Fish jumping out of tank

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Eli

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
57
Location
Wales
I got up this morning and was upset to find that two of my fish were all dried up behind their tanks :( Can anyone offer me a solution for my problem? Why might they have jumped and how can I stop it happening again?

Its very strange because it has never happened before, both tanks are covered and it is strange how on the same night that two fish from two different tanks should both jump out? I know they were all there last night at around 11pm because I moved the tanks earlier in the day and counted them all several times to make sure none had died from shock etc.

One tank has a hood and the other has a clear plastic lid. The only holes in both are small holes for the wires to get out of. Obviously they have got out of those small holes which seems almost unbelievable! Do I cover them with something? Or will that stop enough oxygen getting in?

I just don't want this to happen again :(
 
Sorry for your lost first off. If they got out of the only little access point and not a large unprotected area, there is not much you can do. I have heard of people using night lighting (moonlights) so that the fish dont get spooked as easily. A mod on an oscar forum i go on said she used to hear glass banging a couple times a week, then after installing led moonlights she hasnt heard anything in almosty a month. What kind of fish were they?
 
Ah that sucks :( sorry about your fish. I had a hillstream loach who jumped out a few weeks ago and died. Now I plug my filter wire hole with a sponge. What fish were they? Some fish will try and jump out if the water quality levels aren't good. Have you tested your levels? But there's others, such as hillstream loaches for example who apparently jump because its what they do in the wild when they're searching for new rock pools. I've heard other fish like gouramis are known for jumping too. Hope this helps a bit
 
Just to add. I often hear my fish in and out of the water. I don't have a top just a canopy. Maybe they got spooked.

Like others have said. Test your parameters to rule that out. But they probably got spooked somehow.

I hear my guys making a lot of noise once the lights go off and then they finally settle down.

I don't like to keep moonlights on all night. I feel they total darkness at some point.

Unless you get a very very dim moonlight. My fixture the marineland double bright LED fixture tends to in my opinion have a strong moonlight.
 
They probably were stressed from the move, sorry for your loss. As said above, a solution could be to cut screen to fit over all access points, or I cut up an old piece of bath towel, and fit over where the opening in the back of the lid on my 20ga was. It was cut years ago for a wider filter, and there is about a 6 in gap. When the towel gets caked with calcium and gunk, I just rinse it, and put it back up.
 
It was a hatchetfish (obviously known for jumping) and a harlequin rasbora.

I just tested the water and everything is fine, so I guess it must just have been they were acting a bit strange after the move :( I've just noticed that one of my cardinals from the same tank as the hatchetfish looks like he's 'skinned' his back between his dorsal fin and tail, I wouldn't be surprised if he's made an escape attempt but fallen back in and knocking his back on the way. I'm so worried about them!

Good suggestion about the moonlight, but i have a street light right outside the window so its not that dark here anyway so I can't see much point. I think I will just have to pop to the DIY shop and see if I can find something or other to improvise with to cover the gaps, that way even if they do decide to jump then at least they can't get out :(
 
I've had both kinds of those fish jump out through improbable spaces, so don't feel too bad. I cover up the tank as well as I can but sometimes they find their own way out.
 
I just can't believe they got out, the gaps are around 2"x1" and to have two in one night is double weird!
 
With the hatchetfish I suppose it could be the angelfish but he's never seemed to be hunting them before :/ in the smaller tank there are only harlequins so I don't think they would have upset the one who jumped.
 
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