mu Gu Guy Pan) and place in the food processor with the sleeping pill. You won’t need this much but the food processor will not run with any less in it. Run the processor on high for about three minutes or until a thick liquid with no lumps is achieved. Take the paint brush and paint the liquid on the second cookie sheet. Try to paint a thin even coat. Now put this in the oven at 225 for 12 minutes or until it is completely dry. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When cool break the thin dry layer up and it will look like flake fish food. Mark this pan number two so you do not mix up the pans.

Now it’s time to end the rain of terror that pesky fish has caused you and his tank mates. Feed all the fish as you normally would from pan one. Don’t over feed as we want them to still be a little hungry. Wait for two hours so the fish will be constipated and feed them the flakes from pan two. Allow them to eat as much as they will. The Chinese food will give them gas. Remember that the fish are constipated so this gas will cause them to bloat and they will float right to the surface where you can easily net them. Don’t worry about the other fish. They will recover. Anyone who has ever eating Chinese food can tell you that you will feel much better the next day.


Notes:

1. When ordering Mu Shu Pork (or Mu Gu Guy Pan) it is best to avoid Szechuan restrants as the food may be too spicy for our purposes

2. Best sleeping pills to use may be Eszopiclone or Triazolam (a benzodiazepine derivative).

3. Don’t use Zaleplon as it can be habit-forming and the last thing we need is a tank full of drug dependent fish to support.

[Deep Blue Sea]

just use your hand he will eventually get tired