Loaches Online Forum

Any suggestions on how to catch/trap a sid in a 55 gal. planted community tank with many, many hiding places? I've tried herding him into a net (fat chance), and baiting a small bottle (I captured 2 very unhappy tetras).

Donna

Can't be done, short of draining the tank. And they burrow. I had to TOTALLY remove ALL the substrate from one tank when I had to catch my sids.

I had the same problem with a smal clown once.
This is how I did it.

I removed the decor and plants in one corner of the tank.
Then I herded the clown into that empty space.
Then I closed that space of from the rest of the tank with a sheet of plastic card.
This makes the erea they can hide in much smaller.
I still had to do this at least five times because the bugger keps escaping past the sheet.

Here is how I catch mine.
-I remove all decor as well as any hiding places.
-I take my big net (6 inches long by 4 high) and hold it stationary against the glass on the long wall of the tank. Hold it there for a minute or two until the fish calm down a little bit
-I take one of my smaller nets and chase the fish toward the stationary net and lift as soon as one (sometimes more) swim into the trap.

I have also had some success with hand catching my B.Striata and my P.Oblonga, who I think are worlds harder to catch than my sids.

Thanks everyone for the input to my little sid problem.

Unfortunately, there is no chasing or herding this loach anywhere in this tank. Even if I removed the (big) rocks and all the wood from the tank, he could hide in the plants. I'd also rather not terrorize the angels trying to catch him.

My latest approach is to keep several nets in the tank (full-time so the fish get used to them) and wait until he swims into one. This is not as dumb as it sounds---I almost had him yesterday but fumbled the net. I also tried baiting them with algae wafers which started a feeding frenzy among the tetras inside the nets. At this point it's a waiting game as the sid only appears about twice a day. If this doesn't work I'll have to devise another trap of some kind. (I am also getting pretty damn tired of looking at all these stupid nets in my tank.)

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

gryphon wrote:Unfortunately, there is no chasing or herding this loach anywhere in this tank. Even if I removed the (big) rocks and all the wood from the tank, he could hide in the plants. I'd also rather not terrorize the angels trying to catch him.

Yeah, things would be a lot easier if you could remove all hiding places. Good luck!

I got him! What finally got me out of my chair was seeing him nip at one of the sacred angel fish plus the humiliation of being outsmarted by a fish.

You all were right: I had to remove the Big rocks and wood and then section the tank with a sheet of acrylic. It still involved some chasing and a fair amount of bad words but it gave me an excuse to redesign the tank and the nets are finally gone. The angels took the activities philosophically and the tetras and shrimp seem thrilled with both the new look and the absence of the rowdy sids (who went back to the LFS).

The only near casualty was the b. striata who apparently got snared in one of the nets while I was preoccupied. I found him in the damp nets at the end of the day, still alive but looking pretty sad and pale. I quickly repatriated him to the tank and after a few hours he was nosing around in his usual loachie manner. He looks fine this morning.

From now on I'm sticking with kuhlies and hillstreams.

Donna

Congrats!

Have fun with hillies and kuhlii's.

Can I tempt you in keeping some Horseheads to?
Nice fish wich are un-catchable, or so they say, perfect for you

What do you think about this.



best

Dunga

I've always admired the horsehead loaches but they get too large for my tank and I've heard that they are un-catchable. Perfect for me.

Denga, you have an excellent trap for mollies and tetras. I think you should try it out on a sid. I know where there is one for sale.