Clown fish stuck in overflow, help, please!

[carri10]

Hiya.
Somehow one of my brainless clown fish has jumped the weir and ended up in my internal, 65cm deep overflow.

Anyone with any experience on how to get him out?

 

[kboogie]

That happened to me twice with clowns. The first time I was able to entice him with food to the surface where I was able to net him with a tiny net. The second time I hand to drain the overflow and grab him by hand in the unswimable water. The second time I left him in the overflow for months because he out smarted the net.

 

[Tinnerito]

That happened to me twice with clowns. The first time I was able to entice him with food to the surface where I was able to net him with a tiny net. The second time I hand to drain the overflow and grab him by hand in the unswimable water. The second time I left him in the overflow for months because he out smarted the net.

So 3 times??

 

[rhitee93]

I've had to do this a couple of times as well. Both times I had to drain the overflow. The fish finally got large enough to not fit through the weir teeth.

EDIT:
There was another occasion I just remembered. That time I took the guard off my overflow and picked the fish out of the sump a day or two later.

 

[Sean Norman]

Been there done that… It took two of us.. one to herd him and the other to catch with the net. One bonus.. I bumped the primary drain during the process. Two days later I see a drip.. and then it was time to breakdown the sump so I could reseal the bulkhead…..

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

I had a tiny fish do this in my tiny tank lol. I syphoned it out. Doesn't hurt the fish but make sure tube is large enough with no kinks. May have to chase a bit lol but could isolate it more.

 

[Largeangels]

Had this happen with cleaner wrasse. Made custom small net and drained overflow.

 

[carri10]

Th

That happened to me twice with clowns. The first time I was able to entice him with food to the surface where I was able to net him with a tiny net. The second time I hand to drain the overflow and grab him by hand in the unswimable water. The second time I left him in the overflow for months because he out smarted the net.

Thanks for reply! The net is going to be tricky, given the pipes etc, he swims back down to the bottom whenever he sees my face, which doesn't help! I have a feeling this could be a looong battle :)

 

[carri10]

Been there done that… It took two of us.. one to herd him and the other to catch with the net. One bonus.. I bumped the primary drain during the process. Two days later I see a drip.. and then it was time to breakdown the sump so I could reseal the bulkhead…..

Oh, no. That is my nightmare in this tank, having to redo the drain bulkheads - please do let this happen to me!!!

 

[carri10]

I've had to do this a couple of times as well. Both times I had to drain the overflow. The fish finally got large enough to not fit through the weir teeth.

EDIT:
There was another occasion I just remembered. That time I took the guard off my overflow and picked the fish out of the sump a day or two later.

Now that's not a bad idea :). I can disconnect my Filter roller (I was going to experiement with less filtration anyway, so..) and check the sump daily. My drain line gate valve is DN40 and pretty wide open, so the fish will fit through.
Quite risky though..

 

[JayM]

Get a hose that's big enough for him to fit in and siphon him into a bucket.

 

[Hockeypunk1]

I had a fire fish that used to jump into my overflow constantly! I made a custom net that could fit between the pipes but that only worked once. What really worked the best was to pull the drain stand pipe and flush him down to the sump! I eventually made a custom cover for my overflow boxes

 

[kboogie]

So 3 times??

Only twice with the clown. The second time I tried to net him while he was eating but he got smart stopped coming to the surface while I was standing there. I got frustrated and left him in there for months before I got the idea to drain the overflow chamber. I have a Marineland 300G so the over flow is 36” deep and not too wide making it cramped for a net and difficult to get to the bottom. He was hiding in the perfect spot for him which was in between the return pipe and the return pipe.

He was great for about a year after then I had a marine velvet outbreak that wiped out everyone.

I had a third incident that involved a Bimaculatus anthias but she made it all the way to sump in the space underneath my built in fleece roller. That unfortunately didn’t end well.

 

[BryanM]

Get a hose that's big enough for him to fit in and siphon him into a bucket.

+1

 

[Anna K]

Well, that's a new fear unlocked.

 

[carri10]

For anyone interested, after my stupid clownfish got stuck in the overflow, my jumpy isosceles wrasse decided to jump over the weir and into the overflow. Tried draining the overflow, tried enticing to the surface with food, eventually got my 10,000 L/hour spare return pump, racked it up to full speed and pumped into the bottom of the overflow. The isosceles got blown out, the clownfish, somehow, has managed to stay in. I will try another day.

 

[Anna K]

I think your clownfish has found it's new home. Man, that's crazy!!