Containing fish while servicing tank

[undertow]

Do you contain your fish while servicing tank?

That thought just came to my head...I guess im directing this more towards Umbee,Midas,Dovii,Festae,GT etc.etc owners-Do you let your fish bite you while cleaning algae or arranging caves? It's not that the bites from my female GT(4.5-5") hurt that much. It's the suprise of the assault that hurts, mostly my elbow from seeing her charge and then banging it into the lid!


Sometimes I will use a net to keep her at bay while doing maintenance. Basically when I am tired and my elbow says to do so...

 

[LindaD]

With my Midas/RD cross, I got used to working around her. She would mostly attack the gravel vac. Occasionally going for my fingers. If I pushed her away with the vac she got even more aggressive. So I just worked my way around her.

Now scrubbing algae off the glass was another story. I used a net to keep her at bay. Most of the time she would net herself trying to bite me and I'd lay the net against the glass. I took her a few minutes to get out of it. In the meantime I hurried my butt off to finish cleaning off the algae.

I could not stick my hands in her tank at all for any reason without her charging me. She has some really nasty looking teeth to boot. So IF she got a hold of you it was going to hurt. She didn't just bite and let go. She'd bite and violently shake back and forth. Like she was trying to take a chunk out.. LOL.

She's the fish that jumped out of the water to bite my face.. And she was only about 6 inches long.

 

[Jukax]

I haven't kept anything as aggressive as a Red Devil, but I've owned quite aggressive Jack Dempseys and Green Terrors and never had a problem doing tank maintenance. They're too preoccupied attacking the gravel vac than they are me. I've been nipped a few times when I've had both my arms full sumberged in the tank while doing some aquascaping, rearranging rocks and pots and replacing plants back into the gravel.

If I had a Rhom or something truly aggressive, like some breeding RD's, Jags or Dovii's, then I would be a bit more worried. I know a guy who owns a 16" Rhom in a 180g tank and he always performs tank maintenance with another person - one to do the work while the other tries to keep the rhom away with a giant net.

 

[JacksontoKobe]

My Oscar and Frontosa bot bite the Vacuum especially the Front when I am near his caves.

 

[Wench]

This week my female oscar has been digging and piling gravel all over the tank. Some areas the gravel was probably a good 5-6 inches deep. Holes all over the place. Today I cleaned the tank and she fought me the entire way. She bit me twice, while trying to defend myself with the gravel vac.

I posted this pic once before but will try it again. This is the midas, a baby mind you. It has an attitude just going near the tank, I can't imagine what cleaning its tank will be like when it's full grown.

 

[undertow]

LOL, "Nice"fish and cool shot! Can't make up my mind on what to get-Festae,Midas,or Midas/RD! So far, Im thinking Terror!

 

[Wippit Guud]

You can buy 'chainmail' gloves for the food industry, keeps people from cutting their hands all the time while chopping stuff. It would probably be quite effective against fish attacks.

 

[vfrex]

Wonder if it could shield against a payara attack

 

[LindaD]

Here's a few pics of my Midas/RD cross.. Really nice fish.. But way too aggressive. The only time she liked me was feeding time.