Netting (quick) fish in established (planted) systems

[Andyroo]

Ok, so...
Trying sherry (blue) shrimp, several months later & I've finally three berried females soon-ready.
Skeletal sea-sponge & vining-type water plants & bamboo segments etc etc. in an ~15gal
Re-shrouded filter intake with a large surface area of finer sponge.

Initially the Internet told me that lemon tetras would be fine, so I left them there. Now I'm thinking, as corroborated by other online shrimp-people, that it's not a great idea.

Tried to remove the lemons over the weekend & it was a mess, I gave up before scooping a single.
Suggestions on how to scoop'em out without dismantling the system (& disturbing shrimpses)?
I'm tempted to let it/them ride & rely on the habitat complexity.

Or get these shrimp cohorts through (partial) & then tear-down the whole thing?

 

[jjohnwm]

I agree that if you want to breed shrimp, most fish will be counterproductive to your efforts if maximum productivity is the goal. Some newly-hatched shrimp are gonna get eaten, no matter how much cover there is, no matter how well-fed you keep the fish; nothing you offer in the way of food will be as attractive as a live, healthy, wiggling little shrimplet.

Do you really need or want every single shrimp hatchling to grow up and lead a rich full life? Is a certain amount of attrition acceptable? If it is, leaving it along might be the best bet, and certainly the easiest and least stressful.

But if you must remove the mini-predators, a small net and larger one worked in concert will be your ideal tools. The big net should be black (less visible), the smaller one doesn't matter. Place the big net in position, ideally to block an entire travel pathway, and the herd the fish towards it with the smaller net. Don't move the big one until you have one or more fish in it, then just lift quickly straight up. Leave the tank to calm down, then repeat the exercise. Expect this to take a couple days to get all of the fish.

You can also buy a minnow-trap at most fishing tackle stores. Whether or not it works will depend upon the species. Some types of fish see one of these things and practically fight with each other to be the first one inside; other species will never go near the thing. But they work so well so often that they are definitely worth trying, and worth having in your arsenal for future use.

 

[duanes]

I remove about 90% of the tanks water (maybe more) makes them easier to catch and consider it a great way to do a large water change.