Methods for catching a fish from a tank

Every fish keeper on earth has probably had various problems and issues with the things I’m going to talk about throughout this article. I can see myself chasing fish for 30 minutes all around the aquarium. In the end, they would get into the net, stressed and exhausted. It is an extremely uncomfortable experience both for you and for the fish.

It is unavoidable that at some point you’ll have to be catching some fish when owning an aquarium full of them. Reasons to do so are selling, buying or moving unhealthy fish into the quarantine tank, getting back the aggressive types of fish or moving parental ones. In chasing fish, you should be on the lookout for lashing with a net because it may stress or harm some of them. The other possibility is you won’t even catch the right one. The solution to this is to pour out some tank water and leave less space for the fish. The possibility to catch them will then increase. Now, I’ll give you some tips how to catch your fish the easiest way.

Netting the fish is one of the most common and the easiest way of catching fish. The net itself can be of any color and size. White nets are thought not to be among the best ones, unlike the ones that come in black or green, that don’t scare off the fish and, apart from that, they give them a, sort of, sense of security. But, using a white net to scare off the fish to the green or black one placed on the other side of the tank is a good tactic to catch them. Make sure you do everything gently. Eventually, the fish will go into the net by itself. If the fish’s fins get into the net you shouldn't be worried. Put the fish back into the aquarium, hold the net and the fish will free itself. If it doesn't work, carefully cut of the net with scissors. Netting can be helpful when feeding the fish, as well, but you’re trying to keep some fish apart from others. Just use a white net to separate them, and the green one to put them together, for example.

Catching fish with your hands is a method used usually with bigger fish. You have to do this carefully because some species have spines used to defend themselves. Use both of your hands to catch a fish, gently take the fish by its tail and support it from underneath. Keep in mind that all this has to be done gently and with a lot of patience. Fish that have electricity or are poisonous shouldn't ever be touched by human hand, logically.

Catching fish with the help of a bottle is a method appropriate to catch species like shrimp, dwellers or snails that are usually on the bottom of the tank. Green provides fake security for the fish (as mentioned above), so use a green bottle so you can see them and make them feel safe. Before putting the bottle into the tank, you should clean it up a little in some hot water. Don’t use detergents or anything similar to clean the bottle. You should opt for a glass bottle rather than a plastic one, because it sinks to the bottom. Place the food into the water, put it on the bottom of the tank and let it getfilled with water slowly. Switch the lights off and wait for the fish to get into the trap. Leave some room light on, and switch them off in the evening hours. Close the entrance of the bottle with your finger, after you make sure that the fish are trapped. This is a method that requires gentility and patience. It might take some time, but your fish will definitely be less stressed out. By using this method you’ll leave the same depth of the water to fish and there’ll be no need to remove the water. Also make sure you don’t hitthe tank edges while using the bottle to catch desired fish. Catching fish with glass dip tubes is not a quite popular method. The only ones who use this method are the, so called “breeder-aquarists” who have to this to catch the fry and don’t spoil it.

Conclusion

To conclude, I’ll say that keeping and catching fish all the time demands some experience and knowledge, because otherwise you may hurt or kill your own fish. I’m sure you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?