Netting fish without disassembling tank

[meadeam]

I do not look forward to this.  I've read some threads on the subject and it seems I've thought of most of the methods.  I was hoping for a super-secret foolproof tactic I hadn't thought of.   

I've only ever had to net living fish in conjunction with rearranging a tank, but this time I will need to catch 10 black neons, 5 harlequin rasbora, 6 cories, and 1 pleco out of a heavily planted tank.  The neons and rasboras might be the easiest.  They tend to stay in open water, and if I am patient with a large net, they will swim right in.   The pleco may the next easiest.  She spends most of her time under a piece of driftwood.  I have moved it inside the tank without disturbing her, so I may be able to put a net under it while gently lifting until she lets go.

The cories are going to be a nightmare to catch without tearing up the plants.  I may need to set a trap for them, and constantly clear it of the red cherry shrimp I will probably catch instead.  I have actually considered re-scaping the tank rather than try to catch these critters with everything setup.

[Odd Duck]

If you decide to use a trap for the cories make sure there is good water circulation through the catch chamber.  If stressed enough, cories can produce a toxin that can kill them and any other fish in the trap with them.  Ask me how I know.  😢  Drill holes in it if using a soda bottle style trap.  Even that might not be enough.  Check it OFTEN and get cories out of the trap as soon as possible.  Don’t fall asleep with the trap in the tank.

If you can use the “chase the fish into the net” technique instead of swirling the net through the water, that’s going to be better.  Use your non-net hand to slowly “chase” the fish into the net that’s held with one edge against the glass vs. chasing the fish with the net, you’ll probably have better luck with less plant damage, but that’s going to be a huge challenge no matter what you do.  If you have any kind of bottleneck in the hardscape you can use that to help guide the fish into the net.

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/13/2022 at 1:09 PM, Odd Duck said:

If you can use the “chase the fish into the net” technique instead of swirling the net through the water, that’s going to be better.  Use your non-net hand to slowly “chase” the fish into the net that’s held with one edge against the glass vs. chasing the fish with the net, you’ll probably have better luck with less plant damage, but that’s going to be a huge challenge no matter what you do.  If you have any kind of bottleneck in the hardscape you can use that to help guide the fish into the net.

I would highly suggest this method as well.  This is what I use and it's worked in nearly every scape and situation for a variety of fish (even hillstream loaches).

Alright....  *deep breath*

If you have a tall tank, lower the water height to 50%. Then, divide the tank, which means you place the net, and corral the fist to the side of the tank with the net.  Absolutely don't chase / push the fish into the net!  Use the method in the video cory has made where you use the net as a wall against the front glass. Your hand will guide the fish to the back / half of the tank and then you gently corral them along the side of the tank and they will eventually have to make a choice of going in the net or above the net.   They won't likely go backwards and often will go over the net.  Take your time, be patient, and give the fish a moment to decide to go in the net.  Make the net appealing to them to go into!!!  Make sure it's not filled with air, that the net is open, and that the fish can get into the net easily.  If the net is bunched up, they will tend to avoid it and fish like otos, plecos, and corys can get their barbs stuck in the net.  They go into the net easily, they will often go out of the net easily.

 

On 10/13/2022 at 12:39 PM, meadeam said:

The cories are going to be a nightmare to catch without tearing up the plants.

The advantage to getting corydoras is that they stick to the substrate. Behavior is predictable, and you can guide them through the plants instead of swiping at the plants to get them.  Corydoras actually do extremely well with the method to catch fish that cory uses.  Video below.  Best of luck!
 

 

[KittenFishMom]

This is the perfect topic for me.

Tomorrow, I want to catch the one large cory cat that is not a pepper cory cat out of my planted 10 gallon cylinder. The back of the tank is flat and hard to reach. The rest of the tank is too curved for anything but my tiny net that the cory would not fit in. The real fly in the ointment is the I put my heater along the bottom of the back of the tank, a little over a cory height off the substrate so I don't have to remember to unplug it and plug it back in every time I do a water change.

