Hardest fish to CATCH/NET OUT

[aclockworkorange]

Did you guys catch your plecs by hand or net when you worked there? Seems to me like you would not use the net if your trying to sell them quickly. No one wants the torn up pleco..

Generally all fish are chased into a net and then removed by hand to minimize net contact. Sometimes I would just use my hands. It's hard to use your hands if they're small. You have to balance between catching them quickly to minimize stress and minimizing damage to fins and stuff. You might be able to have zero fin damage after chasing them around for 20 minutes with your hand, but they're gonna be really stressed and scraped up from running in to stuff.
Sometimes stuff gets really caught up in a net, especially catfish. In some cases fish have to be cut out of the net. If something like that happens, fish is returned to tank and another individual is picked out.

 

[JK47]

Generally all fish are chased into a net and then removed by hand to minimize net contact. Sometimes I would just use my hands. It's hard to use your hands if they're small. You have to balance between catching them quickly to minimize stress and minimizing damage to fins and stuff. You might be able to have zero fin damage after chasing them around for 20 minutes with your hand, but they're gonna be really stressed and scraped up from running in to stuff.
Sometimes stuff gets really caught up in a net, especially catfish. In some cases fish have to be cut out of the net. If something like that happens, fish is returned to tank and another individual is picked out.

^ Pictus catfish are the WORST at that! Such a PITA to catch because they always seemed to get caught..

 

[mshill90]

^ Pictus catfish are the WORST at that! Such a PITA to catch because they always seemed to get caught..

How about striped Raphael cats?

 

[nicholasdances]

spiny eels for sure

 

[DojosWithMojo]

My 4 Khulis are an absolute NIGHTMARE to net, But they're *almost* angels compared to my gang of 5 Dojos/Gold loaches. All are 6.5"+ and all can jump like no tomorrow! Last time I had a Gold jump ship before I could slam the lid on the holding tank and he fell to the floor and slithered under a cabinet. Not cool dude.
They need to take lessons from my Bettas; I just drop the net in the water and within seconds they both swim in it. Even when scooping random debris, there they are, trying to get in.

 

[Industrial]

At the LFS, the hardest fish are adult Malawi cichlids in a 125 with two centerbraces and a TON of rocks and large stringy fake plants. If I spook the cichlid before I catch it, it can take 20 minutes. The little guys in 20 and 29 gallon tanks are a breeze and 95% of the time I can catch them in 3 dips.

Next would have to be Kuhli loaches. I can catch them in a net, but most of the time, they squeeze through where the handle is and escape the net.

Large plecos are easy. If you use a net, trap it on the glass, then grab it's head above it's pectoral fins and the fish will stop resisting and freeze. You have to find the right spot though. Smaller guys are a bit more difficult, but are normally too small to pinch so I just grab them.

 

[Chrisplosion]

Any Paratheraps (Vieja). My syns take 10-15 minutes to catch.

 

[redtailcatfreak]

for me its gonna have to be my 1" salvini cichlids in my 60 gallon hex. Thats tank is so tall and they just do circles. you cant corner them at all.

 

[redtailcatfreak]

My 4 Khulis are an absolute NIGHTMARE to net, But they're *almost* angels compared to my gang of 5 Dojos/Gold loaches. All are 6.5"+ and all can jump like no tomorrow! Last time I had a Gold jump ship before I could slam the lid on the holding tank and he fell to the floor and slithered under a cabinet. Not cool dude.
They need to take lessons from my Bettas; I just drop the net in the water and within seconds they both swim in it. Even when scooping random debris, there they are, trying to get in.

 

[JK47]

At the LFS, the hardest fish are adult Malawi cichlids in a 125 with two centerbraces and a TON of rocks and large stringy fake plants. If I spook the cichlid before I catch it, it can take 20 minutes. The little guys in 20 and 29 gallon tanks are a breeze and 95% of the time I can catch them in 3 dips.

Next would have to be Kuhli loaches. I can catch them in a net, but most of the time, they squeeze through where the handle is and escape the net.

Large plecos are easy. If you use a net, trap it on the glass, then grab it's head above it's pectoral fins and the fish will stop resisting and freeze. You have to find the right spot though. Smaller guys are a bit more difficult, but are normally too small to pinch so I just grab them.

I figured out long ago no matter what everything but the substrate comes out of the tank when catching fish. Some can get away with it but not me. Anyone else remember JohnPTC mosving his Arapaima? He probably wins..