How to catch fish without tearing up the tank??

[Davidd]

Hi, just want to ask a few questions:

1) how does one capture swift, clever fishes like cardinals without ripping out the hairgrass, the MMs, etc.? they like to hide behind plants!

2) Do fish have short term memory? Where usually my finger will draw all the fish like moths to a flame (looking for food), the moment my net went to work, for the next hour or so the cardinals refused to come near me.

anyone has success stories, especially for wary cardinals? I'm so exasperated!

[David]

You need to have to nets to help you with this. A fairly large one that you will use in one fixed position where you can still haul out quickly without obstruction, and a small net to 'herd' your cardinals into the big net.

It would be better if you could lower your water level by at least 40% so that swimming height is greatly reduced....A lot of patients is required and it could take up a whole day....when you feel that you are losing your patients.....stop....

[checkerboard]

David's method is the one I usually adopt as well. but after some time, the cardinals learn and they will hide, so you cant herd them when they are amongst the plants. there's where the patience come in.

Another method i used for fishes like SAE is to catch them after lights are off. when lights are off and you suddenly on it again, the fish are quite slow to react to this actually and you can fish them out easily.

very successful for fishes that sleeps in the open. i tried this method with success for teh lone cardinal, SAE, pencils etc. but careful, because it may stress your fishes a bit.

[benetay]

You might want to type minnow trap in search engine . I've done one and it's quite good for catching fish.

[MdmBudak]

I used the lights off method to catch my SAE and ram.

When the lights are on, its impossible to catch them as they swim very fast.

2 hrs after lights off, I used a torch light and net to catch the fish. The fish will be 'stunned' by the torchlight and then, all you have to do is scoop them out.

Job done within 5min.

[Vican]

Also, I noticed that you are also more likely to catch your fish if you are scooping directly upwards instead of from the side

[benetay]

The lighting method is very good for catching small amount of fish like a few SAE or other fast moving fishes like characin family.

If your tank is huge and very densely planted with tons of fishes inside you might want to consider a minnow trap . Usually after the trap is place into the tank baited, most of the fishes will be in your trap in about 1/2hr .

You might give it a try. It's worth it =)[]