Moving lionfish

[ashtree68]

Quick question,

I'm getting ready to transfer my lionfish to it's new tank, what's the best way to scoop him out without hurting him or getting stung myself?

I was thinking using a net to get him to swim into a big bucket and then just transfer him in the bucket. Would that work or is there a better way?

 

[jarrod13]

Ya it's best not to catch him in the net, but definitely fine to use it to herd him into a container of some sort. I would make sure you have a spotter, extra pair of hands never hurts when dealing with venomous fish. BE CAREFUL!!

 

[namxas]

If you can scoop it without too much trouble, definitely scoop it and place the net over the scooping vessel so the fish doesn't jump out.

However, we just moved all of our fish, and I found that "soft nets" that have flat bottoms worked best for me, esp. for the adult volitans (it is too large to do anything else).

The real key is to keep the fish calm and move rather quickly (not nuts, just don't dawdle) between the tank and transfer bucket so the fish doesn't get riled and flops in the net.

 

[namxas]

If you can scoop it without too much trouble, definitely scoop it and place the net over the scooping vessel so the fish doesn't jump out.

However, we just moved all of our fish, and I found that "soft nets" that have flat bottoms worked best for me, esp. for the adult volitans (it is too large to do anything else).

The real key is to keep the fish calm and move rather quickly (not nuts, just don't dawdle) between the tank and transfer bucket so the fish doesn't get riled and flops in the net.

 

[SaltwaterChris]

I used a spaghetti colander to get mine out

 

[ashtree68]

Update.

While I originally did not want to have to take our all of my rock work and everything, I ended up having to remove a good 90% of it to get him out.

After some close calls and a very angry lionfish, getting charged at a few times and realizing it was time to take a break for a bit he finally got moved. He's now happily hanging out under the rocks and swimming around like nothing happened.

 

[namxas]

Good deal...funny how fast lionfish can be when they want to, isn't it?

 

[ashtree68]

Yea, and how well they can wedge themselves into small spaces.

 

[thor32766]

I use a bucket when I move my big tangs. they are all 10 plus inches and really hurt themselves if i tried with a net. So I would corner them and scoop them out. If you cant during the day. At night wait till they are asleep and blind them with a flash light and just scoop them out.

 

[disciple]

I used a two gallon bucket and bait to move my lion. It took a few attempts but did work.

 

[LisaD]

I use the two gallon bucket method too, with my larger tanks