Suggestions for catching fish

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One of my goldfish has a fungus on it's tail. It it white and cottany looking, like the end of a q-tip, but smaller. I bought some medication and set up my 10 gallon tank. Now I can't catch it. I have spent hours walking around my pond with a net hoping it would get used to the net, putting the net in the water with food just inside the net, (over fed - my amonia went up to .25 ml, ugh), getting into the pond (which is 4 feet deep) . My husband tried, very roughly, and now it is is missing scales on its back. It's one of the shy fish and won't eat out of my hand so I am having a hard time getting it close.

Any suggestions?? I am sure I could catch it with a major water drain, but I don't want to do that as the pond has finally cycled and is clear. I don't want this fish to die, it's my favorite (of course, they are all my favorite).
 

j.w

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You could use a seine net like this one. They aren't expensive and you can find them on-line or maybe in a sporting goods store.

 
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You'd be surprised how draining the water can make it even harder.

Slow and steady wins the day. It's easy to catch A fish, hard to catch THE fish.

The scoop net in the video JW posted is made for moving live fish.
 

koiguy1969

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i move my fish twice a year. from the outdoor pond to the basement pond in the fall (atleast 50 fish), and back outside in the spring. i do this while the pond is draining...i find it much easier to catch them in 5" of water than when full. but thats me. as the water level goes down so does their available escape routes. i wouldnt do this for one fish tho... you might try a larger net, or like i have done, i used some plastic hardware fencing and corralled the fish into a small area making it much easier to net.
 
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That is a great video j.w., I love how gentle he is with the fish. I have a 6' casting net that I am going to try to use like the video. Hope it works...
 
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I caught the goldfish with the casting net and it is in the 10 gallon tank now. That was a job - it's a fast little fellow!!! I should have put on my swimsuit before I got in the pond. I noticed a koi that has something that looks like an ulcer on it's back> It is a fast little fellow, and is much more difficult to catch. This would probably be easier if I had some help. I've had it in the net twice it is escaped both times.

The medication I bought is obviously for a fish tank and doesn't say how long to treat the fish, any suggestions?

Back into the pond, wish me luck with that koi!!
 

mrsclem

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I will try the seine net for my small pond if I need to do a round up. Our large pond is 10'x10'x5' so I built a box out of pvc pipe 5'x5'x5' and netted in all but one side . Set it in the pond with the open side where they could swim in. Caught almost everybody I needed for my sale but it wouldn't work for an uneven bottom or a round pond.
 

addy1

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heck of a good idea, will keep that in mind!
 
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We made the mistake of draining the pond down to a few inches to catch fish one year. Draining concentrated the muck, which was stirred up by the net and the fish and me. I caught the fish, but their gills were full of crud and most of them died within a few days. Won't do that again. Last time we had to net the fish out we used a fish net and a big chunk of patio screen attached to two pieces of PVC pipe. We used the net to herd the fish toward the sheet of patio screening, then I'd let go of the net at the last minute and lean on my piece of PVC pipe. We were able to scoop up the fish that way.

Funny how it took a few hours for two advanced, upright-walking Homo Sapiens to outsmart a dozen goldfish...
 
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A few days after the original post, my fish must have spawned. While doing my daily morning pond check, most of the water hycienth was out of the planter rings. I found the koi that I needed to treat, along with several other fish, inside the planter and the goldfish was in the skimmer box. Treated them both for 24 hours and both appear to have healed. When I was in the pond trying to catch them, the only thing on the bottom were a few leaves and pieces of the walmart cat litter that I use in my lilly pots. I was surprised at how clean it was.
 

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