How to catch a sick fish?

V

vince-1961

Guest
My blue hippo tang has ick...again ... and a bacterial infection needing antibiotic treatment, but I can't catch it to put it in the QT. It is way too fast for me to snag it with a net before it darts into the rock. I do NOT want to have to remove all aquascaping just to catch one fish.
How do I catch it?
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Try getting some eggcrate to cut down to make a partition (width wise). Start on one end of the tank and start moving it down. Depending on how many escape holes you have in your rock, this might limit his area, making it a little easier. If you have areas in the rock where he can get by, just pick some of the rock up and move it to the other side of the partition little by little as you move towards him.
 
snowrider84

snowrider84

Member
i have done it by feeding it brings them out. if you only feed a very small amount at a time then you get some good chances to net him, it might take some time but its better than taking out all the rock
 
V

vince-1961

Guest
As for feeding, I tried and failed. The fish is just too fast with too many hidey holes in rock.
As for eggcrate...sounds like removing all the rock. (200 gallon tank - lots of rock)
Bring on some more ideas, please.
 
V

vince-1961

Guest
Pumper, If I'd known you were taking a picture of me, I'd have smiled for you!
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Check the tank late at night you might get lucky and find him lodged in an easy assessable rock while sleeping
 
V

vince-1961

Guest
Now that's a good idea. The first few times I had to send this fish to the hospital, I "caught" it by removing from the DT the entire hard coral in which it was hiding. Unfortunately, with new aquascaping, it's taken up residence elsewhere.
PS - I have gorilla crabs that seem to be reproducing at an incredibly fast rate. Trying to catch them and remove them is proving difficult. Usually my best bet is to wait for one to crawl into some rock or hard coral, then just remove that one item and start digging, waiting, probing, etc until ....
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
If he has ich then they have all been exposed to it. Pull your rock out. If you only have rock and inverts then put all of that into a rubber maid tub. Hypo the display. If you have corals then I sure hope that you have a large QT.
Ich is in your display. You can treat that fish alone but you will be putting him back into a tank with ich. You will be repeating this process every few months. Get rid of the ich source. Treat all of your fish. I am sure some are not showing any signs of ich at all. It doesn't matter. They all need to be treated.
 
lkgrenegade22

lkgrenegade22

Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2886613
If he has ich then they have all been exposed to it. Pull your rock out. If you only have rock and inverts then put all of that into a rubber maid tub. Hypo the display. If you have corals then I sure hope that you have a large QT.
Ich is in your display. You can treat that fish alone but you will be putting him back into a tank with ich. You will be repeating this process every few months. Get rid of the ich source. Treat all of your fish. I am sure some are not showing any signs of ich at all. It doesn't matter. They all need to be treated.
This is very true if you want to totally eradicate it.
 
V

vince-1961

Guest
My QT is 20 gallons.
Any opinions on whether 15 fish (approx 25-30 inches' worth) would survive a month in such a small tank?
They are dominoe damsel, yellow tang, mandarin goby, neon goby, firefish goby, royal gamma, midas blenny, strawberry basslet, blue hippo tang, clown, and 5 green chromis.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Originally Posted by vince-1961
http:///forum/post/2886865
My QT is 20 gallons.
Any opinions on whether 15 fish (approx 25-30 inches' worth) would survive a month in such a small tank?
They are dominoe damsel, yellow tang, mandarin goby, neon goby, firefish goby, royal gamma, midas blenny, strawberry basslet, blue hippo tang, clown, and 5 green chromis.
All that in a 20? I would say no, the stress alone would probably kill a few.
 
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