Hungry?

[Wendie]

Just took this at feeding time this morning.

I am getting ready to move these guys to their new homes. Any good suggestions on how to move them without too much stress? I would normally net and bag them and then float them for about 20 minutes. Since it's the same water or nearly, I would think I wouldn't need to do much else.

Suggestions appreciated. I don't want to lose them now. All 10 are doing great.

[EdenAU]

I have no idea how big they are (diameter), but the "drink bottle" trick might help you ?

For bigger fish (and a big enough tank) I'd use one of those larger "water cooler" bottles - otherwise you might be able to modify a different sized bottle to suit the length & diameter of your fish...

Cut the top (neck end) off a bottle
Turn it upside down
Re-attach to the rest of the bottle, so that the spout/neck is inside the base (use tape that will stick underwater - don't seal it permanently, as you need to get the top off to let the fish out )
Put food in bottle
Put bottle in the bottom of the tank, & wait for the fish to eventually swim in through the neck of the bottle - they're not likely to be able to get out quickly so you can just pick the bottle up & move the fish (water in bottle and all)
Repeat as required

If the "drink spout" of the bottle is too narrow, you might be able to cut the spout bit off so that the opening is a bit wider.

My explanation might not be very good, but hopefully you might understand what I'm trying to explain

[Wendie]

That sounds like a good idea and less stressful than chasing them around the tank with a net. Now to find a bottle.

[daspricey]

that a gd way.
i just want 2 say your loaches look awsome. they r soooooooooo cute.
i think that was the millionth time i have said that .

[mikev]

Suggestions appreciated. I don't want to lose them now. All 10 are doing great.

I've used a "kuhli trap" (a somewhat different design but the same idea as above) without much luck: it takes too long.

I've also used melafix which induces kuhli swimming and makes them easy to catch, but this *may be* dangerous: if you look at the old crazy kuhli thread, cybermeez described a case where melafix killed a kuhli. I have not seen any negative effects myself, and will use melafix again *if I'm moving all the loaches* out of the tank (so I'm risking only a very short term exposure).

But I'd certainly try using the net first and consider other ideas only if you really cannot catch them....

(Just my 2c)

[Wendie]

I think we have storms coming in this week so I'll catch a couple on the run to see how they adjust to a new tank.

[Wendie]

Moved three.... so far they are eating good. Only one seems antsy.. going up and down the sides. They are out and feeding. No one else has joined them. I'd hoped they would pull the older ones out.

[mikev]

Moved three.... so far they are eating good. Only one seems antsy.. going up and down the sides.

Typical, IME. I think it is a reaction to slightly different water. I'm probably wrong, but it seems that the males are more prone to this type of behavior. Btw, noticed you said on the other thread:

I find the younger ones do come out more often than the older bigger ones.

It appears that the "younger" ones are mostly the males, and the "older bigger" ones are the females. Not always: I had one very skinny small one suddenly developing a green tint on its belly,and I have a reasonably big likely male, but mostly the size is a sex indicator.

[Wendie]

They were all going up and down last night and early this morning. I did some moving of the java moss yesterday when I was catching them plus it's been raining fairly heavy for the past two days. I know I happen to scare one of the older ones in the other tank and he went nuts for a half hour.

It's interesting with the males being more restless. It would make sense as usually the females stay put in their territory while the males venture out looking for a mate.

These three really haven't moved that far from the food source today and actually one of the older ones came out and joined them for a few minutes.

[mikev]

It's interesting with the males being more restless. It would make sense as usually the females stay put in their territory while the males venture out looking for a mate.

I don't know if they looking for mates in a tank, but it seems to me that the females, especially gravid, tend to stay in one spot for very long time. Sometimes, weeks (like that large kuhli girl from the other thread).