[APD] Re: Broken strip tetra - catching fish

["Ann Viverette" <annv777 at houston_rr.com>]

Cut, and Print! That's good advice on catching fish. Thanks. I was using two
nets, but the bigger net still was not as big as the tank. I did end up
destroying the tank entirely trying to move the ember tetras out of a 10
gallon. Hence, my caution with the 59 gallon!

Re the appetite of the broken stripe tetras, they seem to be hearty eaters,
will they outcompete other fish? The cardinals are alway nervous and wait
for food to fall, due to the serpaes harassment apparently, as the newer
cardinals in the isolation tank come to the surface for food everytime. Is
there any way to predict if these broken stripe tetras will act like dither
fish for the cardinals or whether their big appetite will just mean that
there's less chance of food reaching the cardinals? Will the broken stripe
tetras steal food from the kuhlies?

Ann Viverette

: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 12:33:08 -0400
> From: Ron Barter <mistnfrost at superaje_com>
> Subject: [APD] Re: Broken strip tetra - catching fish
> To: <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
>

>     As for catching fish in a planted tank, my best piece of advice? Get a
> bigger net. I use the common green, relatively course nets. One as large
as
> I can fit in the tank, and a smaller "chaser" net. Place the large net in
> one end of the tank, so that its open end is facing the opposite end of
the
> tank. Then use the smaller net to herd the fish into the larger net, which
> is quickly turned ninety degrees up against the front glass. Let go of the
> small net, and place your hand up against the front glass, which usually
> scares the fish into the bottom of the large net and you can then lift
them
> out of the tank. You'll be amazed how much better this works than chasing
> the fish around the tank with a smaller net. Make them come to you.
>
>     Some species dive for the cover of plants rather than schooling at the
> first sign of the net. For these guys, I wait until the middle of the
night,
> and catch them in the dark with a flashlight. This worked even with Ameca
> splendens, the wariest fish I ever had to get out of a large planted tank.
>
>     Lastly, for fish that like to hide in the dark like loaches, plecos
> etc., I use a foot long piece of black ABS pipe with an end cap on one
end,
> and a small hole drilled through the wall of the pipe at the other, with a
> string threaded through it and up and over the edge of the tank. Loaches
> can't resist taking refuge in these, and it's a simple matter to haul the
> tube out of the tank by the string, with your quarry safely tapped in the
> tube. Be sure to cover the top of the pipe quickly, else you may find
> yourself aiming a "fish launcher" if they try to make a run for it (don't
> ask me how I know this).
>
>     Sorry to have gone on here, but hopefully this will help keep someone
> from decimating a nicely planted tank in pursuit of a reluctant traveller.
>
> Ron Barter
> Perth, Ontario



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