Can't Net The Little **** Any Advice

[StaniFish]

trying to net one of my male swordtail who needs moving to stop my females getting pregnant again, he's a big tough fella and he's very agile and fast, i have tried all the basic things of leaving the net in, trying to block him in and net him in all sorts of ways but he is just too fast for me and plus it does not help having 2 breeding traps in the tank, also while trying to catch him i am tearing up all of my decorations and plants which is releasing nitrate into the water! anybody got some smart fast advice for catching the little *****!

 

[CrashingWaves]

Best advice I can give you is corner him extremely slowly in the tank. Then, slowly guide him towards the surface. Then make a quick motion upward to net him straight out of the water. This has helped me catch some of the most difficult fish to net.

God Bless,
Joshua

 

[signman]

put a divider of some sort in the tank to make the tank smaller.... YOU CAN RUN! BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah i agree, the best way to net fish is to aproach them slowly until you are very close to them and then just net them up. I've also found sometimes leaving the net in the tank for a while can also help the fish overcome their fear of the net.

Its no good though spending too long trying to catch fish though as they will just get more and more hyped up and freaked out, if you can't catch the fish within 10-15mins it would probably be best to just give it a rest for half an hour or so before attempting again, afterall you don't want to cause the fish too much stress .

Breeding nets can be a pain in the bum though when they get in the way, it is probably a good idea to put all of the fry in a bowl and take the breeding nets out of the tank (would also be a good oppotunity to give the nets a wash) so you can catch the fish easier .

 

[StaniFish]

i just had 2 reli good attempts and i tried to slowly approach it and slam straight up but he jus jumped out near the surface, time to have another go... thanks for your help so far, keep em comin!

 

[CrashingWaves]

i just had 2 reli good attempts and i tried to slowly approach it and slam straight up but he jus jumped out near the surface, time to have another go... thanks for your help so far, keep em comin!

Make sure you pull the net all the way, or at least part way out of the water when you come up. Also, making sure the net is as level with the waters surface as possible helps. But, as mentioned above, don't attempt catching the fish for too long because it will cause a lot of unwanted stresses.

God Bless,
Joshua

 

[luque]

get a huge net then it would be harder to miss

 

[PRW1988]

What size net are you using? Also, have you tried taking off the light hood? Use an 8" net... it works for me when I need to catch my angel

 

[CrashingWaves]

^I never really understood how some people could use such small nets

God Bless,
Joshua

 

[mrbudgie]

worst fish to catch i found over the years are bloody skink loaches , god can they squeeze into some tight spaces lol

 

[Thirdfloor]

It can also help a lot to use 2 nets, and as mentioned, take the lid off completely if you are able.

CAEs can be a devil to catch too, they are FAST!

 

[Dorkhedeos]

^I never really understood how some people could use such small nets

God Bless,
Joshua

Years of practice, thats how

 

[flash22]

2 large nets and a lot of spare time is the key. i spent nearly 3 hours catching 10 rasboras and 14 neons in my rio 180 aaargh

kuhli loaches are the biggest pain to catch esp with a square net in a round bucket lol

 

[Dorkhedeos]

2 large nets and a lot of spare time is the key. i spent nearly 3 hours catching 10 rasboras and 14 neons in my rio 180 aaargh

kuhli loaches are the biggest pain to catch esp with a square net in a round bucket lol

I usually just persuade them to go into the net with my finger when they are in a bucket

 

[MermaidMel]

It took me a week to catch a certain barb that was eating my tetra. Spent lots of time in short bursts, trying to catch him. Then with the experience I had catching him, I managed to net a rainbow shark and a bristlenose, both in well planted tanks with plenty of caves, so this is gotta be proven methods Biggest net you can fit in your tank, food in the clearing, leave net in well before you feed, stand as far away from the tank or to the side when you go to swipe the net and make sure the food is up by the side of the glass so that when you swipe the net you catch the fish between the side of the tank and the net, hence trapping the fish between the net and the glass, then SLOWLY slide the net up the glass and as you do, tip the net back, hence out of the water but quickly out of the water not giving the fish any chance to swim or jump out. GOOD LUCK!