How To Catch A Pleco Correctly?

[blackbat]

well I have mr pleco (or maybe its mrs pleco -how do you tell?) and he has got old wounds to his fins from being caught badly by his previous owner/s so I use a big jug to catch him and gently coax him towards it head first then lift him up and put my hand over it and tip him tail first into the bucket. But I have had to just pick him up with my hands today as he just plain refused to go in the jug.
This seemed to stress him out less. I was wondering if this is harmful as I would never handle my other fish like this due to damaging the surface layer of protective slime. however the pleco being armourplated and scaleless I thought this might be okay he seems fine with it tbh.
How do you catch your pleco when needed?
and btw how do u sex them?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Well what I do is skin the pleco, then I take the head off and all the guts, I put him on the baraque for 30mins with some salt and lemon! I'm only joking. Do you really want to eat him?

 

[Tolak]

I use a glass jar with a little zucchini, and wait it out for smaller plecs like bristlenose. I have some large commons, 12" to 15". I drain down the tank, get a pair of leather-palmed gloves, and grab them right behind the head, where the bony structure of their body is. If you grab down too far you get muscle, large plecs do have quite a bit of muscle, and will wiggle free.

Don't use a net, plecs get tangled, I learned this the hard way with a bristlenose long ago, 10 minutes of underwater finagling to let it loose, and a nicely stabbed finger. Bare hands don't work with plecs, unless you enjoy pain.

 

[blackbat]

I use a glass jar with a little zucchini, and wait it out for smaller plecs like bristlenose. I have some large commons, 12" to 15". I drain down the tank, get a pair of leather-palmed gloves, and grab them right behind the head, where the bony structure of their body is. If you grab down too far you get muscle, large plecs do have quite a bit of muscle, and will wiggle free. [/quote]


thats where i picked him up with two fingers above his fins and the res under his belly.

Don't use a net, plecs get tangled, I learned this the hard way with a bristlenose long ago, 10 minutes of underwater finagling to let it loose, and a nicely stabbed finger. Bare hands don't work with plecs, unless you enjoy pain.

the net was what caused the damage to his fins i think. he wasn't to spinky to handle tbh I was more worried bout if it could hurt him to pick him up with my bare hands. I would worry about the leather treatment if i put the leather gloves in the water.

so I guess the best way is to just pic the big boy right up out of the water then as he wouldn't fit in a jar unless it was a jar from pickled plecos

I really don't eat plecos or any other fish I am allergic believe it or not. not to mention vegi
my dad was a fish monger when i was small tho and it really really smelt bad so as a family we are somewhat antifish as food. not that we care if other pll eat it it just turns our stomachs from the smell haahaa

 

[littleme1969]

I breed these guys in large 100g community tanks so had to come up with a good stress free way to catch them. In the end I made my own plec catching tube. Its made up of airline and connectors and a filter bag Plecs cant resist it . I stick some cucumber in the bottom, angle it slightly so there escape is not to easy. Plecs are very nosey and if nosh is on offer they generally cant resist. Wait till one is in the net, then sneak up on the tank and remove the net . Works everytime as long as you are prepared to wait a while. Its also a good idea to put it in a few days before, so the fish get used to seeing it and are not suspicious.