How the heck do you catch fish in a reef tank?

[Coral C's]

I am at my wits end... How the heck do you catch fish in a reef tank?
I have not added anything new to my tank in months and months but my fish have come down with something, started with ich but progressed to what looked like fin rot. I have lost five fish so far and now another pair of my clowns looks like they are starting to get it too. I have already done two water changes but I am trying to get them out to put them in another tank so I can treat them with copper. I can not catch them! Help anyone?

 

[jrmac45]

I had to tear down my tank to catch them, you could try the bottle trap you can watch on youtube how to make it...

 

[mrferrit]

I would make a bottle trap out of a gatoraid bottle bait it and let it happen. This has worked every time i have tried. Most of the time within a hour sometimes may take a day or so. I like to attack a piece of fishign line to it so when he goes in you can just pull up with out scaring him in the bottle and possibly having him escape.

 

[UnlcleLuke]

hoodless + night feedings + medium sized net = Fish caught (after a couple tries)

 

[Reefer577]

Turn your lights on after they've been off for 4-5 hours. Your fish will still be asleep, this method usually works like a charm.

 

[Coral C's]

I finally caught both of them, they are in a basket until I get finish getting the hospital tank ready. Now I just hope I got them in time, I would hate to loose two more fish. Especially these two because they are a mated pair.

 

[mflamb]

Laura, just a thought...one of the things I accomplish in QT is food training. Besides teaching the fish to eat whatever I want them to eat, I also train the fish to eat out of a net, and my hand, and whatever kind of funky container I have that will fit into the QT. The end result is no fear of that kind of stuff, and when you need to catch them, less stress and damage to the fish. When I had to catch the Vlamingi out of my 300, I laid the acrylic tube in the bottom of the tank with food in it and most of the fish tried to swim into it. The hardest part was catching only the Vlamingi. I know that doesn't help the current situation, but maybe in the future.

 

[g8gxp]

That is genius! So simple but you just don't usually think about "training" a fish. I'll have to start doing this. How long does this process usually take?

 

[Coral C's]

Laura, just a thought...one of the things I accomplish in QT is food training. Besides teaching the fish to eat whatever I want them to eat, I also train the fish to eat out of a net, and my hand, and whatever kind of funky container I have that will fit into the QT. The end result is no fear of that kind of stuff, and when you need to catch them, less stress and damage to the fish. When I had to catch the Vlamingi out of my 300, I laid the acrylic tube in the bottom of the tank with food in it and most of the fish tried to swim into it. The hardest part was catching only the Vlamingi. I know that doesn't help the current situation, but maybe in the future.

Mike,
That is very clever! Being that I have them both in a hospital tank now I will try that once they are cured (I hope). They lay eggs all the time and if I ever want to try and allow the fry to survive I would need to get them out of the tank and set them up in a tank by themselves.

Silly question but do anemones miss their hosts?

 

[Jabrams]

1st leave the net in the water (10 minutes)
2nd feed them something that floats
3rd scoop them when they come to grab the food

 

[colaman555]

Laura, just a thought...one of the things I accomplish in QT is food training. Besides teaching the fish to eat whatever I want them to eat, I also train the fish to eat out of a net, and my hand, and whatever kind of funky container I have that will fit into the QT. The end result is no fear of that kind of stuff, and when you need to catch them, less stress and damage to the fish. When I had to catch the Vlamingi out of my 300, I laid the acrylic tube in the bottom of the tank with food in it and most of the fish tried to swim into it. The hardest part was catching only the Vlamingi. I know that doesn't help the current situation, but maybe in the future.

When I feed the 300 thats how I feed and let them pick out of the net. The biggest fish aren"t afraid, it worries me because they really go nuts with the food in the net, might get caught with their fins and gills

 

[mflamb]

That is genius! So simple but you just don't usually think about "training" a fish. I'll have to start doing this. How long does this process usually take?

Six to nine weeks.