Removing fish without destroying tank

[Justin V1]

I’m to the point where I’m ready to add 40 blue dream shrimp. However I have to remove 3 large Siamese algae eaters first.

As you can see from the pic there are lots of places for them to hide.

Any advise on how to remove them without destroying my tank?

[Woowala]

2 nets, carefully, at night.

or make/buy a fish trap and be patient. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

4 years in, catching fish is still one of my least favorite parts of the hobby. That being said, catching fish now is much less of a hassle than the first few times I did it. 
 

2 nets, 1 net and your hand to guide the fish into the net, etc. and patience. Lots and lots and LOTS of patience. 

[Justin V1]

Thank you, I’ll give that a shot tomorrow 

[Lynaea]

Lower the water level as much as you can so there are fewer options for them to escape. 

[T. Payne]

Definitely at night.

[beastie]

I am a big fan of the bottle trap. The key is starving the tank a bit first and trying to catch other fish than the one you want caught. Every time i try to catch a certain fish i will end up with every other fish in the trap. Trap at the bottom of the tank? Ofcourse pearl gourami. Small bottle opening intended for tetra? Yes bolivian rams will squeeze in there. Uncatchable kuhli loach? In the trap when trying to catch another fish.

[TOtrees]

I go for a hand-push into large net approach. Remove everything from the top of the tank, possibly also filter if it's in the way. You want to be able to put your hand and/or net into the tank wherever you need. Use your hand to gently slowly no sudden movements push or poke the fish out of whatever hidey place it goes to. Do this a few times without any nets, to get a sense of where the fish wants to go, what are its preferred paths of travel through the tank and plants? The goal of pushing it is not to have it flash across the tank super fast, but slowly go in the direction you are pushing it.  Sometimes you have to move your hand very slow, or not at all. Sometimes your hand is more of a blocker than a pusher.  Think non-predatory thoughts: my hand is just another fish, or floating weed, not something that's coming to get you. 🙂 

Next set up a net, largest possible, with the bag end as open as possible, where the fish would swim into the net as it comes out of a hidey place or plant clump, and into more open space. Do the same thing you did above, pushing the fish out of its hidey place, hopefully into the waiting net. When it's in, block the opening with your hand, and slowly either turn the net to close it against the glass, or turn it so the bag is down and the opening is up then slowly lift it towards the surface, using your hand to block the fish from swimming up and out. If you're moving slowly, it will be more inclined to try and swim down thru the net (which it won't be able to do) than swim away from the net ie up and out. 

Edited Tuesday at 02:15 PM by TOtrees

[Justin V1]

Thank you all for the great tips! 
Time to go fishing…

[Bubbletrouble]

I made my own fish trap from clear plexiglass. It's a 4x4 inch rectangular box about 8 inches long. Nice thing about being rectangular is that you can lay it on the bottom against the side glass and the fish can't escape between the glass and trap. If you use a glass jar (which works, too), they can escape between the gap. Leave the trap in place for a few minutes, then gently chase the fish toward the opening with a fish net. By the time they realize it's a trap, it's usually too late and they are in. Cover the opening with your net and pull the trap out. It doesn't have to be totally water-proof and if it leaks, that's okay. once at the surface, I pour the fish into the net and remove it from the tank. I put a long handle on the front of the trap to make it easier to remove. When I set up my tank I made sure there would be a suitable spot for a fish trap left bare of rocks and plants.  Works like a charm...

Mine has a lid which usually closes as soon as you lift the trap, but it's not necessary. Holding the net over the opening works, too.

Edited Tuesday at 04:59 PM by Bubbletrouble

[Guppysnail]

I have a hard acrylic divider made for each tank available on Amazon. 
I insert the divider to cut the tank space down so they can’t run as far. Then lower the water line as much as possible and use 2 nets or net and hand. 
Also doing an easy catch dance and praying a lot…🤣 don’t think the last 2 help much though. 

[knee]

I'm also about to remove some fish from my main tank. I'm gonna try the DIY water bottle fish trap to catch some rainbowfish and rummynose tetras. Still unsure what bait to use but I feel like putting some live blackworms will entice them more than putting pellets.

[Mississippi fish guy]

I have used the diy water bottle trap to catch in my fish but I had never thought to use bait and let the trap sit. I’ll have to try that when I need to catch my cherry barbs again.

[knee]

On 9/17/2024 at 12:12 PM, Mississippi fish guy said:

I have used the diy water bottle trap to catch in my fish but I had never thought to use bait and let the trap sit. I’ll have to try that when I need to catch my cherry barbs again.

How were you able to catch them without any bait?

[Mississippi fish guy]

On 9/17/2024 at 3:51 PM, knee said:

How were you able to catch them without any bait?

I set the trap in places that were in front of their hiding places and waited. Also I chased them with a net and had the trap in a corner in case they went their.

[lefty o]

two nets. one to gently guide them into the other. the trap may work too. good luck SAE's are about the hardest fish to catch.

[HelplessNewbie]

Here's a quick and dirty diy bottle trap with bait or, in this instance, a feeding station for my pygmy cory, so they don't get outcompeted by the tetra.

I will update with another photo when pygmies are in there.

An endler slipped in there and is having a huge meal.

Edited Tuesday at 10:55 PM by HelplessNewbie

[HelplessNewbie]

Used the same feeding station in the other tank. Only the cory ventured in, which was good!

Here is the mystery snail trying to horn in on the action. I thought he was stuck but he wasn't.

 

Edited 16 hours ago by HelplessNewbie