Going fishing in a 300 gallon tank

[Keith Wolcott]

For some time, I have been thinking of switching my dither fish around. My SAEs pick on the Brilliant rasboras because of the size differential (6 inches vs 1.2 inches). Since most of the SAEs stay in the 300 gallon tank I wanted to move the Brilliant rasboras to the 75 gallon tank and the giant danios from the 75 to the 300. Catching fish out of the 75 is no problem, but catching them out of the 300 gallon is difficult especially since I have 15 pieces of wood in the tank and I didn't really want to remove it all. So I had been putting this off until one of my giant danios went through the water bridge to the 300 gallon tank (she must have accidentally done it and clearly did not know how to get back). She was all alone there and did not seem too happy. After some days and some thought, I added the following net with wooden dowel rods on the edges.



Then I used a small net to corral the dither fish above the big net and then lifted up the sides of the big net. They were then easy to catch.



The lone giant danio was positively giddy for at least 20 minutes after her companions joined her.

This method works well for dither fish, but would not work at all for loaches since they disappear under all of the wood.

[raecarrow]

This method works well for dither fish, but would not work at all for loaches since they disappear under all of the wood.

I don't think this would work too well for my guppies because they get wise of any net I put in the tank and they all go down to the bottom.

[FishyLady]

This is a genius idea!!!! must remember this.

Val

[OneWay]

I need to do the same thing in my 220g,,, i want to remove the giant danios and keep the rainbows... I was dreading thinking of how to catch them, lol.

this should do the trick,, now to find the netting

[Keith Wolcott]

Thanks all.

Raecarrow- Mine also immediately drop to the bottom and hide behind the wood, but with this net set up, I could use a small hand net and reach along the back of the tank and slowly work them across to the right side of the tank and then back the other way across the front of the tank and into the big net. I also, in my other hand, had a second small net that I kept in the back so that they did not cut through the wood and go to the back again. With the big net mostly see through and with lots of space in it, they were not too averse to entering the area. Once in, I lifted the end and they were caught.

Oneway- I can't say much about where to get the netting. I simply told my wife that I needed a big, fine, flexible, see-through net. The next time she came back from a fabric shop, she had this tulle which is much finer than most tulles.

[chefkeith]

For me catching fish is always a huge chore. That is a great idea there, which I'll have to try.

[Loaches4Life]

How does the waterbridge work? Could you post a link or explain please? sounds interesting

[Keith Wolcott]

Loaches4Life- See my posts on the entire project at

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=165

Page 12 of that thread shows the making of the water bridge.