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I need to transport my Royal from the 55g at my mom's house 30 mins away to my apartment where I set up the 90g. I bought a large really fine mesh net that I think he'll fit in but I don't think I have any bags large enough and I'm worried he's going to break through anything I put him in. How do I get him safely out of the tank and to his new home?

Last edited by sham at 13-Aug-2005 14:47

Don't use a net... I have seen large plecos become entangled in even very fine-meshed nets. It is easier and less stressful to the fish to grab the fish with your hand in the typical catfish manner, with your fingers behind the head and your thumb between the pectoral fins. When grabbed this way, they generally do not struggle like they do in nets.

As for transporting him, use a five gallon bucket. That is the best way to transport a fish that is over 6" long, and make sure it is covered to prevent spills and to calm the fish down.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

NO.FINE.NET.

I cannot stress this enough. With the size of the odontodes on a nearly full grown royal (hell, even a young royal), he'll be caught up in that crap in no time. Remove all ornamentation, drain the water until he's only got a few inches of wiggle room (you can skip the draining part if you are hesitant about removing all that water), height wise, then add a tupperware bucket. Eventualy, he'll be inclined to enter said bucket, and from there on out, all one has to do is take out the bucket, and you're home free.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 13-Aug-2005 15:24

I can't remove the water unless I wait another week or 2 until I've moved all the other fish or I find a way to store 40 gallons of water for 2 days to refill the tank. Since the royal has gotten so big he's top priority to move to the other tank. I'm not going to try grabbing that sucker with my bare hands. Maybe I can convince him to go into a tubberware cave since I already moved his rock cave to the new tank.

Get somebody to catch it like Cory Addict said. The most important thing is, not to use a net. Try to convince him entering your trap & good luck.




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Sham,

Noodles has a great suggestion, just think of it as a large water change. Get the hardscape out of the aquarium and place a large plastic bag or bucket into the aquarium so you can herd the fish into it. A 50 or 60% water change will NOT mini-cycle your tank.

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No my tap water comes out at ~6.8ph full of dissolved gases and goes up to 8.0. It has to sit for 48hrs to use it. I don't have the means to store that much water. I would have to keep all the water I remove from the aquarium which I also don't really have the ability to do that. For water changes I was storing water in three 5 gallon buckets and doing water changes on a different tank every 3 days. Now the apartment has the same type of water and I have even less space to store it so I'm getting an ro system.

I catch loricariids under 6". Any larger, and they tend to injure themselves (you corner the fish, then apply a four finger pectoral hold or nudge them above the water line), primarily by sprinting for the surface.

EDIT: So your tap is hard? If you're afraid of the TDS screwing up your pH, mix it with some RO.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 13-Aug-2005 15:56

Don't use a plastic bag to catch or carry your pleco. The large plecos will pierce the bag, and a container of some sort is best.

The farlowella actually turned out to be the most difficult fish to move. The pleco at least moved around and eventually found himself in the container where he was content to stay. The farlowella sucked himself to the glass and he wasn't moving no matter what. Even he was out of water. When he was finally in the container he suddenly went crazy and almost flipped himself out onto the floor. No pleco injuries but I did get stabbed by my gourami... I didn't know they were that spikey when they stuck their fins out and he was hiding behind the sword plant with the royal.


I was told the ro unit would seperate out the dissolved gases and I could mix a small amount of waste water with pure water so I end up with softer water that has a solid ph. The high ph wouldn't bother me so much if it came out of the tap at the same ph as it ended up being a day later. I lost the mate to my remaining farlowella and a few otos due to using straight tap water for even small water changes. It's just saturated with co2 and hydrogen sulfide.


Last edited by sham at 13-Aug-2005 21:42

My farlowella was easy to catch. They dont move much, just grab em and lift em out.
They are pretty sturdy fish and wont hurt you.
I would use your hand, that way your guaranteed not
to injure or stress the fish too much.


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Ok so you don't want to stick your hands in the tank and do a hand catch, i don't blame you But, you know those big cups you get with the supersized drinks or route 44s? Get one and rinse it out really well, clean it now you have your "net" chase the booger down and catch him in this, just don't stress the guy out.

Now that you have him or uh before you catch himdrain water from the tank into a 5 gallon bucket or such about 3/4 of the way full and then when you have him, put him in the bucket, put lid on it, or cover with a towel, put towels, etc on and around seat, set bucket on said towels, and seatbelt bucket it

There you're ready to go Leslie would know about the popping and punching holes of bagsshe was with me when I sold my common back went through 4 bags before we got him there:%)

heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

I ended up using a huge measuring cup(8? cups) and a 12" diameter tubberware bowl with a lid. I got the pleco's back half in the cup and he dashed forward into the bowl. He was quite upset and sat there with all his fins sticking out. No way I'm ever grabbing that thing with my hands. Now he's happily reunited with his cave and tall driftwood piece. He used to sit in the driftwood holes all day but now only the end of his head fits.

LoL, I'm with Cup and Cory. Nets are a no-no. When I was moving my Royal from my 55 to my 125, I originally tried to use my hands. I knew full well that my Royal was covered in bristles and was a catfish; two things that amounted to nets not really being a good idea. You'd be surprised how quickly a fish the shape of a football can move when it wants to! I also didn't want to to accidentally grab for my fish and squeeze it too hard; maybe I'm paranoid but that's like a fear of mine. So I tried using a net since I was more comfortable with it. NEVER AGAIN. That net is basically no more, it was ripped to shreds.:%)

Haha, glad the move went smoothly.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.