Ideas on catching Chinese Algae Eaters?

I am having some difficulties here - was sold these two and was told they were otocinclus when they were very small. Now they're 3-4" long, and are starting to screw with my discus, which will NOT do. Thanks to Cory, I identified the evil little suckers. All the advice I've found through an Internet search basically says to drain the tank. I can't do that very easily - don't have a good place to stick all the other fish, and have all sorts of plants.

I am thinking that some form of treachery should be better than brute force - figure some way to get them to swim into a semi-enclosed area.

Maybe a cucumber in a bottle? Or some kind of jar where I can get a net over the mouth once they go in?

I'm rather annoyed with the LFS that made this mistake, and myself for not paying more attention.

Anyone have tricks that have worked?

KaraWolf wrote:oh god 0.o I use two nets to catch anything >> You could try cutting the top off a bottle, putting a treat in the bottom and invert the top in the bottom half to make a funnel? Maybe they would like to hide in some pvc pipe and then you can cap/net the ends and lift them out. good luck 0.o evil sucker fish >> can't believe they thought they were otos

 

Open the lids and just wait...they will come out the tops on their own (I believe they are notorious jumpers ...do discus jump?).  Pick em up off the floor and well...the rest is up to you...  

West Virginia fishing style......Dynamite!    But beware, that's not selective for Chinese algae eaters only!             

LOL - While I was typing the post, I managed to overflow my tank doing a water change, and found two of the three Yo Yo loaches had jumped out, which is the other fish I'm worried about. Good thing the floor is tile, and I have an old fashioned mop bucket.

I don't think discus jump - haven't seen that anywhere. They do strike pretty hard at food.

I think I'm going to try the bottle trap approach KaraWolf suggested. What to use for bait? Cucumber?

Stupid LFS... Actually, to be fair, they're usually pretty good, but I should only deal with the two who actually know anything. Or drive to Edmonds where this sort of thing won't happen.

cichlid-gal wrote:Open the lids and just wait...they will come out the tops on their own (I believe they are notorious jumpers ...do discus jump?).  Pick em up off the floor and well...the rest is up to you...  

Lol.


Sounds like a 2 man job. I person spooking the fish keeping them at one end of the tank while you attempt to net them.

Well crap - tried cutting the top off a water bottle, and putting some cucumber inside. A glowlight tetra got in there, and was killed by something - concentrated cucumber? Didn't work on the damn CAE. Going to try a pipe with a net on one end next.

Why do I feel like Wiley Coyote with the CAE playing the role of roadrunner?

This was an easy to make trap

Yep, that's exactly what I did, except substituting cucumber for sea snails. If it is going to kill my glowlights, they might only be $2 fish, but I still don't want to kill the little guys.

So now I'm thinking maybe a chunk of PVC pipe, stick it in the back where the CAE raceway seems to be, let them get accustomed to it for a day, then try and trap it in there...

Where's my Acme brand CAE catcher?

Here is a aquarium fish trap. You could probably copy the idea and make some kind of door that you could shut with some fishing line.
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Good news - got one of the beady-eyed little suckers. The two net method, and a fair bit of luck got him. Once I get the other, they both go back!

Pretty nice to take them back... fish like that fertilize my lawn.

Paintguy wrote:Pretty nice to take them back... fish like that fertilize my lawn.

  

I try not to kill anything that I don't have to. I have plans for another tank that they could actually live in, but it won't be set up for months. So back they go.

cichlid-gal wrote:Open the lids and just wait...they will come out the tops on their own (I believe they are notorious jumpers ...do discus jump?).  Pick em up off the floor and well...the rest is up to you...  

That's how I lost mine.   he had been temporarily relocated to the sump/refugium at the time, and awhile later I found him on the ground. he was an bum, but he was my lil bum who I had raised from an inch long    

So here's the end of the story - turned out I actually had three of the sneaky devils. The best approach was to use a really big net that spanned most of the width of the tank, and chase them into it with another net - for best results, wielded by another person.

I took them back to Bridges, and took the guy to task for even stocking these fish. It was a frustrating conversation - went a bit like so:

Me: You shouldn't even sell these things - they'll attack most other fish
LFS guy: They eat algae
Me: Only when they're small - when they get bigger, they quit and eat the other fish
LFS guy: We sell a lot of them - people ask for them
Me: if you look in any of the online forums, they all say to avoid them. Why sell people fish that are going to cause problems?
LFS guy: That's the people who are really into aquariums

At this point, I had to just walk away. Complete face plant - if people who know what they are doing want to avoid them, then somehow it is a good idea to sell them to newbies? Really? The customer doesn't _really_ want an evil fish, they just want something to eat algae. I wish their name was more accurately descriptive, like Chinese Menace...

They were very apologetic for selling me the wrong thing, and they've generally been very nice. I use them for supplies a fair bit because they're close, but after this episode, the drive to Cory's is looking shorter and shorter.

I seriously want to know how they are reaching the conclusion before hand they need one....if they're asking for them specifically. What I usually overhear is what kind of fish will eat my algae problem? And then because I'm in a box store horrible chaos advice occurs.

I'd like to understand that, too - I seriously doubt many people specifically ask. I bet many just say they want an 'algae eater', and if they're smart, they then start listing fish that will eat algae their whole lives and not the other inhabitants.

My experience with Bridges is that they're about halfway between the big pet stores and some place with clues. If you get the very young employee, then the advice you get is correspondingly less experienced, but there are people there who are pretty good. That's how this happened - at the time, I knew nothing about CAEs, they told me I was getting an oto, which I did know to be OK, and then the young help gave me the wrong fish.

I do think I'm going to persist until I speak with the fish area manager, try to explain that these are really just not good for nearly any tank.

well really think about how often youve been in a nearby petstore and overheard somebody asking for fish for their tank and just not knowing anything. my favorite was the lady who couldnt understand the need for light, filter, heater, etc... she actually argued that its a fish and water so they good.. just saying that after awhile it probably just gets easier to say here take this. im not saying its a good practice nor one i support but hey thats what the coop is for. and they even do shipping + online store. u can just sit on your couch and await the proper healthy fish

on a side note: if you play league of legends, leblanc is OP!

Anthraxx wrote:well really think about how often youve been in a nearby petstore and overheard somebody asking for fish for their tank and just not knowing anything. my favorite was the lady who couldnt understand the need for light, filter, heater, etc... she actually argued that its a fish and water so they good.. just saying that after awhile it probably just gets easier to say here take this. im not saying its a good practice nor one i support but hey thats what the coop is for. and they even do shipping + online store. u can just sit on your couch and await the proper healthy fish

on a side note: if you play league of legends, leblanc is OP!

LeBlanc op devs plz nerf

bronzefighter wrote:

Anthraxx wrote:on a side note: if you play league of legends, leblanc is OP!

LeBlanc op devs plz nerf

Not to hijack but it looks like I've just made some new online friends! I have been doing very well playing The hungry Ashe Games. LOL! LB OP!

Yeah CAE killed half my africans before I realized what I had done. Never seen anything in CAE reading that suggested they turned to killers until I searched for that specifically.