How to Catch Your Fish OR. . .Goin' Fishin'

[leebca]

Most posters in this forum finding themselves with sick, diseased or fish needing separation from their display aquarium are told to move their fish into a treatment or hospital tank. Easier said than done!

The catching of fish in a well aquascaped aquarium is a daunting if not a downright impossibility. No one wants to do this; no one wants to make it hard on their fish.

There are ways to improve your chances to catch your fish. Maybe some of you have experienced this frustration and have found a way to cope with it. Share your ideas on how to catch your fish in an established, aquascaped, display tank.

To start, I've used and heard of the following:[list=1]
Remove all hiding places (rocks, decorations, etc.) and chase 'em down!
Remove hiding places from half to one third of the tank; herd fish into that area and cut them off from the remaining rocks with a divider. Catch 'em if you can!
At night, herd the sleeping, blinded fish into a bowl or colander and get it out of the tank. The sneak attack!
The 'higher' scientific, medical type hobbyists put a mild anesthetic into the tank and slip the fish into a colander or net and drop them in tank water without anesthetic in it until they fully recover. The chemist's (or druggie's) approach!
Hold a "Fish Party" and get 8 nets in the water and tell your friends to go for it! A party game.
[/list=1] How do you catch your fish to put into a hospital tank?
:fish1:

[Kelmen]

I'm interested in #4 - chemist way.

Is it really practical? Cyanide?

[leebca]

No way, cyanide.

There are known fish anesthetics. In fact, you can operate on an ornamental marine fish while it is in a chemically induced sleep! I've done it a few times.

In a closed aquarium system, you can remove a lot of the water from the tank and store it. Add the anesthetic to the tank, catch the sleepy fish and put them in their water (stored) that doesn't contain the drug. They recover in a few minutes. Some require some 'walking' but others recover quite well on their own.

:)

[Steven Pro]

I have gone fishing with a hook and line to remove a Miniatus Grouper from a display. It was amazing how much fight he had in him.

Also, there are a variety of traps, both commercial and DIY versions, to catch fish and mobile inverts.

[Kelmen]

For fishing\trapping, they may work if the sick fish still interested in food. Some may be too bad in shape to bother that.

But then, isn't very-sick fish is more easy to catch?

[KingDiamond]

I have actually caught a barttlets anthais out of a large sump once ( the fish jumped from the tank to the sump) I used super tiny hook I bought at a large outdoor out let along with some 1lbs test line. I had to tie the hook on using forceps, thats how small it was. I took a gallon bucket of tank water and .7 grams of MS-222 and had it just in case I had trouble with the hook. I also had small side cutters to actually cut the hook if I had to. I used small Krill as bait. The anthais took it pretty quickly. I pulle him out pushed the barb of the hook through the hole with forceps and cut the hook in half. I removed the line from the fishes mouth and returned him to the tank in probably 30 seconds. The anthias showed no side effects and I didn't have to use the MS-222.

Brad

[deedo]

I use tricane to anesthetize zebra danios at work. Never killed one yet and I've doped and cut the tails off hundreds of fishies. My question: is tricane safe around corals and other inverts?

~andy

[leebca]

Kelmen,

The sick fish can still have a lot of fight in them. If the fish is so ill that it is no longer aware of its surroundings, then it may be beyond help. But you are right. A fish so far gone that it has lost interest in what is happening around it is easier to catch.

deedo,

Don't know about its affects on corals, if any.

:rollface:

[leebca]

So what bait did you use, Steven?

:hmm1:

[Steven Pro]

Krill. That Grouper found it irresistible.

[leebca]

I'm posting an addition to this thread. The current issue of Practical Fishkeeping (the UK mag) had some fish catching ideas not listed in this thread. Although their emphasis was on freshwater fish catching, I thought a couple might apply here.

Their suggestions (added to the first set):
[list=1]
Use one ore more nets of the right size
Use a black net (for evening catches)
Use a trap (including but not limited to a milk bottle), baited with their fav food.
[/list=1]

Happy hunting!