starlyte Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 It was a stressful weekend for the fish.. and us.. When we bought our tank we put it onto a set of drawers without putting any polystyrene under the tank and after a while i noticed the drawers were bowing.. So we bought a cabinet off trademe The only time ive really caught fish is from the plastic bags when putting them into the tank... It was quite the mission to catch all of our fish and put them in a bucket Got most of the tetras.. the very last tetra was a bit sneaky... We have a reasonably big golden algae eater.. That was the hardest fish to catch, The thing was so fast.. Along with the elec yellow cichlids... Anyway.. finaly caught them got the water out and the tank onto the new cabinet WITH poly underneath.. When we put the fish back into the tank.. they had all lost thier colours, Especially the red tailed shark... It was more of a greyish white shark with a see through pink tail.... The tetras also were not really glowing like they usually did. After about an hour or two and a dosing of prime thier colours started to come back though Its quite a big job emptying a tank and filling it back up again! We were just looking a couple of weeks ago at buying a new tank off trademe, It came with the fish and everything... How much of a mission that would be to get it to our house without loosing any fish!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 It certainly can be a mission to catch fish. I recently helped some club members catch fish in their 6 and a half ft tank when they moved house (the 5th time they have had to move that tank!). Although the fish do lose their colour (often it can just be becuase they were in a light coloured bucket and trying to blend in with their surroundings) they quickly regain it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 I've found that when only doing a small move (like cabinet to cabinet) you can often get by with just temporarily moving most of the water into containers, shifting the tank and then putting the water back in. A little late in this occurance, but may make your next move a little easier Just a note - have LOTS of people handy when moving a tank with gravel/water/fish in it. Feel free to take out any and all decorations (specially rocks and large objects that may shift and damage the tank/fish). You'd be suprised how heavy a tank can be... the more, the merrier is proven very true. Specially on your back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Plus if they are stressed, they loose their color as well, but once things settle down their color will come back. Also, neons, if they are in the dark too long, when you turn the lights on they will be really "faded" but after a bit their color comes back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copper Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 I feel your pain with trying to catch fish. I only just moved my 2 foot tank into a different room. After half destroying my tank trying to catch the glowlight tetras, I gave up and left them in there with some water. I couldn't totally drain my tank anyway, 'cause I knew there were platy and bristlenose fry hiding somewhere in gravel. I'm very thankful that my tank isn't any bigger. It weigh a ton with the bit of water and gravel in it. Did you have any casualties? I had one. A smallish silver platy got stuck in my net, and I never saw it until it was too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlyte Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 I did actually save most of the water, i emptied it all out into buckets, Scooped out all the gravel and gave it a good wash and put the majoritiy of the saved tank water back in, Topped it up with tap water I really should have emptied the whole tank completely, There was a bit of water left in the tank that i couldnt really get out easily was very dirty from scouping up all the gravel Filled the tank up and it was quite cloudy. an hour of the filter going again cleared it up very well I couldnt imagine lifting the tank full of water... surely the tank would break? Just the gravel by its self is damn heavy!.. imagine how heavy the whole tank is... Approx 100 litres of water + gravel.... There were no casualties, I was most worried about the baby bristlenose fish as ever since i got them (thanks mystic) they have pretty much been hidden... For the past few weeks i have only ever managed to see 2 out of the 3 fish at one time. Right up until a couple of hours before doing the change I imagined the shark to be the hardest to catch.. but he proved me wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&Dan Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Regarding the catching-the-fish part: I don't want to sound like a smart aleck but I usually don't find it very hard catching the fish... Do you guys use two nets do catch them? It makes it a lot easier to hold one net still and 'drive' the fish into it with the other one. Also, the bigger the net (reasonably bigger obviously) the better. Just a thought for next time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copper Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Do you guys use two nets do catch them? It makes it a lot easier to hold one net still and 'drive' the fish into it with the other one. Also, the bigger the net (reasonably bigger obviously) the better. Just a thought for next time Don't you end up collecting all the plants and decorations in the tank with the net while trying to catch the fish? I hate having to replant every thing. I couldnt imagine lifting the tank full of water... surely the tank would break? Just the gravel by its self is damn heavy!.. imagine how heavy the whole tank is... Approx 100 litres of water + gravel.... I drained most of the water and left about 10cm of water in the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlyte Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 We kept saying a second net would make this soo much easier Plus i do only have a pretty small net... That didnt help either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 No wonder your fish were stressed out. If I go to a shop and they are using one catch net. I ask, if after a very short period of catch if catch-can, have you another net?? If they ignore that or carry on with their futile attempt. I just say, "Oh, it doesn't matter, I wont have that" then just look around the LFS and walk out without them getting any of my money. I have also offered to catch and bag my own, and at times it is permitted. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 A couple of weeks ago i emptied my 280l to put in some plant mix underneath the gravel. I found the only way to catch the last rummynose (man he was quick!!) was to remove nearly all the water and then scoop the gravel up into a wall/dam shape so that the size of the catch area became alot smaller. He seemed to give up after that.... And that was with two nets as well. I put all my fish into a 40l chilly bin, complete with heater and airstone for the duration - all happy and healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stagger lee Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 i once tried to catch my khuli loaches to move them to another tank - but that proved impossible! :lol: Even with 3 nets and 2 pairs of hands (flatmate). I am moving house this weekend and figure i won't even try to catch them until all the plants etc have been uprooted and there is just gravel in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&Dan Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Don't you end up collecting all the plants and decorations in the tank with the net while trying to catch the fish? I hate having to replant every thing. It depends how heavily planted the tank is I guess but, yes, you probably have to replant some... at least the fish don't get stressed though If I go to a shop and they are using one catch net. I ask, if after a very short period of catch if catch-can, have you another net?? If they ignore that or carry on with their futile attempt. I just say, "Oh, it doesn't matter, I wont have that" then just look around the LFS and walk out without them getting any of my money. I have also offered to catch and bag my own, and at times it is permitted. I fully agree At Pet Planet in Dunedin we're allowed to catch and bag our own, if we want to i once tried to catch my khuli loaches to move them to another tank - but that proved impossible! Well, I give you that - of all fishes we ever had Kuhlis loaches are probably the hardest to catch especially because they dig themselves in :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Khulli loaches? Catching them? Easy as!! Just get a piece of PVC pipe, about 200 mm long, 11/2" diameter, two nets. The KL's think it is a good security area, swim into it, angler slips a net over tach end of the pipe and carefully lifts it out of the water. SEE!! Told you it was easy. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Alan...I'm tellin' your fishies on you :lol: :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Just before christmas I had a leak in my 4 foot tank, luckily the glass didn't pop out, but it was leaking near the bottom in one corner. After doing a major panic, I called the LFS where I got it from, who were really good. They sent their tank man around who said he would strip it and reseal it all for nothing since I had only had it about 8 months. And gave me a two foot temporary tank. I was worried about my fishies and I don't like catching them as I am afraid I am going to hurt them. But once I had removed all decorations and plants it was fairly easy with two nets. I now have my 4 foot tank back and over the whole process I didn't lose a single fish, my angels even decided it was time to spawn once they got back into the 4 footer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&Dan Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Khulli loaches? Catching them? Easy as!! Just get a piece of PVC pipe, about 200 mm long, 11/2" diameter, two nets. The KL's think it is a good security area, swim into it, angler slips a net over tach end of the pipe and carefully lifts it out of the water. SEE!! Told you it was easy. Alan 104 There's a solution to everything - one just has to go and find it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stagger lee Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 Amen to that Kim and Dan! Thanks Alan, will give it a go tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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