Moving bristlenose pleco

[Atitagain]

Last night I had to move my 4”ish male bristlenose and I used a fine net. His bristles right at the corner of his mouth got tangled. (are these bristles or more like a barb?) I had to cut him loose with sissors, it had to be stressful for him beyond what was needed. How do you move them? Maybe a corse net with bigger holes? I think trying to catch one in a cup/ container would be almost impossible. And maybe this question applies to all catfish or fish with bigger spine and fins? I’ve had bristlenose and catfish get a little tangled before but always got loose fairly easy.
I seen this guy this morning swimming around but he ducked into a cave before I could get a good look at his fins. 

[HH Morant]

I have had the same problem. I recently bought a plexiglass trap to catch fish, but I have not used it yet. 

Moving bristlenose plecos made me realize why even aggressive fish leave them alone. They are covered with boney plates and sharp barbs.

[Atitagain]

On 11/11/2021 at 10:05 AM, HH Morant said:

I have had the same problem. I recently bought a plexiglass trap to catch fish, but I have not used it yet. 

Moving bristlenose plecos made me realize why even aggressive fish leave them alone. They are covered with boney plates and sharp barbs.

Yea I guess I’ve just been getting lucky before. I might have to invest in one of those plexiglass traps. 👍

[lefty o]

ive caught them in various things, but mostly nets. for me i just take the fish in the net, submerge it into where they are moving, and gently shake it a bit. they usually come out without too much trouble.

[Atitagain]

On 11/11/2021 at 10:41 AM, lefty o said:

ive caught them in various things, but mostly nets. for me i just take the fish in the net, submerge it into where they are moving, and gently shake it a bit. they usually come out without too much trouble.

Yea this is what i basically usually do, maybe I’m being overly cautious and over thinking 

[Biotope Biologist]

For me it depends. I've used nets and I've used the acrylic holding container that you can now buy from aquarium coop. Shameless plug. I've only ever had to cut one pictus cat out of a net because he death rolled. 

 

Usually when stressed they will flare up and get their barbs stuck, so I flip the net upside down and reverse it so they are hanging from it and I just let them calm down and unflare. They almost always get unstuck. When using the acrylic container either use a net to chase them in or hold it directly under their favorite hidy hole as you slowly bring it out of the water. If that is possible. In a heavily planted tank I usually just bait with a cucumber or hikari wafer.

[Atitagain]

On 11/11/2021 at 11:20 AM, Biotope Biologist said:

Usually when stressed they will flare up and get their barbs stuck, so I flip the net upside down and reverse it so they are hanging from it and I just let them calm down and unflare. They almost always get unstuck.

I almost certainly should of done this, in the moment I think I was just as freaked out as he was. I just panicked and grab sissors trying to release him as quickly as I could.

[anewbie]

I use a large coarse net on my 5 inch male bn and i don't recall having any problems. Unfortunately he out grew my 29 and i had to rehome him at the lfs as my 120 has too many plecos and not lets talk about my 40B which probably has 50 bn - do they ever give it a break ?

[lefty o]

On 11/11/2021 at 4:42 PM, anewbie said:

I use a large coarse net on my 5 inch male bn and i don't recall having any problems. Unfortunately he out grew my 29 and i had to rehome him at the lfs as my 120 has too many plecos and not lets talk about my 40B which probably has 50 bn - do they ever give it a break ?

only way to slow them down is to remove anything than can resemble a cave that they can hide in and do the nasty.

[Guppysnail]

With my bristlenose being longfin I go high tech 🤣 I chase them into the strainer with a net and scoop up quick or wait until they are on the glass trap them with the strainer against the glass and move it about as soon as they release from the glass I scoop QUICK and have something to cover the strainer so they don’t jump. $2 at the dollar store. 

[Atitagain]

@Guppysnail another fantastic idea. Even tho their cheap i better get my own , wife’s not real happy with me using her cooking utensils here lately 🥴

[Guppysnail]

I get mad at hubby when he uses my fish cooking things for people food 🤣 I use this for guppies too I lift the rim above the water with the base in water easy to pick out ones I want with small shrimp net. Works great for small fast schools like tetras too just chase the entire school in and lift 

[anewbie]

My problem with hard items like strainers is i just have too many plants. Actually I think what I did with my last male is not use a net but took his cave out and dump him into a pail - sorry for the confusion above. My l333 is incredibly easy to catch because he never leaves his coconut shell - i can just pick it up and move it. I'm very attached to my l333 but kind of wish he was white instead of yellow - this is the tank that had the lemon male i removed - now i have a female super red in there but she won't get any larger - the problem with a 5 inch male bn is the same problem with using a strainer - he was so freaking massive he kept tearing everything up (not just long but very wide - by far my largest male - my other 3 bn males are all small - dwarf gene?

 

(his cave was all the way in the back behind the driftwood - when i removed him i moved his cave into the 120 where a clown loach now hangs out)

😞

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by anewbie

[Guppysnail]

On 11/11/2021 at 5:42 PM, anewbie said:

do they ever give it a break ?

No. I’m on number 7 she will lay in the next 3 days. Every 3-31/2 weeks like clockwork. She has her big egg belly by the time dad releases the last batch from the cave. 

[gardenman]

I've caught over a hundred BN plecos in the last year and when they get hung up in the net I just leave them dangling in the water for a few seconds and they free themselves.  I've never had to get overly aggressive getting one out of the net. 

[1moretank]

I use a plastic flower pot, plastic cup, or glass jar, something between the size of a betta cup and a 32 ounce jar, depending on the size of the pleco. Some I can scoop against the side wall of the aquarium - others I have to bait the cup with a pleco wafer then wait.  In the beginning I used a net, but the stress of worry when they got tangled just wasn't worth it.   Simply lifting the pleco cave with the pleco in it, is the easiest when it's possible.