Moving big fish.
- Thread starter noahmz1
- Start date
The key is to lower the water level until they can't move much, they lose the will to fight and splash once they no longer have their free space to swim, then they will have no choice but to go into your net. I also find that they will do so willingly, perhaps they feel its the only wise choice to make once the water is taken from them. Water is their power, once you take that away, you have all the power, it works. You'll want an extra net on top to keep the fish from jumping. I've done it so often, I got a good knack for it now. My oscars use to put up a fight, now they just lay into the net, think they know it's going to be alright. I was surprised to learn, one of the reasons a fish will put up a fight is because we ourselves are stressed when trying to catch them, remain calm and your fish will too.
What you need to do is get a large bird catching net. This is what i used to move my large 25'' redtail cat, 24'' tiger shovel nose, 22'' silver arrowana and now its the only thing I will ever use to catch my fish to this day. It serves to purpose. They are very deep so you can actually net the fish and still have a foot of net to close in on the fish to stop it from moving a much. Works great for skiddish fish and jumpers like armatus and arrowanas, secondly its a very soft net so fish don;t get all scraped up or even if the catfish pierce it, it comes off their fins wth no damage to the fish whatsoever. I have been usng one for years, best net ever. If you use a large fishing net and the cat spikes get caught up in it, when they go to spinning around you may end up with a catfish minus a spike or two. Been there done that, got the t-shirt.
I've moved many 15+lbs freshwater fish from tank to tank. Without question the easiest method i've found was to use a retangular all plastic laundry basket. You can bend it to fit it in your tank. Submerse it on one end. Don't worry the fish will run to the other side. Once fully submerged, have someone from the other end corral each fish, one by one to the side of the basket. Only move one at a time obviously. Then simply pick up the basket and all the water will drain out of the sides, then pick up and submerse in your new tank and lower slowly. The fish will rise and swim right out. Some of the jumper type fish may require a wet towel be put over them as they get transferred. hope this helps
I use a laundry bag they are real tough and water seems to drain out of them real fast also the one I have does not let light get in so it calms down the fish. I like the idea of the canvas and poles though might have to try it!
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