Fish in overflow - Help

[miktrav]

Hello,

I have a fish stuck in the overflow of my 75 gallon reef ready tank. Any suggestions as to how I can get him out would be appreciated. I have already removed most of the water fromt he overflow and have tried to net him but the space is small and my hands are large. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

Michael

 

[kwill]

Michael,

I have had to fish my juvenile clown out of my overflow on two occasions. The first time I scared him so he went into my durso pipe where he was easily recovered in the sump refugium. Just this morning he allowed me to "net" him with a 18in long 2in wide net. For me I didn't play with my level in the over flow at all. I can't say how useful that skinny net is I have.

 

[sewer urchin]

Hey Mike,

I'm gonna steal this from Rich, I saw him post it a couple of days ago. If it fails miserably... blame him

Take small to middlin bits of filter floss and slowly add them to the overflow. This should slowly limit the amount of swimming space-when he gets to the top you should be able to nab him

 

[brianw]

Yup, Rich's technique works. I saw it first hand. He got a purple firefish out of my overflow.

 

[sewer urchin]

If that's the case I'll take the credit for this technique.

 

[jennm]

If it's a small fish, just turn off the pump, pull the standpipe and let him ride the flume down to the sump. Have a net ready at the drain. And make sure your sump can handle the additional volume of water as the overflow box drains.

Quick, easy and relatively painless. We've done it lots of times.

If the fish is too big to go down the drain - then the other technique is probably more appropriate.

Jenn

 

[miktrav]

I think I'll try both of these suggestions tomorrow after work. I'll stop at Petco and get the filter floss and the 2" net. Thanks for the help.

 

[traylor23]

I've done both and they've both worked flawlessly!

 

[rdnelson]

While I would love to take credit for the idea I too stole it. LOL But it works great. (I have never had an original idea in my life).