How do you get a fish out of a overflow box?

[fishfreak1242]

Today I woke to find my sixline wrasse swimming inside the overflow box of my 75 gal RR. So now I don't know what to do. Should I try to net him out from the box or should I wait until he goes down the drain and then try to net him out?

 

[NYreefNoob]

bend a fish net and slide it down in to the bottom trap the fish in it and pull out, how i do it, then cover the ovrflow so ya dont have to worry about it again

 

[Salty Dog]

I had that problem myself, I removed the canopy and light and my wife reached down with a small net and got him.. 2 cromis and 1 neon goby

 

[fishfreak1242]

I had that problem myself, I removed the canopy and light and my wife reached down with a small net and got him.. 2 cromis and 1 neon goby

The only problem is that I don't have a net small enough and there's not much room down there to menuver the net to catch him. So it looks like i'm just going to have to wait and hope he goes down the drain so I can get him in the sump.

 

[Davidl919]

If he doesn't go down the overflow pipe in a certain amount of time. Like a one of my wrasses did, My next step was the remove the pipe and let the overflow drain completely, the flow should force him down to your sump. Good Luck.

 

[fishfreak1242]

If he doesn't go down the overflow pipe in a certain amount of time. Like a one of my wrasses did, My next step was the remove the pipe and let the overflow drain completely, the flow should force him down to your sump. Good Luck.

How long should I wait? Like a day or two?

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Should take a couple of minutes. Then leave it in your sump so you can have other wrasses in your display tank.

 

[NYreefNoob]

Then leave it in your sump so you can have other wrasses in your display tank

:tongue1: so true though

 

[fishfreak1242]

Should take a couple of minutes. Then leave it in your sump so you can have other wrasses in your display tank.

So far I've never had any problems with him. He's never been aggressive towards any of my fish and he's never jumped before except for now. I don't really want any more wrasses in my tank anyway.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

reach in with your hand and take him out?

 

[jejton]

I've had this happen with my smaller clown many times. A couple of times he eventually went down the drain but the other times I had to fish him out with my hands as I also dont have much room in there. THe last time I had to remove the pipe to let the water drain but the bulkhead blocked him from going down so I had to reach in and grab him and cut my hand in the process. Eventually I'll make a screen cover which is a good idea for you too.

 

[Salty Dog]

Try and shut your pumps down to stop all the turbulence in the overflow, It should make it easyer for you to see him, then net him out. Your LFS sells tiny nets for $3 dollars.

Good luck

 

[Wes]

if he's small enough, pull the stand pipe and "flush" him into the sump.

 

[fishfreak1242]

I tried to take off the pipe but he wouldn't go down. I was able to get him out by stopping all of the flow from the drain and return, unscrewing the drain pipe and then I was able to net him out.

 

[Mr.First]

Okay, I am going to tell you all this trick once.Get a siphon hose long enough to reach the bottom of the overflow and into your sump.
Get the siphon going from the two,overflow to sump. Leave your pumps on so as not to run dry.This way you can keep going until the SOB is captured. Have your wife or kid hold the end going to the sump with a net that the water will flow through.While you are trying to get the fish to get sucked into the flow of the siphon, the kid will be waiting with net in hand.
I have done this at least 20 times, mostly for an Orange Spotted Blenny.

Make sense ?

 

[fishfreak1242]

Okay, I am going to tell you all this trick once.Get a siphon hose long enough to reach the bottom of the overflow and into your sump.
Get the siphon going from the two,overflow to sump. Leave your pumps on so as not to run dry.This way you can keep going until the SOB is captured. Have your wife or kid hold the end going to the sump with a net that the water will flow through.While you are trying to get the fish to get sucked into the flow of the siphon, the kid will be waiting with net in hand.
I have done this at least 20 times, mostly for an Orange Spotted Blenny.

Make sense ?

Interesting, I just have to find a tube big enough for the fish to fit through.