The most difficult fish you ever had to catch?

[lovleeko]

What fish do you own now that is the hardest to catch? Or that you have ever had to catch?

for me it is my tetras. That is just a stressful task. The poor bleeding hearts think they will just fall over and die when you are after them. They stress out the worst of any tetra I've ever had to catch but the little tetras are the hardest to catch. The corys are sort of easy to me. They always head for a corner which makes them a lot easier to get. Not exactly easy but easiest. I am always more worried with them because of their barbels and the net. But as far as position, they are easy.

[MrDrums]

I have always had a hard time catching the bosemani rainbows - esp. when they are small.

[mac]

IMO I find the Kulie Loaches the easiest fish to catch. But I hate catching the Zipper Loaches. Which I have just had to do. Man they are fast and doubly fast.

Other wise I find all fish easy to catch. All you need to do is take your time.

mac

[jono]

when my platy had her fry trying to catch all the babies and transfer them into a breeding net. It was hard enough trying to see them let alone catch them with a shot glass (they were to small for the net i have).

[angelcakes]

when i first started fish keeping it was my koi "fatboy" now it would be my congo tetras:19:

[Fishalicious]

Depends on the tank size...

Rummynose tetras...those guys go completely white when stressed and on a sand substrate are near impossible to see :c2: and Pimpelodus Pictus...they are super fast and you can't catch them with a net or they will get tangled and can die - arghhhhhz

[Lady Hobbs]

Danios without a doubt. And just as bad are gold tetra's. Black skirts are awesome. They swim right in your net. :)

[Demi ^_^]

Well... All my fish seem easy to catch, I have my hand in their so often. (I handfeed and stuff - Hey I am a wierd gal who loves her fish :)) The Balas are probably the hardest, so timid and quick. My Angels are too trusting LOL They run right into the net while I am trying to catch sumthing else!

[NickFish]

My yellow-blue tail damsels.

As soon as a net comes in they'll hige under one of my live rock pieces or next to a coral, and I can't topple everything over just to get to them! They're crazy fast too, danios of the sea.

[Gemstone]

danios and neon tetras....imo.

[Spyder]

I've been selling many Julidichromis Ornatus. I have them in my 300 gallon tank which has a lot of Texas Holy Rock. It has taken me an hour to catch 6 of them to ship. The first always seems easy then they realize what's happening and I find myself sweating and swearing trying to catch them. I use two huge nets, still don't work. :)

[Mvjnz]

Kuhlii loaches and pakistani loaches. The ones that swim around in the upper areas of the tank are usually not a prob. They might try to run, but they can't hide:)

[Kuli_Loach]

Hardest I ever had was when I had to take my 3 yoyo loaches out of my 29g. That was a sight.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Strawberry Basslet. That little bugger was a pain in the neck. I never did find the little jerk when he finally died. May he rest in pieces (thanks to the hermit crabs)

[Wild Turkey]

Uproot your plants and then try to catch the last cory in the tank, mission impossible.

Danios are pretty though too though, gotta agree with hobbs there. Seems like the first few swim right into the net and then when i come back for load number two they have all figured it out.

[teach]

Id have to say my silverdollars or my pleco. The silverdollars are so skiddish and dumb im afraid i will hurt one. ONe of them about knocked himself out on the filter intake a few weeks ago. and my pleco likes to hide and my net (i found out during the sand changover) is way to small for him.

[Northernguy]

Any fish that is scared will be hard to catch.I know I would be difficult if someone tried to put a net over me.
Jess beat me to it but pictus cats are major pain,especially when you do catch them.I have never had one not twist up in a net!

[cocoa_pleco]

damsels, theres no way i could ever net the one in my 125g out

[tort518]

For me, the hardest to catch have been the Oto's. They seem to get super skittish and go crazy. I'm also afraid to squash them.

Just transfered al of my fish to a larger tank while I work on my smaller tanks and the Oto's too forever to catch.

The non-algae-eating-Siamese-whatever-the-heck-they-are and the sidthimunki loaches were somewhat challenging, but not too bad and the white cloud minnows and guppies were fairly simple.

My betta is a piece of cake since in the early going I had to net him to feed him. Now he rarely avoids the net and sometimes swims right into it. :c3:

Jim

[teach]

Any fish that is scared will be hard to catch.I know I would be difficult if someone tried to put a net over me.
Jess beat me to it but pictus cats are major pain,especially when you do catch them.I have never had one not twist up in a net!
I forgot all about pictus they arent that hard to catch but its hard to get them out of it. Im just glad I didnt hurt mine.

[Northernguy]

I forgot all about pictus they arent that hard to catch but its hard to get them out of it. Im just glad I didnt hurt mine.
LOL Just be glad he didn't hurt you!
Those barbs or whatever they are hurt like crazy!

[Wild Turkey]

LOL Just be glad he didn't hurt you!
Those barbs or whatever they are hurt like crazy!

Ive never been stuck by a pictus, but the channel cats we fish around here have spines on the dorsal and tail fins, its fun to watch noobies try to pick them up like a bass (one hand around the back) and they are totally fine until the catfish fidgets, then blood all over.

Believe it or not a lot of people think the barbels are what gets you, they're like "dont touch the whiskers" and im like..."haha yea pick him up then smartass."

[Tolley]

For me would be a Rainbow Shark, blimmin' impossible!

[Lady Hobbs]

Id have to say my silverdollars or my pleco. The silverdollars are so skiddish and dumb im afraid i will hurt one. ONe of them about knocked himself out on the filter intake a few weeks ago. and my pleco likes to hide and my net (i found out during the sand changover) is way to small for him.

