The Joys of planted tanks

[Retired Viking]

For years I had plastic plants in my Aquariums. They are very easy to care for and move around. Last year I decided to go with live plants. I have a Bother-in-law who is disabled and loves fish. He just has goldfish so I offered to help him set up topical fish tank. I decided to give him my Red Eye Tetras out of my 55 gallon planted tank. He was very excited about this So After setting up his new tank a few days ago and using Tetra SafeStart Plus, I tried to catch those red eyed tetras. Yesterday after a good hour plus I managed to catch 2 small fish. I found that I had created too many hiding spots and had too many plants. I tried again today and after catching only two more small fish in a hour I decided it was time to rethink my plan. I decided it was time to "clean the tank" and took everything out but my African Sword plants, The wife rolled her eyes when she came in to see what I was up too. When I was done, I had 1O more red eyed tetras in the bucket for my bother-in law. I spent the rest of the day trying to replant my tank. It was really so much easier with plastic!

 

[Derekshatch]

The best thing to do to catch them is to leave the net sitting in the tank for a while so that they get used to the net and are not scared of it which makes it easier to catch your fish.

 

[Derekshatch]

Ya i have plastic and live planted tanks they both have their positives and negatives.

 

[utahfish]

Lol yeah i their are some fish that are buggars to catch and the plants dont help. Ottos were always the most difficult for me to catch, slippery fast little suckers, literally

 

[Fishmanic]

perhaps you would to better if you plant only plants that you attach to rocks of driftwood such as anubias and java fern. I had the same problem catching a pleco. I removed the plants that were attached to rocks and driftwood and that made cathing the pleco much easier though still difficult.

 

[Retired Viking]

For now I have neon, glow light and ember tetras along with 2 cory. I am happy with those so I do not plan on chasing anymore fish. I plan on adding a few more to each group.

 

[Retired Viking]

Today I was feeding my fish and what do I see, two more young red eye tetras I was able to catch one because he swam right into the net but the other one is being a pain I was so happy two months ago when I saw the first fry, I wish my ember or neon tetras would breed like this.

 

[Byron]

This is not a criticism, just noting a fact. Chasing a fish with a net is the most severe stress you can cause the fish (this is why so many newly acquired fish develop ich). It is the "escape predator" response which I will explain (the physiological aspects) after I describe the easiest way to catch fish to reduce this as much as possible.

Use a larger (rather than smaller) net, stationary against the front glass and near the left corner (if you are right-handed, left-handed may find it easier on the opposite corner). Use your other hand to slowly move the fish to the left side and then toward the front. Usually they will swim right into the stationary net (make sure it is fully extended in the water so they can actually swim into a "cave" of sorts). Using a black net is said to also help, as it cannot bee seen unless you move it; don't know if this is 100% true, but after I got a black net the task was easier.

Here is an explanation of how this seriously impacts the fish; taken verbatim from The Manual of Fish Health.

The most basic stress response is to escape from imposed danger, which may take the form of a natural predator or, in captivity, the fishkeeper attempting to catch the fish in a net. The first part of this response is the preparation of the body for escape, which, in biological terms, involves the release of hormones that channel all the fish's energy to power locomotory muscles. Unfortunately, this alarm response has long-term detrimental effects. For example, one of the hormones released is adrenalin, which apart from "quickening" the body for instant action also disturbs the osmoregulation (i.e., control of the salt/water balance) within the fish. Another hormone involved, cortisol, affects the white blood cells and reduces their effectiveness in the immune system. The second part of the response involves the recovery of the fish's equilibrium. Thus, the alarm response is clearly a compromise between the short-term need to reach immediate safety and the longer-term side effects of the physiological changes involved. It can be an uneven compromise; a fish that undergoes an alarm response as a result of stress applied for even a short period of time can take hours or even days to recover the equilibrium. [Note, "equilibrium" means the condition in which all acting biological (internal) influences are balanced or canceled by equal opposing forces, resulting in a stable system.]

 

[Retired Viking]

Thanks for the info, actually that is about what I did except I used a large plastic spoon to try and move the fish into the net. My problem was all the hiding places and all the plants got in the way along with my big castle which is in the middle of the tank, once I cleaned out the tank it was so much easier. I have green colored nets one large and a small one. I will look into getting a black net thank you.

 

[seangee]

Hmmm I never try to save fry in my tanks and let nature take its course. If I want to breed I use a separate tank. But last night while watching my juvenile sterbai corys chasing each other around after lights out I thought some of them looked a little strange - and small.

I checked the tank when the lights came on today and discovered I have (at least) three new little pepper corys. Really chuffed because I have never had cory fry survive in a community before.

 

[Retired Viking]

Congratulations on your new cory. I also let nature take it's course but all these fry had grown too large to be eaten. Another reason I wanted them gone was that I hope to add some shrimp to my tank but found out that unlike my other tetras, red eyed tetras will go after shrimp. They are on their way to my bother-in-laws tank.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I love the emojis, lol. I used to use plastic plants as well...until I found live plants. Then I went berserk! I know have 2 planted tanks:

my 10g has the following: Short leafed Anacharis, long leafed Anacharis, Anubias, frogbit, Sylvania, Lacy java fern, and a baby Amazon sword. For me, its not fish are addictive, its plants!

IMO, plants also act as sort of a built in filter for your tank and they help your fish feel more at home.