I have a jungle in my dirted tank.

[TomO]

I have a dirted 29 gallon live bearer tank. The plants are taking over the tank. They grow exponentially. I trim them twice a month. From a half dozen aquarium co-op plants I’ve planted a 55 and 75 gallon tanks. I started out with 3 each of platties, swordtails and guppies. A year later there are close to 40, parents and babies. I want to move some of the babies but the plants are like a jungle. Makes it hard to net them out. So my question is what technique do I use to remove the plants without, making a muddy mess. Or do I trim down the stem plants to a couple inches from the bottom, so I can net out some of the young fish.

 

Also another question, since I have limited aquariums, can I put neo-caradina shrimp in with the fish ? I also have 3 amano shrimp in there.

This picture is two weeks  after trimming, and they need trimming again.

[Guppysnail]

Methods I use are

small kitchen colander in one corner slowly chase group to with net and scoop…put Back fish I didn’t intend to catch 

it takes a week or two with young guppies but I put food in net and my hand let them eat remove net when I’m done eventually they just swim in guppies love to eat 🤷‍♀️adults take a bit longer though

feed flake when they hit surface to feed use large net put back ones not intended for move 

small mesh breeder 10$ amazon. Feed all food in it for awhile remove net each time scoop them up when needed

these are weird I get it but my wrist prevents me from netting effectively. Some folks use 2 net and chase fish with one into the other. 
I do keep neo with ADULT guppies without problems I’m sure there are some but I have large colonies I would not try to start a small one. My Female JUVENILE ones took out a colony of 50+ in a month so kind of each set of guppies is different though I have not tried with the others you mentioned 

im envious of your jungle 😍

Edited August 23, 2021 by Guppysnail

[Andy's Fish Den]

You should have no problems keeping neocaridina shrimp in that tank, as long as the water parameters are good for them. With all of the plants there is plenty of hiding spots for the shrimp. You may lose a baby every now and then, but I think you will be fine.

[Atitagain]

On 8/23/2021 at 5:33 AM, Guppysnail said:

Methods I use are

small kitchen colander in one corner slowly chase group to with net and scoop…put Back fish I didn’t intend to catch 

it takes a week or two with young guppies but I put food in net and my hand let them eat remove net when I’m done eventually they just swim in guppies love to eat 🤷‍♀️adults take a bit longer though

feed flake when they hit surface to feed use large net put back ones not intended for move 

small mesh breeder 10$ amazon. Feed all food in it for awhile remove net each time scoop them up when needed

these are weird I get it but my wrist prevents me from netting effectively. Some folks use 2 net and chase fish with one into the other. 
I do keep neo with ADULT guppies without problems I’m sure there are some but I have large colonies I would not try to start a small one. My Female JUVENILE ones took out a colony of 50+ in a month so kind of each set of guppies is different though I have not tried with the others you mentioned 

im envious of your jungle 😍

@Guppysnailas always very good advice and I agree very beautiful tank I would do what ever it took not to uproot or trim to base that growth. IMO I’d wait two more weeks before I even thought about trimming.

[Nik_n]

If you want to remove guppy babies in the future, I would suggest catching the pregnant female in a separate tank. That way she can give birth to the babies you can remove her and not worry about trying to get babies from the main tank. Make sure you have enough plant cover (mostly floating plants) in there so she doesn't eat them after she gives birth. 

[Odd Duck]

@TomO You can also make a fish trap out of a soda or water bottle.  The key is using bait they can’t resist.  Mine works best with white worms, but you could use any live food, or some frozen bloodworms, daphnia, or brine shrimp.  Anything tasty.  Don’t feed the tank while you’re trapping, put food only in the trap or they’re not likely to be motivated enough to go inside.

The trick to making it is cutting it in just the right place and having a bit of a groove to hold the cut piece in place.  The flappy part is just a couple layers of plastic wrap held on by the ring that stays on the bottle (in this case it was stolen from a soda bottle because I added the plastic wrap later).  Some smarty pants will figure out how to get out if you don’t use the plastic wrap, then they will show the others.  Then they steal your bait but you don’t have any fish caught.  Ask me how I know.  😆 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Odd Duck

[lefty o]

On 8/23/2021 at 5:20 PM, Odd Duck said:

@TomO You can also make a fish trap out of a soda or water bottle.  The key is using bait they can’t resist.  Mine works best with white worms, but you could use any live food, or some frozen bloodworms, daphnia, or brine shrimp.  Anything tasty.  Don’t feed the tank while you’re trapping, put food only in the trap or they’re not likely to be motivated enough to go inside.

The trick to making it is cutting it in just the right place and having a bit of a groove to hold the cut piece in place.  The flappy part is just a couple layers of plastic wrap held on by the ring that stays on the bottle (in this case it was stolen from a soda bottle because I added the plastic wrap later).  Some smarty pants will figure out how to get out if you don’t use the plastic wrap, then they will show the others.  Then they steal your bait but you don’t have any fish caught.  Ask me how I know.  😆 

pretty much an old fashioned minnow trap, but in plastic vs steel mesh wire. clever!

[Odd Duck]

On 8/23/2021 at 5:24 PM, lefty o said:

pretty much an old fashioned minnow trap, but in plastic vs steel mesh wire. clever!

Yep.  Exactly!  Not original to me, but I’ve not seen anybody else do the plastic wrap flaps.  Necessity and all.

Edited August 23, 2021 by Odd Duck

[PineSong]

On 8/23/2021 at 2:03 AM, TomO said:

I have a dirted 29 gallon live bearer tank. The plants are taking over the tank. I want to move some of the babies but the plants are like a jungle. Makes it hard to net them out. So my question is what technique do I use to remove the plants without, making a muddy mess.

This picture is two weeks  after trimming, and they need trimming again.

Great looking tank! As others have said, I would be very reluctant to mess up those plants in order to remove fry. You say you want to remove some of the babies--if it doesn't matter which ones, you could start feeding them in one spot in the front of the tank (if you don't already do this) and just net some out each time you feed for a few days until you'ver removed however many you need. I've had luck removing fry by using a cup instead of a net--lowering the cup in the water under/behind them kind of sucks them into the cup from behind.

[Isaac M]

@TomO if you want to uproot plants with roots in organic soil, whether to catch fish or to simply move things around in the future, what I typically do is pull the plants up slightly and then stick some scissors into the substrate that caps the soil and cut the plant there. This way you keep some of the roots on the plant but without pulling up roots deep in the soil. If any soil comes up, you could have a siphon going or even a turkey baster to remove it. I hope that helps! 

Also, I love the texture you have going in the jungle with the wisteria and java fern windelov!