You kidding me. I can't keep my sd out of the net. They're just like my black skirts. Love that net! Of course I have an 8 inch net!!

[Northernguy]

LOL I just drain the water down and its easy to catch anything!:19:

[BigMac]

Thats how I do it... I drain my water down, remove all the decorations, then net fish.

[lovleeko]

Except balloon mollies. They are easy to catch even when scared. LOL Their too fat! Fancy tailed guppies with huge tails are pretty easy too. I find the live bearers to be a breeze. Back in my super novice days, I used to complain about catching them. Not anymore:) The fry are hard when their little but when they get big I just stick a cup in and pull them all with the suction. Same with the bettas. They always come to greet me and I just suck them in and it's a lot less stressful for them.


Any fish that is scared will be hard to catch.I know I would be difficult if someone tried to put a net over me.
Jess beat me to it but pictus cats are major pain,especially when you do catch them.I have never had one not twist up in a net!

[lovleeko]

My bettas are easy too. Why do you have to net him to feed him?


For me, the hardest to catch have been the Oto's. They seem to get super skittish and go crazy. I'm also afraid to squash them.

Just transfered al of my fish to a larger tank while I work on my smaller tanks and the Oto's too forever to catch.

The non-algae-eating-Siamese-whatever-the-heck-they-are and the sidthimunki loaches were somewhat challenging, but not too bad and the white cloud minnows and guppies were fairly simple.

My betta is a piece of cake since in the early going I had to net him to feed him. Now he rarely avoids the net and sometimes swims right into it. :c3:

Jim

[Nobodynotime]

For me it was my long tailed zebra danios! So fast and darty...I wanted to switch their tanks bc some of my other fish were getting big enough to eat them if they wanted but I gave up trying to catch them and theyre still in the tank to this day, I haven't lost one, so I'm guessing theyre equally hard to catch and eat for other fish!

[KingFisher]

Definitely my skunk loaches.....they had me pulling my hair out!

[NickFish]

LOL I just drain the water down and its easy to catch anything!:19:

Try doing that in a reef or heavily planted tank!

The corals dry out and die, sometimes releasing toxins into the water and the plants bend over and snap....then dry out and die.

It really makes things tricky!

[lovleeko]

I dont find it any easier to catch them even with the water low. Maybe it's just me. All my decor gets in the way too.

[tort518]

My bettas are easy too. Why do you have to net him to feed him?

I don't have to any more, but at first he wouldn't make the effort to go for the food and being in a community tank with guppies (aka pigs with fins) they would get all the food before he had a shot at any, and he was still being weened off of strictly live food so I had to make sure he got some food in him to avoid starvation.

Now he'll hand feed and has learned to be just aggressive enough that he can lunge and clear space so he gets his share.

He's still quite docile in the community tank and hasn't harmed other fish (except the occasional fry that tries to use him as a hiding place and ends up hiding inside him).

Jim

[Northernguy]

Try doing that in a reef or heavily planted tank!

The corals dry out and die, sometimes releasing toxins into the water and the plants bend over and snap....then dry out and die.

It really makes things tricky!
Oooops!:c3:
I am sorry I was referring to FW and I should have mentioned removing plants and decorations.I like to leave a little room for common sense.:19:
I like to think we all have some!
I am looking into SW but I will not be ready for quite some time!

[kaybee]

My yellow-blue tail damsels.

As soon as a net comes in they'll hide...

damsels, theres no way i could ever net the one in my 125g out

I agree with you guys. Damsels are near-impossible to catch. Lightning quick combined with the uncanny ability to disappear in the tank. Nearly every damsel I've caught by a net involved taking everything out. The one's in my reef tank are there for life.

[cocoa_pleco]

damsels are just nuts, theyre like 5 year olds on steroids and caffeine. Ive got a yellowtail damsel and 2 black damsels, but the black damsels are just juvies. Theyre nice and peaceful now, but one is already starting to turn black, and when they turn into adults im hoping they dont turn aggressive, it would be tough to catch them

[Red]

damn CAE are a pain..

[Dave66]

Freshwater, probably the danios and loaches. Marine reef, forget about it.

Dave

[MCHRKiller]

The toughest fish Ive ever caught was probably the now 20" TSN at my LFS. He was a bit smaller and in a 125G and we got the 180G setup and moved him over into it. Well naturally there isnt a net for a 18" fish so i drain half the water down and get rig up a divider...well i still cant reach down into the tank to get him because of its position. So I say screw it roll my pants legs up take off my socks and shoes and climb in the tank with the fish with a pillowcase. Hes successfully captured and i climb out of the tank down the ladder haul the fish out...water is spraying everywhere threw the case and dump him into the 180. :P

[DrNic]

LOL A single neon in a heavily planted 75G tank. Took me over 2 hour to get him out of there!

[JimTheBetta]

Tying to catch 2 pacus which had grown to over 4 inches, with a 3 1/2" net which was for my betta xD Not to mention that when i would almost get it over them, they were so strong they could almost bend the handle to get out.

It was an hour of chasing them around until they just gave up...

[freshwaterfishlover]

a Couple years aggo I had 4 Danios took me a few hours to catch.

[Halelorf]

Catching my bristle nose pleco. Cant use the the net to catch it because it doesn't leave the glass and just skirts around and hides all over the tank very well.

[abaigael04]

My rubbernose - easily the hardest, FAST and small!