fish in overflow

[coralnub]

My flame hawk jumped into the overflow. He's been in there about 2 days. What's the best way to get him out? I have a 65 oceanic reef tank with the standard overflow. With the pvc pipes and all that crap in a limited area there is no chance to catch him with a net.

I'm more worried about fish safety (I really like this fish, my gf too:D) than the amount of work it will take to get him out.

[NJGirlinPhx]

When our diamond spotted goby jumped into the overflow my husband disconnected some of the pipe-work in the bottom and had a bucket underneath and *whoosh*! out she came into the bucket.

Good luck!

[70ss]

That sounds like it is going to be tuff. Short of removing one of tubes and catching in bucket hoping he come out with the water. They do make brine shrimp nets that are small. But they are short also and there wouldn't be much room for movement around tubes he would have to be near the top. Or how about dividing the space he is in to keep him to one side and limiting his movement so he could caught. Or fill the space from bottom to top with something (wash clothes?) till he can be reached using the divide to keep from covering him. That's all I have off the top of my head. Good luck

[coralnub]

ok I don't completely understand how to do that.

The overflow pipe is like an upside down J. I believe it is the same piece of plastic that goes through to the underside of the tank to where the lines are hooked up.

Do you setup the catch, then remove the overflow pipe from the top? That seems like it would be awfully messy with all that water going through basically a hole in the glass. Still, I bet the fish would fall straight :D

[sassafrass]

You can reach in and catch it with your hand just move very slowly and that will be the least stressful way I have done it several times

[Playa-1]

Sometimes just reaching in will get them to jump right back over.

[70ss]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13170312#post13170312 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralnub
ok I don't completely understand how to do that.

The overflow pipe is like an upside down J. I believe it is the same piece of plastic that goes through to the underside of the tank to where the lines are hooked up.

Do you setup the catch, then remove the overflow pipe from the top? That seems like it would be awfully messy with all that water going through basically a hole in the glass. Still, I bet the fish would fall straight :D

I would try catching him first. And without seeing your overflow pipe I am not sure. I would think it is pushed into a bulkhead that goes through the glass.

[FutureBoyGenius]

I am sure he is hungry, throw a couple pieces of flake food in their and then swipe him with a small net. Thats what I would do, but my overflow is probably a little more roomy than yours.

Good luck.

[70ss]

Any luck at catching him?

[70ss]

Similar situation here http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1451956

[rwm555]

I have done it a couple of times. The easiest way I found was to turn off the pump and siphon the water out. Once the water gets really low, they are easy to get out. With all the pipes in the way, I just used a small net. Actually, it was fairly easy once the water was out.

[Amazon4]

^^ same here. Had to drain some of the water and then our mandarin was easy to scoop out.

[EllieSuz]

If your overflow has teeth, try this. It really worked for me. It's not enough to get him out of there, but you have to keep him out of there.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk179/EllieSuz/OverflowGrate.jpg