Tonight, I could move the heater to an upright position. I could take the ceramic hollow log on the right out too. There is a plant on the left side on the tank, toward the back. an extra air stone on the left, a large sponge filter in the middle and an HOB with a pre filter on the right side of the tank. I could take the floating driftwood out tonight, and floating the betta log out in the morning.  The plant has long stems and floating leaves. If I take 50% of the water out, more leaves will float. I draped some leaves over the top of the tank while netting out guppies, but I won't be able to net the cory with all the water in the tank. I also have clumps of java moss drifting around.

The tank is stocked with 3 same 1.5 inch sized corys, about 10 neon tetras, 3 very small kuhli loaches and 2 small yoyo loach and one tiny yoyo loach. There are a few ghost shrimp wandering around. (I cleaned the 55 gallon empty tank today and hope to start the build tomorrow.) (I was told the yoyos were dwarf chain loaches, store would not take them back, hopefully the 55 will work for them soon. I bought Fritz Turbo 700.) I'm wondering if I should move some tetras into the water I take out of the tank, to simplify things.

After I net the cory, I will put him in tanks water in an insulated minnow bucket with an air stone and drive him 30-45 minutes, to his new tank with a larger lone cory that to me looks just like this one I have.

I've watched Cory's catching video a few times. I'm thinking of putting the net in the tank and letting it set there, after I take out the water for a little bit, until everyone is acting natural again.

ALL advice is welcome. I want the cory to be as mellow as possible for this trip. I think I will put some plants in the minnow bucket, maybe some substrate. The minnow bucket is pretty dark. I could put something over the lid to make it darker.

[Odd Duck]

On 10/13/2022 at 7:14 PM, KittenFishMom said:

This is the perfect topic for me.

Tomorrow, I want to catch the one large cory cat that is not a pepper cory cat out of my planted 10 gallon cylinder. The back of the tank is flat and hard to reach. The rest of the tank is too curved for anything but my tiny net that the cory would not fit in. The real fly in the ointment is the I put my heater along the bottom of the back of the tank, a little over a cory height off the substrate so I don't have to remember to unplug it and plug it back in every time I do a water change.

Tonight, I could move the heater to an upright position. I could take the ceramic hollow log on the right out too. There is a plant on the left side on the tank, toward the back. an extra air stone on the left, a large sponge filter in the middle and an HOB with a pre filter on the right side of the tank. I could take the floating driftwood out tonight, and floating the betta log out in the morning.  The plant has long stems and floating leaves. If I take 50% of the water out, more leaves will float. I draped some leaves over the top of the tank while netting out guppies, but I won't be able to net the cory with all the water in the tank. I also have clumps of java moss drifting around.

The tank is stocked with 3 same 1.5 inch sized corys, about 10 neon tetras, 3 very small kuhli loaches and 2 small yoyo loach and one tiny yoyo loach. There are a few ghost shrimp wandering around. (I cleaned the 55 gallon empty tank today and hope to start the build tomorrow.) (I was told the yoyos were dwarf chain loaches, store would not take them back, hopefully the 55 will work for them soon. I bought Fritz Turbo 700.) I'm wondering if I should move some tetras into the water I take out of the tank, to simplify things.

After I net the cory, I will put him in tanks water in an insulated minnow bucket with an air stone and drive him 30-45 minutes, to his new tank with a larger lone cory that to me looks just like this one I have.

I've watched Cory's catching video a few times. I'm thinking of putting the net in the tank and letting it set there, after I take out the water for a little bit, until everyone is acting natural again.

ALL advice is welcome. I want the cory to be as mellow as possible for this trip. I think I will put some plants in the minnow bucket, maybe some substrate. The minnow bucket is pretty dark. I could put something over the lid to make it darker.

You can always use some of the hardscape as part of the “trap” to coax the cory into the net.  I would pull out anything that is easily removed (floating betta log, for instance) and remove things that won’t contribute to guiding the cory into the net.  You don’t have to necessarily trap the fish into a corner since angling the net with one side against the glass is enough.  The slower the “chase” is the better and safer for the fish no matter the species.  Plan on moving things out ahead of time like you are, leave the net in as planned and try to angle it the way you will want it during the catching part.

