Okay, so yesterday, my orange guppy's tail was 1/2 gone. When I saw that, I realized that it was time for the danios to go. I'd talked to my LFS about giving them to them about 2 months ago, but hadn't gotten around to it. Danios are okay, but they are a bit aggressive for me.
Last night, my husband and I battled with the danios FOR TWO HOURS to get them coralled into a pitcher. We removed all the decorations and most of the water. We lost most of the battles but eventually, with no casualties on either side, won the war. We would've done a victory dance, but we were too tired. The guppies tried hard to be the danios' front line of defense, and were often caught, but we are a kind enemy and took no guppy prisoners.
So we realized we couldn't leave the danio brigade in a pitcher overnight (the UN looks down on cruel treatment of prisoners). My husband covered the pitcher with an elastic saran wrap cover, poked holes in the top, weighed it down with a big aquarium decoration, and put it into the tank. Then we filled the tank back up, so now the danios, even though contained, had filtered, fresh water.
We took them to the LFS, who were awesome, Rather than selling them, they put the danios in a plant tank without other fish and are going to rehome them. I purchased 9 neon tetras that were WAY tinier than I expected, but ended up with 11 in the bag. Brought them home, acclimated them for over an hour using the drip method, and now they are in the tank looking lovely. The neons are actually so small that a think a bit of the bacteria colony may die off, since there is no way these 11 tetras will produce even the same bioload as the 6 danios. They are little more than fry.
Here are the lessons I learned:
1) My husband is awesome for doing all of this with me even though he really doesn't like the tank or the hobby.
2) Getting the neon tetras and forgoing the angelfish was the right call for me.
3) Danios are crazy-fast. They are the tasmanian devil/roadrunner hybrids of the fish world.
4) Don't buy fish faster than you.
But, go beyond that, and imagine ripping out all your live rock in your reef tank to catch a coral-nipping half black angel. Oh yes, that's what we did... LOLOL
lol.. thanks for all your help, jaysee. we used all the tips you gave me to catch the little guys. they were really stubborn!
You're very welcome. One thing I forgot to mention is to use a tank divider. For the standard 12 inch deep tanks, the glass top to a 2.5 gallon works very well when the water level is drained.
One thing that always concerns me about doing big jobs like that is the stress inflicted on the other fish in the tank. If I can, I'll take out the easier to catch fish first and put them in a holding tank (or pitcher).
Next, you can try getting a specific tiger barb out from a school of 15
Imagine how hard it would be to get them out of a planted tank!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by harpua2002
LOL, I certainly feel your pain.
But, go beyond that, and imagine ripping out all your live rock in your reef tank to catch a coral-nipping half black angel. Oh yes, that's what we did... LOLOL
I don't want to imagine either of these things. If I start imagining them, I want to poke a fork into my brain. I think I'm still traumatized.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaysee
You're very welcome. One thing I forgot to mention is to use a tank divider. For the standard 12 inch deep tanks, the glass top to a 2.5 gallon works very well when the water level is drained.
One thing that always concerns me about doing big jobs like that is the stress inflicted on the other fish in the tank. If I can, I'll take out the easier to catch fish first and put them in a holding tank (or pitcher).
lol, now you tell me. The guppies got in the way. The cories didn't care at all. In fact, they've been partying since the danios went away, which makes me think that maybe they didn't like them so much. They were always at the bottom, but since the danios went away, they are all over the tank, swimming around.
Lol, try catching a 6 inch blue gourami in a 100 gallon pond that has so much leaf litter you can't even see the bottom and the gourami is scared of you and the only time it comes up is to get air
You don't need to use aquarium glue if you cut it right, usually you can just push it in and it is fine. I had to do this to get two firemouths out of my 55g...took all the decor out, and put the bottle through the hole of a rock, and herded them in there . Worked like a charm.
Glad you got the fish out there, the neons sound nice...pictures?!
I got six and they leave my little Gourami alone. I think one is gonna have little fry again as her tummy has gotten bigger and she is getting pretty protective of the area of the last egg sack I found.
Ah yes, the infamous danio chase, I had to catch only 4 once and was at it nearly as long as you! They are horrendous, although my tetras put up a very good fight too (glolights, silver tips and the good old neons!)
That sounds so traumatic i don't even want to think about it. Well done on the eventual win and congrats on the neons by the way, i just love my little guys.
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to get them coralled into a pitcher. We removed all the decorations and most of the water. We lost most of the battles but eventually, with no casualties on either side, won the war. We would've done a victory dance, but we were too tired. The guppies tried hard to be the danios' front line of defense, and were often caught, but we are a kind enemy and took no guppy prisoners.
. Worked like a charm.
