fishkeepinginasia
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Back in High School, I piddled with a way to teach a fish to swim into a net instead of chasing them around the tank. Since then, I've perfected the technique and I thought you guys might find it useful. I also included a video if you'd rather watch than read. This go round, I taught a maroon clownfish the trick, but I've used this technique on damsel fish, triggers, tangs, goldfish, tetras, and an uncharacteristically mean archer fish.
Usually, it takes between three days and a week to teach the fish to associate the net with food. However, I caught the trigger and goldfish after just one day of training. (Perhaps they were just more trusting of me!)
First, I bend the net into a useable shape that I can clip to the side of the aquarium. This way, I can put it in the aquarium and walk away while the fish adjusts. After a day or two, they no longer see it as an intruder. For them, it becomes part of the tank.
The next day, I feed them directly over the net, forcing them to swim over it. Most fish adapt to this routine quickly. After the second day, my maroon clownfish swam to the net when he saw me approach.
Finally, when the fish reliably comes over the net for food, you scoop them out. In the video, you can see BingBing doesn't panic. (Also, I didn't pull him out of the water because I didn't need to this time. I just wanted to show you an example of this technique in action.)
I've found that this technique has two benefits. First, it's low impact on the tank. Using this method, I've never knocked anything over or needed to remove hiding spots. And it seems to be less stressful on the fish. Coming out of the water is rough enough, but at least they don't think they're in the jaws of a strange, green predator. In fact, BingBing finished the flake I had dropped in for him while in the net!
I hope you guys find this useful. If you have an even easier way to remove fish, let me know. I'm always looking for new tools for my fish keeping belt!
Usually, it takes between three days and a week to teach the fish to associate the net with food. However, I caught the trigger and goldfish after just one day of training. (Perhaps they were just more trusting of me!)
First, I bend the net into a useable shape that I can clip to the side of the aquarium. This way, I can put it in the aquarium and walk away while the fish adjusts. After a day or two, they no longer see it as an intruder. For them, it becomes part of the tank.
The next day, I feed them directly over the net, forcing them to swim over it. Most fish adapt to this routine quickly. After the second day, my maroon clownfish swam to the net when he saw me approach.
Finally, when the fish reliably comes over the net for food, you scoop them out. In the video, you can see BingBing doesn't panic. (Also, I didn't pull him out of the water because I didn't need to this time. I just wanted to show you an example of this technique in action.)
I've found that this technique has two benefits. First, it's low impact on the tank. Using this method, I've never knocked anything over or needed to remove hiding spots. And it seems to be less stressful on the fish. Coming out of the water is rough enough, but at least they don't think they're in the jaws of a strange, green predator. In fact, BingBing finished the flake I had dropped in for him while in the net!
I hope you guys find this useful. If you have an even easier way to remove fish, let me know. I'm always looking for new tools for my fish keeping belt!
It's really not very hard to teach them. Fish respond to routine really fast