Then on catching day, go as slowly as you can stand and use the tiniest little wiggles of your fingers to slow motion guide the cory into the net, then swoop up or clap your hand over the net and lift as quickly as you can.  If the angle is right, I use my dominant hand on the net since that needs to be the fastest, most coordinated motion.  My non-dominant hand is the “chasing” hand since you only need to make little wiggles with it.  If the angle isn’t right, use whichever hand you can manage to get the job done.  First go round isn’t always successful so don’t get discouraged.  Give the fishies time to settle back down then try again going even slower on the chasing bit.  You’re trying to encourage them into the net, not force them into it.  It’s the only way I know to net without tearing up your plantings.  Otherwise, use a fish trap that is very closely watched.  

[KittenFishMom]

@Odd Duck I have pull the things I was going to tonight. Th cory I want stayed behind the sponge filter while the other 2 came out and vacuumed the exposed substrate. I'm going to have a few buckets on hand. I may end up catching most of the fish before I get the shy cory. My 2 peppered cory are bold as brass, but this guy is shy. I am hoping moving him to a tank with one of his kind will help. the new tanks cory is 2 or 3 times as long, so it could backfire. 

Tomorrow I will pull the sponge filter and the HOB. most of the plants are small, except the one with the lily pad leaves.

Thanks for reminding me to go slow. It is hard to remember when the fish turn at the wrong moment.

Keep your fins crossed for us.

[KittenFishMom]

@Odd Duck and @nabokovfan87 and @meadeam Worked like a charm. I had a huge net, and slowly worked the fish into the net trap area, taking breaks between working unwanted fish out. Was able to net him with just one neon. The water was lower than the net. so I could walk away and come back. The cory is on his way to his new home. Down with bio load. !

[nabokovfan87]

Awesome stuff 🙂

[Odd Duck]

I had to follow this plan myself, today, pulling chili rasboras, otos, and clown plecos out of the 20 high where they’ve been in quarantine.  Chilis went in the 100 G nano, otos and plecos went into the 100 G angel tank.  I still need to get another trio or so of otos to add to the angel tank.

[Torrey]

On 10/13/2022 at 1:39 PM, meadeam said:

I do not look forward to this.  I've read some threads on the subject and it seems I've thought of most of the methods.  I was hoping for a super-secret foolproof tactic I hadn't thought of.   

I've only ever had to net living fish in conjunction with rearranging a tank, but this time I will need to catch 10 black neons, 5 harlequin rasbora, 6 cories, and 1 pleco out of a heavily planted tank.  The neons and rasboras might be the easiest.  They tend to stay in open water, and if I am patient with a large net, they will swim right in.   The pleco may the next easiest.  She spends most of her time under a piece of driftwood.  I have moved it inside the tank without disturbing her, so I may be able to put a net under it while gently lifting until she lets go.

The cories are going to be a nightmare to catch without tearing up the plants.  I may need to set a trap for them, and constantly clear it of the red cherry shrimp I will probably catch instead.  I have actually considered re-scaping the tank rather than try to catch these critters with everything setup.

Closest to foolproof I have for you, but will require a separate area for "resting" before shipping (I catch fish 3 to 5 days before shipping, so they ship after a 24 hour fast):

Bait your net.

Blackworms, or frozen food in the net, and just keep rebaiting the net until you caught everyone. Set up some spare containers for separation, and if you get lucky you can move them straight to where they need to go... otherwise I just put in a bucket. Typically takes 3 days to catch every fish in the tank if that's my goal. You can return anyone you didn't need to catch *after* you catch your quota.

Seriously, starve them for 3 to 5 days, bait your net, catch everyone. Nobody gets food unless they swim into the net. Bait with small amounts, use the largest net with the smallest holes (or line the net with an unbleached coffee filter, a few quick whip stitches will hold it in place).

Good luck!