Methods for catching fry?

[Avid Outdoorsman]

I have a pair of F0 A. Panduro in a 50 gallon tank. They have fry that are now just under 1/4" in length. The female just spent three days in one of her coconut caves and is now chasing the fry around. I'm assuming she has eggs. I have a lot of leaf litter and wood in the tank. I have seen people post saying they were going to use "traps" to catch their fry. Has anyone found a way to catch fry without completely stressing out the tank? The tank is a breeding tank with just the parents and a half dozen Nannostomus marginatus. I just don't want the female to get stressed out and eat the eggs and yet I would like to save the existing fry. It appears as though I left them in longer then I should have.

 

[Mike Wise]

I use a water/soda bottle fish trap quite successfully. See: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/249712-water-bottle-fish-trap/ for instruction on how to build the trap. I use a half-pint/250 ml water bottles for small fish like juveniles. I fill the trap with tank water and then squirt a bit of live bbs into it. Just be certain to check the trap after about a half hour or so. You don't want too many fish stuck in it for too long. I often get the female stuck in with the juveniles. To prevent this, you might want to use the cap with a smaller hole drill in it, so only smaller fish can get in.

 

[JG]

Like that bottle trap idea. Quite ingenious.

 

[Avid Outdoorsman]

Thank you very much Mike. That is the best trick I have been shown in ages. I set it twice last night for around twenty minutes each time. I was very successful. I can see more in the tank so I will set it again tonight. Both parents were getting very agitated so I stopped. These two are ferocious when it comes to protecting there young. The male has gone as far as attacking the glass as I walked by and both have attacked the siphon even when kept at the top of the tank away from the cave. Thanks again Mike. I wish I learned this years ago.

 

[Mike Wise]

Glad to help. It's so much easier than tearing apart a well-decorated tank and over-stressing the fish.