Tankmatez is a company promoting a new kind of fish trap which is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. The Tankmatez ‘Bubble Trap’ uses a combination of unique attributes to trap fish safely & carefully in a manner which appears like it will be very effective at getting fish out of small and large tanks alike.
Adding fish to a saltwater or reef aquarium can be a very delicate art, trying to balance the aggression and territoriality of different fish species and sizes. Even with the best laid plans, the need often arises to remove fish from a complete display and tearing it apart is the furthest thing from practical.
There’s a variety of fish traps available to aquarists to do the job but Tankmatez has a completely different approach. The main trapping ‘container’ consists of a plastic bowl or bubble which is magnetically fastened to the aquarium glass, with the open side facing towards the tank.
A strongly buoyant floating ring surrounds the opening of the bubble and when the desired fish enters the container, removing the magnetic mount causes the open end to quickly point up and then float to the surface of the water. This unique mechanism seems like it could be very effective at gently catching fish, and to increase trapping success a version of the bubble trap uses a remote to disconnect the magnet and ‘engage’ the trap.
If this description is unlike any trap you’ve seen before and hard to follow, just take a peek at the video for a look at the Tankmatez bubble trap in action. This is a very ingenious motion for a fish trap to perform, using commonly available aquarium parts like the plastic bowl, floating elements and strong magnets that would be easy to DIY. If you want the fully built version of the bubble fish trap, Tankmatez is offering preorders for a manual version for $89, but is hoping to partner with Acrylic Tank Manufacturing to get them down to $49.
