Catching plecos

greenmonkey51 · Post by **greenmonkey51** » 01 Jul 2005, 21:58

Does anybody has any easy ways to catch a pleco out of a tank. I hate using nets on them because of the spines. Im afraid of catching them with my hands cause of some bad experiences from fishing. Im going to have to move my 2 big BN's a couple times to get them to a 125g that they will go in and I need a easy way since I had a hard time getting them out the bag so trying to get them out of a 75g will be tougher.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 01 Jul 2005, 22:00

Take everything out of the tank that they can hide in and introduce a long (preferably black) PVC pipe they can hide in. They will soon go in and then you can remove them by putting one hand over each end of the pipe and lifting. The pipe should be at least twice if not a lot more longer than the pleco in question.

Jools

greenmonkey51 · Post by **greenmonkey51** » 01 Jul 2005, 22:16

could you put a cap on one end and still do it. Also does putting some food in help. Would this work for synodontis multis

gemsonthebottom · Post by **gemsonthebottom** » 01 Jul 2005, 22:53

Great tip Jools!

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 01 Jul 2005, 23:42

greenmonkey51 wrote:could you put a cap on one end and still do it. Also does putting some food in help. Would this work for synodontis multis

Putting a cap on one end only means they'll take longer to get in. It's not necessary.

Food does not help. Plecos who have just had all the decorations taken out of their tank tend not to be too hungry.

It might well work for Synos but I've not tried it.

Jools

kev · Post by **kev** » 02 Jul 2005, 11:52

you need a stick a snorkle mask and a lot of patience and the Rio Xingu and you should end up with somthing like this

Kev

Iwona · Post by **Iwona** » 02 Jul 2005, 14:24

greenmonkey51 wrote:Would this work for synodontis multis

For synodontis works nothing. After 2 weeks spended on net fishing, trap constructing, I was forced eventually to remove lights, canopy, 50 kg driftwood and rocks from 450 l tank to catch my three synodontis.
Synodontis are really clever fish, I'm relly impressed with their intelligence.

laurab5 · Post by **laurab5** » 02 Jul 2005, 14:38

When I move my pleco's I do the same thing as Jools said, but I use a cap. I clear out the whole tank. It works better with the shy pleco's, but with a cap you just tilt the open side up and pull it out. Make sure your quick, because they will get away.

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 02 Jul 2005, 16:00

Thanks for the great tip, Jools!