Catching clown loaches.

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freak78

freak78

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2013
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Northwest, Indiana
Any pointers on how to catch these clowns in a nice planted and scaped tank without destroying everything. I want to take the 6 I have out of my 125 and put them in my 220. Not ready to do it yet but once my altums are the size I want I'll be transferring them into the 125.
 
hello; No real good pointers about avoiding the potential disruption in a planted tank except perhaps one. My tanks are planted and any time I catch fish I have to maneuver among the plants. I use two nets. I position one and hold it still with one hand and try to heard the fish toward it with the other net.
Sometimes the first fish is the easier to catch this way as the others seem to learn. I have found that fish do not seem to be long term thinkers as I have taken a break from trying to catch them and they sort of forget.
I get tired of chasing and take a break but will leave one net in the tank. I bend the handle of the net so I can hang on the rim of a tank.

One side note. You may already be aware of the defensive spines the clowns have near their head. I have found these to get tangled in nets at times and care has to be taken to free the fish.
Good luck
 
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+1 on the fish trap, and lots of patience. I had to catch all the fish out of a 150 gallon reef tank full of corals. Trapping them was the only way. Took about three days.
 
I used a plastic jug and herded the fish into it one by one with the net and my hands. They are a lot less stressed that way when they don't have to get out of the water. Some of them were hiding in their tubes. So a picked them up with them still inside..making sure to hold both exits my your hands :) They are not that difficult to catch..Move very slowly inside the tank rather than waving nets everywhere because they'll get too stressed and start swimming around like crazy...

If they don't have hiding tubes, maybe add some..the clowns will hide inside so you can wait until they are inside and move them with it.
 
Coryloach said:
If they don't have hiding tubes, maybe add some..the clowns will hide inside so you can wait until they are inside and move them with it.
Click to expand...
That is a very good idea. This would work on a lot of fish that like to hide inside something.

To the OP. You could place some sections of PVC pipe in the tank it wouldn't be long before the loaches are using them.
 
If waiting for the right moment, and moving quietly without spooking them, they'd be inside. That's similar to how local fishermen catch them in the wild too..But a plastic big enough jug works well too for the more boisterous ones...

At the moment I have a very large pvc tube in my tank. If I manage to block the two exits fast enough...I'll probably catch at least 5-6 of them at once...But the moment you move the tube, they try to get out...so be fast and block the way out...whatever you decide to use.
 
Would it be possible to glue a cap on one end of the pipe before you place it in the tank?
Would the CL still use it with only one entrance? That would make it easier to block and catch them.
I just don't know if they will use a tube that only has one way in or out.
 
BIG-G said:
Would it be possible to glue a cap on one end of the pipe before you place it in the tank?
Would the CL still use it with only one entrance? That would make it easier to block and catch them.
I just don't know if they will use a tube that only has one way in or out.
Click to expand...

Hello; I think the issue with a dead end tube will be accumulation of stuff. I seem to recall something similar I did a few decades ago and found that a tunnel with only one opening had problems. Since then I have tunnels and such with two openings.
 
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