How to Catch Fish -or- Goin' Fisin'

[leebca]

One of the biggest challenges in this hobby is trying to get a fish out of your display aquarium.

You might need to get the fish out for any number of reasons, including but not limited to: the fish is sick/ill/injured and needs to be transfered to a hospital tank, the fish is 'wrong' for the aquarium, the fish is not getting along (either the bully or the milquetoast), the fish has gotten too big, etc.

What to do and how to do it? I'd like you to post your experiences and any tricks you've used to get fish out.

Some that I have used or know of include the following:
1. Reduce water volume to give the fish less chance to get away;
2. Remove decorations and/or rocks;
3. Move rocks and decorations to one side of the aquarium and get the fish to go to the 'open' side for easy netting;
4. Go fishing at night! Sneak up on the sleeping fish;
5. Use 'stealth' nets (black that can't be seen);
6. Fish traps (food as bait); and
7. Catch 'em when it comes to the top to get its food!

Some use the above or a combination of the above. How have you gotten fish out of your aquarium?

[Steven Pro]

I actually just wrote an article on this very subject,
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/sp/index.php

[leebca]

Great job! And, good timing!

[leebca]

The current issue of Corals has another way to catch fish in a fully decorated/reef aquarium.

You put a two-piece clear plastic/acrylic divider into the tank. It is as tall as is necessary to be above the water line. Butt one end against the tank's side. Aim the other end towards the front to almost make a triangle (looking from above). The second piece sits behind the first piece. You let or herd the fish into the area between the plastic divider and the tank side and front then close its escape with that second piece of plastic, like a sliding glass door, to butt against the front of the tank. The fish is now trapped in a relatively open area of the tank in a kind of triangle formed by part of the aquarium side, the aquarium front, and the dividers.

Now the fish is caught in an open area of the tank with no decorations and no escape. GO FOR IT!

Much better than those fish traps they sell, I think.

[TimH07]

wrong thread

[berkdog]

Also, I've watched a few youtube videos on this, and I'm going to try it. Take a clean 2L bottle and cut the top section off, and place it reverse-ways into the bottle. Cut the tip as needed to adjust sizing. Search online for "Make your own aquarium trap" for details and videos.