Alright...how am I going to make this happen?!?!?!

AllSignsPointToFish · Sep 19, 2017

I've lost a few fish lately, and I thought something might be eating them. Well, I was right. I was cleaning out my overflow tonight and, lo and behold, there is my missing male dispar anthia. He may even have a longnose hawkfish buddy in this overflow or the other.

How the heck am I going to get him out of a megaflow overflow with a Durso setup? The darn thing is 24" deep and filled with PVC pipes. If I can't figure out a way to get him out, he may have to live out his days there!

I'm already in the process of fabricating custom ABS covers, but obviously I'm late to the game with this guy

Any creative thoughts would be appreciated!

This hobby never ceases to amaze me with all of the things one can see!

keddre · Sep 19, 2017

Can he swim out or is it too crowded? If so, I'd cut all flow and lure him up with food

AllSignsPointToFish · Sep 19, 2017

keddre said:
Can he swim out or is it too crowded? If so, I'd cut all flow and lure him up with food

No, he can swim well enough to get away from my net! He won't come up for food, especially if he sees the net.

keddre · Sep 19, 2017

Maybe you could cut off the main drain so that the unrestricted drain is the only one running. It will be loud and a pain, but then if he gets sucked in, he'll fall down into the sump

AllSignsPointToFish · Sep 19, 2017

No, it's plumbed very similar to this:

keddre · Sep 19, 2017

AllSignsPointToFish said:
No, it's plumbed very similar to this:

Sorry, I edited it right before you responded. Do you have an unrestricted emergency you can send him down?

Caseyoidae · Sep 19, 2017

Can you get your arm in there? Put your hand all the way at the bottom and work up scaring him to the top and then just scooping him back is the easiest way

AllSignsPointToFish · Sep 19, 2017

keddre said:
Sorry, I edited it right before you responded. Do you have an unrestricted emergency you can send him down?

I do not.

Caseyoidae said:
Can you get your arm in there? Put your hand all the way at the bottom and work up scaring him to the top and then just scooping him back is the easiest way

No way that I can get my big arm in that thing, and my arm is nowhere near long enough :/

Bluecbs · Sep 19, 2017

... maybe you can siphon/vacuum them out..

MOPAR · Sep 19, 2017

Maybe get a large diameter hose and suck it out?

AllSignsPointToFish · Sep 19, 2017

Bluecbs said:
... maybe you can siphon/vacuum them out..

I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but this may be my only option.

Caseyoidae · Sep 19, 2017

You could lower water level in tank below the teeth on the over flow, turn off return pump and drain the overflow box with siphon and then remove a bulkhead and hope he flops through/ catch him

AllSignsPointToFish · Sep 19, 2017

Caseyoidae said:
You could lower water level in tank below the teeth on the over flow, turn off return pump and drain the overflow box with siphon and then remove a bulkhead and hope he flops through/ catch him

I can't really remove the bulkhead because of the way my homemade system is constructed. I've been considering lowering the level to make it easier to net him, but I think it will still be difficult.

Caseyoidae · Sep 19, 2017

Can you pull the drain pvc tube out and suck him into the sump? Anthias may not fit lol

Caseyoidae · Sep 19, 2017

You could use a tiny hook for fly fishing and put a piece of food on it. I've seen this work lol size hook size 20-30

AllSignsPointToFish · Sep 19, 2017

Caseyoidae said:
Can you pull the drain pvc tube out and suck him into the sump? Anthias may not fit lol

Yes, I can, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to get the tube back in place, I'm leery of putting too much stress on the bulkhead fitting, and I don't think he'd fit anyway.

I'm considering filing the overflow with something like live sand to force him to the top.