Midas Blenny stuck in weir box!

[Tnops]

I've noticed my midas blenny gone and it turns out it is in my weir box! The weir box is too small for me to fit my hand or net in and it won't go into the overflow even when I stick in a pipette to try to make it move. What choices do I have here?

 

[blaxsun]

I think I need to see a visual reference here. Can you upload an image or two?

 

[Tnops]

I think I need to see a visual reference here. Can you upload an image or two?

 

[fishguy242]

can you bend a net to fit ?
pull stand pipe ,nudge into drain ?
provided no gate valve !!

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

Man that is a tough one!
Could you take some mesh and create a makeshift net with it, that way you could slide it in there?

 

[Sean Clark]

I have been here. No fun. I made a tool as wide as the box was front to back and used it to coax the fish into the corner. Then I was able to get the fish out of the overflow and back into the tank.

 

[Joe31415]

My thinking is to block off the bulkhead (or close off the drain(s)), let the tank start filling higher and with any luck, it'll swim out when the water level is above the overflow.
In practice it would probably make a whole lot more sense to shut off the return, then close the drains, then manually move water from the sump up to the DT (make sure it's not draining back down through the return pump).

Another idea would be a long thin, flexible piece of plastic that you could push down one side of the overflow and see if it bends to go across the bottom and back up so it's under the fish. You might be able to pull it back up that way.

The idea I think would probably work the best would be to get a bunch of small, heavy objects like marbles or small rocks. Start putting them into the overflow and the fish will have no choice but to move closer to the top. If you can't it once the rocks get close to the water surface, you might have to raise the water level in the DT. Either try what I mentioned at the beginning of the post or even closing off your drain and raising the e-drain stand pipe.

Having said all that...have you tried a net? I would think you could push a net down one side and pin it against the other side. You don't even have to actually catch it, just get it pinned and move the net up towards the top.

And regardless of what method you choose (mine or a different one), I feel like the key here is going to be to use food to coax it where you need it to be.

 

[blaxsun]

Thanks for the image. It looks like there's a tank lid over part of the overflow - can you remove that? My 6" midas blenny can curl up into the size of a quarter, so I think if you can take the lid off and turn the pump off you should be able to reach in there with a small net to scoop him out.

 

[Tnops]

Thank all of you! As I was trying to get it out of the weir, I just noticed it swimming in the over flow and flushed it into the sump. What a relief

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

Thank all of you! As I was trying to get it out of the weir, I just noticed it swimming in the over flow and flushed it into the sump. What a relief

Thanks for following up with an update! Glad to hear he got out!

 

[netsequent]

Thank all of you! As I was trying to get it out of the weir, I just noticed it swimming in the over flow and flushed it into the sump. What a relief

I have a similar problem with my reef chromis. I found one in a filter sock today. I’m concerned and would like to prevent future incidents like this. Wondering if you’ve mitigated the problem in any way. @FishOfHex ideas?

 

[ajtomase]

Thank all of you! As I was trying to get it out of the weir, I just noticed it swimming in the over flow and flushed it into the sump. What a relief

How did you flush it into the sump?

 

[Tnops]

How did you flush it into the sump?

Sorry for the late reply. I further opened the valve and the rush of water down flushed it into the sump