# Trap those Cichlids!



## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

I've been reading a lot of posts lately about folks having a rough time catching their cichlids with rock work in the tank etc. and I thought I'd throw out the plan for a trap I've been using for years. I'm not sure who invented it though it was probably conceived of many times as it is corn simple!

Basically you get a clear 2 liter bottle of soda, Empty the soda of course, remove labels and adhesive as best you can, cut the top third of the bottle off as clean as possible, cut a hole around the bottles top just big enough for your fish to enter, invert the severed third of the bottle so it's former top is facing the bottom of the bottle. Make sure you press it in firmly so it doesn't pop off. All that's left is to place sinking pellets or shrimp or any bait that sinks into the trap and fill it with tank water working out the bubbles until it sets still on the substrate. Then wait and fish will enter and, normally, get confused as to where the exit is and that's when you hurry and grab the trap.

I've had more fun with this stupid thing! Waiting and dashing into the tank when I've got something. most fish will eventually enter but just a few don't seem to fall for it. Tropheus, mbuna, gobys, basically all the voracious eaters are suckers for it but I know it works well on altos too. Enants, leleupi and julidochromis seem to be the hardest though I've caught all three in this trap before. Even if it takes an hour it's better than taking your tank apart to catch one fish. It works better if you starve the tank a couple days first.

I'll post pics if needed.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

It originally appeared in Boy's Life magazine. Here is an online version. http://boyslife.org/hobbies-projects/pr ... nnow-trap/

You can make it from diffferent size pop bottles, depending on the size of the targeted cichlids. You can with more difficulty and lots of cable ties, make a large rectangular version out of squares and triangles of plastic light grid (egg crate) for large adult cichlids, maybe a foot square and a couple feet long. I built one once two feet by two feet by four feet to catch hybrid cichlids out of a 5000 gallon tank.

One caveat to using a fish trap is that cichlids can learn, and so it may be harder to catch the same fish a second time if you try it again too soon. And some wily cichlids that watched their tankmates disappear out of the tank in the trap may never fall for it even once.


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## non_compliance (Dec 4, 2008)

I tried this in my tank... all I caught was the dang Synos.... again and again... idiots! LoL!!!


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

non_compliance said:


> I tried this in my tank... all I caught was the dang Synos.... again and again... idiots! LoL!!!


 They got the food! Sounds like they were the opposite of idiots from their perspective! What you could do is set them in a holding tank until you catch the fish you want.


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

i took a big rock and made a cave in it with a small hole opposite the entrance.i chase the fish i want into it,put a net over the entrance,then put a piece of air line tubing in the small hole and blow air bubbles into the cave.the fish comes out right into the net.works like a charm  i also leave it in the tank for them to use so they think its safe for hiding.


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## non_compliance (Dec 4, 2008)

Mcdaphnia said:


> non_compliance said:
> 
> 
> > I tried this in my tank... all I caught was the dang Synos.... again and again... idiots! LoL!!!
> ...


I just say that because the cats and the odessa barbs are just not the brightest fish... whenever I am trying to net other fish, the synos and odessas usually swim right into my net... they are like cats with their curiosity.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

When I'm catching fish I want to get it done. Waiting and watching may be fun but not if you want to catch fifteen or twenty fish! Mass destruction is the only thing works for me. :roll:


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## Charlutz (Mar 13, 2006)

It's been in the forum library for at least a few years.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fish_trap.php

I don't have the patience to wait for the right fish to go in the trap. I just wait til they go to sleep and net them out. No moving rocks, no fuss no muss. Just a little planning if someone is coming to buy them.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Just don't forget the holes in the sides! My parents were talking about how they had trouble catching the Bocephus that are overrunning their tank (ancistrus species 3), so I took a 20oz soda bottle and showed them how to turn it into a fishtrap. Only we didn't poke holes in the sides... they put it in overnight, and in the morning they had a dozen fish in the trap, and they were all dead . They continued to use it, only not leaving it in for more than 30 minutes at a time and caught a bundle to trade in at the LFS, but I still feel bad about the first dozen that died because I didn't punch holes in the side of the bottle .

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## boredatwork (Sep 14, 2007)

I tried this and I found I had just as much bad luck with the trap as I did with a net.

On the stupidity of syno's. I just found at the bottom of my FX5...somehow alive. He must have been in there for at least 4 weeks. Idiot. I am still not 100% sure how he even got in there. My best hunch right now is that he swam into the output during its 2 minute purge? And if you say that is impossible, so is any other suggestion, haha.

But I can guarantee if I actually needed to catch that fish it would take me 2 hours.


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

i figured it was well known but I saw so many gripes about not being able to catch fish that I though I'd drop a reminder.

My only beef with sleep netting is that it's good for one fish and if you miss him you wait til tomorrow. It doesn't work for rock dwellers like Calvus because they sleep hiding.


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## frschul (Mar 10, 2004)

Turning off the lights works best for me. Having net in hand quickly locate and net the fish (LOL)...
Prior to turning off the lights I have egg crating that I use to section off the tank so that if I have to chase the fish it is only part of the the tank that I am going crazy with. Sometimes I use two nets one to direct the fish and the other to actually catch the fish.... In any case good luck... but no mater what 40 percent of the time I have to perform a landscaping routine...
ROTFLMAO....


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