# Catching a Cyp



## fishguy1978 (Aug 10, 2018)

I have a female Cyp that has been holding for approximatly 4 weeks. I would like to catch her and strip the fry. I have read the articles on stripping but have been unsuccessful catching her. My tank is 5ftx1.5ftx2ft. How do I catch her?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I usually tear down the tank and remove water until there are only a few inches. Then 2 nets work.

Some get lucky catching them asleep on the substrate by netting them several hours after dark. I can never tell which is the holding and by the time I figure out which one I want they are all awake and alert.


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## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

Use the biggest net you can find, and yes, you might have to remove some of the objects in the tank. If you catch the wrong female, keep her out of the big tank until you catch the right one. No point in catching the wrong one twice.


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## fishguy1978 (Aug 10, 2018)

Thank you for the replies. I turned the light off early and waited till it was good and dark outside. I had to leave the lights in the fish room off as the fish were waking up. I have a head lamp with a red light and using that I caught all four of my adult Cyps. The female was carrying 6 fry. I think one ended up in the main tank while transferring to the tumbler. Still getting 5 of 6 transfered felt like an accomplishment. I will post pictures later.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Congratulations! You did good. I tried to catch a holding cyp many times, but in a 240G with lots of decorations and plants that could not be removed, it proved to be an impossible task for me. Very frustrating, because I never had any fry survive in the main tank. Plus females tended to hold much longer than was good for them.


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## ken31cayman (Apr 15, 2018)

Make the room completely dark for an hour. Then turn on lights and they'll be asleep and easy to catch.


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## fishguy1978 (Aug 10, 2018)

Here's the recent additions. I'm not sure why the picture posted sideways.


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