A little more excitement than anybody needed, once again, when I was trying to separate out more male Endler babies.

After that last accident (thankfully a while ago), I did switch over to using a small dip net. It is unusual not to get multiple of them, with the way they do swarm.

But, better to just transfer whoever I scoop up into the Baby Fish Holding Cell in the other tank with the males, and return any extras once they’ve had some time to calm down. Hopefully the tiny fish I was aiming for is in there too. Spending even a day in where they can see/somewhat interact with the older Endler Boys will usually also prompt any that haven’t already to start coloring up more. Which is handy, in case there are any bonus boys of an appropriate age in the haul. (Which has happened several times already.)

Anyway, that should be a safer method than catching them in the little cup, besides a lot easier. Obviously not foolproof, though, as demonstrated a few minutes ago.

The first scoop also got me one of the bigger fish–who promptly managed to flip herself out into the floor while I was trying to transfer them into the transport container! 😨

So, I had to rush off to grab a flashlight and a soup spoon to hopefully scoop her back up carefully.

Thankfully I did find her almost immediately, and got her back into the water. She seemed OK other than the shock. They are pretty tough little fish, but still. Couldn’t have been a pleasant adventure.

First time that’s happened, at least, and with any luck the last. The small ones don’t seem strong enough to make a bid for freedom out of that net, so I wasn’t as careful moving them as I could have been.

Next time, I will be more careful to cover the top, and also make sure there’s a light ready at hand to search for any escapees.