[skinns]

Anybody have any good tips on catching these guys. I have one that is about 3.5 inches long and I can't even get near the guy with the net. I do more damage on the aquascape than I do catching this guy.

 

[fishfry]

I destroyed my entire 20 gallon catching one of those...good luck

 

[JanS]

Remove all of your aquascape?? :roll:

There are DIY traps out there that supposedly work pretty well if baited with the right thing, but I haven't tried them.
The only experience I've had with catching them was when a few of us were tearing down some tanks of a friend, and then it wasn't bad at all - compared to some of the other fish..... :shock:

 

[stocker]

Use 2 nets. A big one in the open area, a small one to chase the bugger around until he swims into the big net... then swoop!

EDIT: Oh a good help would be to do it in the middle of the night when all the lights (including your room's) are off, then suddenly switch on the tank lights, and put those nets in. All the fish will be shocked and unable to move really fast. I've caught my SAEs this way.

 

[jsenske]

As a last resort, you can crank up your CO2 just until the fish begin to hover at the surface/lightly gasp. Catch the fish immediately and have an airstone/airpump ready to drop right in and obviously turn CO2 off right away. Maybe do this right before a water change to help restabilize things quickly. You may lose a shrimp or two, but not if you are right there watching the whole time. I have had no choice but to do this method on very large tanks (like 500 gallons+) where you simply can not catch fish with a net.

 

[Phil Edwards]

Dynamite.

 

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Yeah! Gas em!

 

[gnatster]

Dynamite.

Isn't the idea NOT to destroy the aquascape while removing the fish?

[sarcasim]Phil, your the one destroying all the reefs for that elsive chunk of odd rock, eh[/sarcasim]

 

[Erirku]

The best way to catch fish is at night!? Their more vulnerable at that time. I usually wait for awhile and catch them.
1) grab a flashlight and point it upwards so the light doesn't shine right at them.
2) manuvere the net slowly and also make sure your lights get adjusted to the dark.
3) if they are swimming around to much try turning the light off for alittle while. Also, if you don't have a flashlight, try using the other rooms light and use the glare as your light source.
Hope this helps. Inform us on the catch 8)

 

[Bert H]

FWIW, my sae's love to scrape my hand when I do my water changes/pruning, etc. I have caught them by gently maneuvering my net towards them when they come after my hand!

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

The big net/little net has worked for me in the past.....patience is the key if you dont want to end up destroying your aquascape.

 

[pineapple]

Skinns might actually have a Chinese algae eater if one of his previous posts is relevant to this one. CAEs are not much easier to capture either. A gentle method is to leave nets in the water and feed fish in them. When the fish gets used to the net, take advantage and strike...

Andrew Cribb

 

[vancat]

when i had to catch one a couple of years ago, the only way i could get him was to take most of the water out of the tank. good luck with the other methods, though!

 

[skinns]

wow, lots of ideas and experiences. Here is the 29 Gallon that he is in. You can see him pearched on his favorite leaf in the middle. He is just to big now...

I think I will go with the NIGHT time approach. I'm gonna feel like a burlar though...

 

[gpodio]

I use a couple nets too to catch them, I usually leave all the nets in the tank for an hour or so, this gets them used to them, then I chase them with a white brine shrimp net into the other nets, worked every time so far. But the key is not to chase them with it, lot's of patience and slowly "encourage" them towards the other nets. A little flake food may also help bring them up away from the aquascape. Night time might also be easier for you, could try to blind them with a flashlight.

Good luck, they are tricky if they catch on to what you are doing
Giancarlo

 

[cS]

If it is not a big tank then I advocate the "surprise them in the middle of the night by turning on the lights" method. All the fish in your tank will be sluggish for about 30 minutes or so. I try to do this after a water change.

(1) On water change day, siphon some old water into an old bucket.
(2) That night, catch the fish and transfer it to the bucket.
(3) Ship/return fish to LFS/wherever the following day.

This way, you don't have to wonder where to store the fish until morning.

The flash light method never worked for me. Only succeeded in giving me frustrations: trying to point with one hand and catch the fish in the other. Some days, you just wanna be an octopus. ::squirts::

---

If it is a large tank, then you'd have more success by rigging a fish trap. I can't find a link right now but I recall cutting the top half of a soda bottle and invert it so that the neck and opening are facing the bottle's bottom. Put some food in there. The theory is that the fish will swim into the bottle to get the food but is too stupid to find its way back out. Those SAEs are clever little buggers though. :toimonst:

 

[Gomer]

I use a couple nets too to catch them, I usually leave all the nets in the tank for an hour or so, this gets them used to them, then I chase them with a white brine shrimp net into the other nets, worked every time so far. But the key is not to chase them with it, lot's of patience and slowly "encourage" them towards the other nets. A little flake food may also help bring them up away from the aquascape. Night time might also be easier for you, could try to blind them with a flashlight.

Good luck, they are tricky if they catch on to what you are doing
Giancarlo

This is EXACTLY how I do it...except for the nightime flashlight part [smilie=d:

 

[gpodio]

Yeah I never had to resort to the night time thing either but it sounded like a good idea reading the previous posts. I guess it depends where your SAEs like to hang out at night too.

Happy hunting!
Giancarlo

 

[Gomer]

My SAE would hide along right where driftwood meets the substrate...and under the leaves of plants. You'd think that with lots of light, only 29g, and a 4" SAE that he wouldn't hide so well that I had to spend 5 minutes between "sessions" to find him LOL.


SAEs...they are the Houdini's of the aquarium world LOL

 

[niko]

CO2 suffocation works better than waking up in some weird hour of the night trying to suprise the SAE's in their night gowns.

I've torn a whole tank before trying to catch those fish and I agree they are much harder to catch than many others.

--Nikolay