how on earth can i get the fish out without disturbing the rocks?

[krisoto]

i got a 100gl tank and with alot of rocks.
cichlids are a dozen.
after i finish changing the water,and replaced the rocks
i notice there's one female is preggy!
if i use my palm size fish net, it will just go between the rock and hide.
grrr, i should have known that.
what can i do to safely take the preggy out, put it in isolation tank, without messing the rocks

 

[EyeMWing]

Get more than one net. Block her attempts at hiding with one, snatch her up with the other.

 

[Leros]

Its very difficult. I've been there done that. Try luring them into net with food.

Unfortunatly cichlids are more intelligent than the average fish.

 

[FoBoT]

do you have something big to put water in?
if so, drain out most of the water, when the water level is low, they are much easier to catch as it makes thier escape space smaller

 

[Baked]

Vacuum hose.

 

[her209]

Use electricity to shock the fish before attempting to catch them.

 

[Umberger]

dustbuster

 

[SVT Cobra]

I would get two nets, and use them carefully. Normally I would just wear the fish down until they are tired and easier to catch, but because of her condition you don't want to do that.

 

[Howard]

Nets are pretty stressful. Can you do it with a bucket of some sort?

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: Howard
Nets are pretty stressful. Can you do it with a bucket of some sort?

When I was breeding cichlids, I used a 1 gal bucket and a net. I put some rocks in the bucket to make it look more natural, put the whole bucket on its side in the tank, then use the net to herd the fish into it.

Minimal stress, happy mom (or dad, depending on the species.)

 

[spidey07]

good luck.

I suggest a really small hook and go fishing. I'm not kidding.

 

[krisoto]

you mean small bucket, but that will be suspicious for them.
ill try
draining the water agian will make them hide in the rocks.
if the preggy cichlid gets caught i know for instance that she will spew out all her baby and gets eaten up

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: spidey07
good luck.

I suggest a really small hook and go fishing. I'm not kidding.

Good luck getting a mouthbrooder full of eggs to take bait.

 

[krisoto]

hey, that's a good idea, with rocks inside.
easy to fool them, ill give it a shot

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: krisoto
you mean small bucket, but that will be suspicious for them.
ill try
draining the water agian will make them hide in the rocks.
if the preggy cichlid gets caught i know for instance that she will spew out all her baby and gets eaten up

Make sure the bucket is a dark color.

Of course it will be suspicious. It's new. But it'll look like a nice inviting cave when they're being chased by a net.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
do you have something big to put water in?
if so, drain out most of the water, when the water level is low, they are much easier to catch as it makes thier escape space smaller

QFT! I've used this trick before to catch fish out of a s/w reef before. when the fish only have 1" of water, they can't swim far nor fast...

 

[lizardth]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
do you have something big to put water in?
if so, drain out most of the water, when the water level is low, they are much easier to catch as it makes thier escape space smaller

:thumbsup: I've had a lot of luck doing this in the past trying to catch guppies and paradise fish.

 

[jagec]

drop a firecracker in the water. The fish will float to the surface.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: jagec
drop a firecracker in the water. The fish will float to the surface.

Ah yes, the old Dupont Spinner. Kind of tough on aquascaping and other tank inhabitants however....

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: DurocShark

Originally posted by: spidey07
good luck.

I suggest a really small hook and go fishing. I'm not kidding.

Good luck getting a mouthbrooder full of eggs to take bait.

LOL, I had to tear down my entire reef, taking almost everything out of the tank to get a fish out. Talk about an effort in futility.

DAMN dottieback.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Topic Title: how on earth can i get the fish out without disturbing the rocks?

Is that you Gollum?

 

[PottedMeat]

You could try using Cyanide...

...maybe not.

 

[krisoto]

i wonder what are these that they have success ebay

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: krisoto
i wonder what are these that they have success ebay

That's probably a guide for the bottle fish catcher.

 

[krisoto]

well, i tried that.
it seems the preggy mouthbreeder won't take the bait, i even put some pelllet in there.