Anthias stuck in overflow

[patrick214]

Ok so i came home from vacation earlier this week and another one of my female anthias was missing so i thought it was dead. Than a couple days later i found it in the overflow. So today i came down to try and catch it again and I noticed that there were two anthias in the overflow. Apparently its an anthia that i have thought was dead for a month or two. It has managed to live in the overflow for a long time. I have looked in that overflow for him like a hundred times, and didnt see him until another one went in there with him and they came up to the surface together. Anyways, I cant seem to catch them cause they dart to the bottom whenever i get close. How should i get them it seems kinda impossible right now.

 

[reefwife]

We have had different fish and invertebrate that have lived in our overflow as well. The only way we found to get them out was to break down the overflow and pour them back into the tank. Good luck!

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Some people have luck in getting a nes, bending it to a pount so it fits into the corners and trying to go after it that way. Other s have shut down the tank, emptied the overflows and picked them up quickly. It is a pain the the butt for sure to get a fish out of the overflow.

 

[patrick214]

i have a deep sand bed so i dont know if i could take the overflow out. would that one anthia have been exposed to air when the sumps returns were turned off?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Do you have a corner overflow?

 

[patrick214]

No, the two overflows are kinda in the center.

 

[patrick214]

Its an oceanic. The two overflows are like middle left and middle right.

 

[patrick214]

Would it be possible to take the tubing for the return out some how? that seems like it would make it easier.

 

[slayer]

you guys have got it all wrong... simply turn off the return pump, pull the overflow pipe out of the bulkhead, the water in the overflow will drain to the bottom and the fish will go down the overflow into the sump, or once the water is drained in the overflow you can easily scoop them up...

 

[patrick214]

Could the fish get stuck in the tubing? I have to get both of em through it too. Maybe i could take the overflowpipe to the sump out and cut the return and just put a pitcher underneath the exit so they wouldnt get caught in piping....i could just pour more water in if they dont come out immediately so the can get a chance to drain out.

 

[patrick214]

Nope, that wouldnt work oh well. I guess i could just drain em, but id be worried they would get stuck.

 

[patrick214]

I may have to try that, my problem is it would be pretty hard to reach the bottom of my overflow if they didnt both drain.

 

[budsreef]

I think Charlie had the right idea; take some filter floss or sponge material, start at the bottom of the overflow and begin building it up until the fish only have the top part to swim in, then you should be able to get them with a net.

 

[patrick214]

Ugh, this is really frustrating, I want them out. Too bad there not smart enough to know i just wanna put em back in the tank.

 

[patrick214]

The problem w that is that i have to get my hand in there w sponge and put it below them when they swim to the bottom as soon as my hand approaches. and i couldnt really get sponge to fit between the gaps of all the pipes in the overflow so the fish will probably still have somewhere to hide, and even than the pipes are so that its kinda hard to even get a net in there anyways.

 

[patrick214]

I have another problem, If i take out the overflow pipe and turn off the return I'm fairly certain I'll overflow my sump. My overflow has slits all the way down and would drain too much for my sump to handle. I was thinking i might be able to take out the overflow pipe while the return is still on and it might make it easier to catch them w the net.

 

[budsreef]

Then I'd try Charlie's other suggestion; get 1" tubing and siphon them out.