Are nets THAT bad?

[ralphie16]

All books say you can't lift a puffer out of the water because it is bad for them. But they also say you should not use a net because it can get easily caught in it.

So how do I get my puffer out of my tank?

Also, can I use a net on a butterfly fish or a trigger? Or would they get caught in them too?

Any finally, if you ar enot supposed to mix transport water with your tank water, then how do you do this if you dont use a net? If you use a bowl, then you will be putting in that nasty bag water into the tank.

Little confused here. Maybe for no reason at all.

[sir_dudeguy]

I dont see why a puffer wouldnt be able to come out of water for a few seconds like any other fish. After all, i've had fish on the floor all night and then i find them in the morning and put em' back in and they live...so i honestly dont see why a puffer cant touch air.

As for using the net...depends what kind..is it a porcupine puffer? if so, i prolly wouldnt due to the spikes. If its like one of those valentinies or whatever they're called, i wouldnt even worry bout it.

[ralphie16]

porcupine puffer it is. the literature says they can ingest air which could potentially be a serious problem

[Agu]

Rather than catching a fish with a net use the net to direct the fish to a bag or other container.

When acclimating you can dilute the container water substantially and pour off most of the rest before introducing the fish. The reason you don't want to introduce bag water to your tank is twofold. With fish only systems LFS typically run "therapuetic" levels of copper. With corals they slime and put toxins in the bag.

[sir_dudeguy]

i would still like to know why puffers couldnt touch air tho too, cuz i dont really see why they'd ingest air when other fish wouldnt :)

[ambaratur]

I would expect that it would stress them - and knowing what puffers do when they are stressed makes me think they might try to inflate with air...

[ACBlinky]

I don't like to use nets on any fish. I prefer to guide them into a transparant square container or fish bag fitted around the frame of an old net instead. I worked in an LFS and saw way too many fish caught in nets by their fins, spines, even their mouths. Once I even saw an employee try to remove a carpet anemone from a tank with a net - that was quite a disaster, luckily the nem wasn't harmed. One of the managers explained to me that catching a fish with a rough-textured net is a bit like running sandpaper over a person's skin - it can damage their slime coat and leave them with raw spots that are open to infection. Because of the potential for injury to the fish and/or employee (from bites or poisonous spines) we weren't permitted to use nets on our marines at all. I have no idea why we were still supposed use them on the FW fish, IMO using a container is safer and no more difficult.

[DrBegalke]

"Never take your puffer out of the water! It can puff with air and may never recover. I have had some success in "burping" a puffer, by holding it vertically, head up, under water and gently shaking it by it’s tail until the air is released. A puffer with air inside cannot right itself and will die. If you ever need to catch your puffer (even when getting it from your LFS), scoop it up with a container." - Jeni C. Tyrell

"You must be careful when moving your puffers into their new homes, because of multiple reasons. If a fish has been stressed during shipping, or if it didn't receive the proper care in the LFS than it might have shed part of it's poisonous slime coating (read below for more info on Poisons), which is now mixed into the water. If this poison should get into your QT or even your Main Tank, then it could possible kill off parts if not all of your tank. So, "an ounce of prevention" is needed here, and you will have to keep with the rule of never mixing the LFS water in with your tank. Pouring off a majority of the bag water and mixing in water from the tank 3 to 4 times over a course of 30 minutes can dilute the poisons. This should acclimate your puffer nicely to it's new water parameters. Then simply pour the now-diluted water and puffer into your tank, AVOID netting. Netting can be harmful, and possibly fatal to your puffer. Puffers’ ability to inflate their stomachs is not limited to water, when raised into the air; you run the risk of the puffer inflating himself with a stomach full of air. Which is not a good thing, many puffers have difficulties expelling trapped air. Those puffers that can't release the air can actually become stressed enough that they perish. If your puffer does become inflated with air, there is a method of helping it release it. Which needs steady but gentle hands. You will have to hold the puffer with your hands, with it's head facing up, then begin to gently massage the belly of the fish upwards to it's chin. This will help the valves release and the air to escape from the upward facing puffer's mouth." - http://www.wetwebmedia.com/puffcareinfo.htm

[hodsgod]

I use a 1 gallon bottle cut the top half and the bottom half is perfect for lifting fish out of the tank.

[Steven Pro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8402179#post8402179 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sir_dudeguy
i would still like to know why puffers couldnt touch air tho too, cuz i dont really see why they'd ingest air when other fish wouldnt :) They are called puffers for a reason. ;) They puff up. Usually they do so underwater and "inflate" with water as there is no reason for them to be out of the water in the wild. When they are netted, their natural fright response is to puff up. But, when lifted out of water, they puff up with air and can have trouble expelling the air.

[Steven Pro]

No Nets Please! Better Health Through Better Handling by Terry Bartelme (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-09/tb/feature/index.php)

[savethereef]

to get my porqupine puffer out i used a big gulp cup and then moved him