How to catch fish in a rocky reef tank WITHOUT a fish trap

[Gripenfelter]

So I had ordered a fish trap when my wife said to me "Why don't you just put some food in the net and scoop them up?"

At first I was like

But after I tried it I was

Anyways, tied some seaweed to a rock. Could have caught the Niger trigger 10 times in 5 mins. Caught my elusive keyhole angel!! Gonna try the Lavender Tang tomorrow.

Pics below of all the fish I could have caught.

Salifin and Yellow Tang:


Foxface (you can see the tail), Niger, Sailfin, Hippo, and Yellow tang:


Naso:


Naso and Niger:

[Delphinus]

Wow. I can't get anywhere near my fish with a net. They know what a net is all about and although they eat like little piggies in any other context, there's no fooling them with food if there's a net in the tank. (I have used a jar and food in the past if the given fish was small enough.) I'm amazed that worked out for you .. but hey, if it works, it works, good on ya man.

Getting ready to transfer or shutting down? Why getting rid of the lavender tang? ust curious. I have one myself and I love the colours on him.

[Gripenfelter]

I left the net in there for 24 hrs so they are used to it.

The Lavender Tang is very aggressive and kills Powder Browns and Powder Blues. I want a Powder Brown. He has to go.

Keyhole angel was eating my corals.

Rest of fish will be transferred to my 300 gallon set up.

[Delphinus]

Interesting. Too bad about the lavender.

Right now I have a sailfin, a lavender and a lieutenant. I might be facing the same dilemma soon too, right now there is "mostly" peace but the tank just has this angry kind of feel to it, and I keep wondering if I need to consider removing one or possibly both of the Acanthurus tangs. I'd hate to do it, they are all sort of favourites of mine but it's not fun seeing fish fight.

[Dr_Hicks]

Very cool; I also cannot get close to my fish with a net lol

I thought this was a trick question, I was going to answer with mysis shrimp on a small hook !

[daniella3d]

Same here..just the sight of the net through the glass and my fish all disapear for the rest of the day...No way they will go eat in the net, not even when starving.

Last time I cought a fish I went fishing fishing line and small fishing hook did the trick for a very large and wise foxface that would not go near anything like a fish trap or a net.

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Wow. I can't get anywhere near my fish with a net. They know what a net is all about and although they eat like little piggies in any other context, there's no fooling them with food if there's a net in the tank.

[Gripenfelter]

Originally Posted by Dr_Hicks

Very cool; I also cannot get close to my fish with a net lol

I thought this was a trick question, I was going to answer with mysis shrimp on a small hook !

Leave the net in your tank for at least 24 hrs.

I even put pellets in it. The Niger will happily go peck it out. The Lavender is very fast though. Does a fly by, grabs some seaweed and bolts. I'll have to wait a couple more days for him.

[Dr_Hicks]

Originally Posted by Gripenfelter

Leave the net in your tank for at least 24 hrs.

I even put pellets in it. The Niger will happily go peck it out. The Lavender is very fast though. Does a fly by, grabs some seaweed and bolts. I'll have to wait a couple more days for him.

I am going to try this out, it will be good to get them conditioned to not fear the net.

Thanks mate :-)

[Lampshade]

I have an old net i did something some what similar to, I put my frozen fish food in the net for a couple weeks every time I fed them, they'd pic the food from the net. By the end of it they all swam into the net every time i put it in, made it easy. took a couple weeks though for them to get used it it.

[globaldesigns]

I am like the others, if a net goes anywhere near the tank, they all hide. Fishies are not stupid. But very cool this worked for you.

As Tony/Delphinus knows, we had to let the fish go to sleep, and then try to catch then, this tends to have a higher success rate for most.