what would cause a jumper?

[pairustwo]

My favorite fish - a sailfin pleco who was a goofy as a puppy - ended up on the floor in the middle of the night. I found him the next morning.

What would cause a fish to do that? I've never noticed him even near the top of the tank. I have a moon light but do fish get disoriented in terms of water depth when it is dark?

Ive put a glass cover on what was previously an open tank but I sort of prefer it open. Am I just asking for trouble having an open tank?

[newfound77951]

I don't know if there is any one reason that a fish jumps out. Some species are more noted as being "carpet surfers" and should not be kept in an open tank (ie hatchetfish) but plecos are not usually in that category. But fish can and do jump, and sometimes they end up on the floor.

FWIW, I have had two jumpers in the past year, from two different tanks, both of which would have been considered covered. One has a stock hood and the other is covered with a piece of light diffuser grid with 1/2" holes (smaller than any of the fish) In each case the fish must have slipped out between the cover and the filter or skimmer. My 55 has no glass top but has an open backed canopy and I have not lost a fish out of that tank.

[JustOneMore20]

Fish jump for different reasons....and sometimes for no reason at all (that you can think of/see).

Some fish will jump when startled, while others jump when they are being chased/picked on by another fish. And there are some that are just extremely hyper and/or curious and jump (Yoyos).

I've heard of plecos jumping, but IMO its not that often that they do. I don't see them as being fast or curious, so thats odd when plecos jump.

Sorry for your loss...hopefully your glass top will keep others from jumping.

All my tanks are open top. Even my 55g planted which I've had Yoyos jump out of previously is back to being open. I prefer mine to be open.

[LandGhoti]

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

And there are some that are just extremely hyper and/or curious and jump (Yoyos).

I lost a zebra loach to jumping, and I could only figure he was trying to follow my yoyo up into the filter to snack on the stuff that had collected on the cartridge.

My guess is that your pleco was swimming around and probably startled by something. Normally those guys just go from this to that on the bottom.

Hey, maybe plecoperson can chime in on this one. She is the pleco expert!

[lovemybarbs]

I used to have one that would hit the hood in the middle of the night. Not very often though.

Sorry for your loss.

[crazyderik]

Wierd. I have had my 2 large Pleco's for almost 6 years now.... Ive had no problems with them even making an attempt.

[Sidi]

I've even lost a sculpin to jumping. Who would have thought that a bottom dwelling, fairly immobile, fish without a swim bladder (so they have to actively swim upwards to get off the bottom) would jump. But he did.

I think the above reasons are probably the case for most. Maybe some jump out of the water due to simply wanting to move, and get unlucky enough to find the holes in the hood.

[Skyrmir]

All these folks with non jumping pleco's are makin me paranoid. Is my pleco crazy? It's not an actual jump though. He slaps the surface with his tail. Usually followed a little while later by the female and then the male gourami. Although I'm pretty sure the gourami's are showing off to each other.

The only fish I've had make it out of the tank so far are panda cories.

[Sidi]

Skyrmir is he gulping air? I've heard of plecos doing that before.

[Skyrmir]

Sometimes he grabs air, they do that to refill their swim bladders. Other times I think it's his way of yelling at me for food. Generally if he's wanting some food he'll plant himself in the front corner of the tank right after jumping. Then he just sits there and stares at me until I feed him.

In general he's got the personality of a bulldozer at this point. Doesn't much care about anything around him or what might be in his way, he's going through it. On occasion he realizes he can't bulldoze out of the glass, so he uses other methods to get my attention.

[tkos]

The only fish I have that run to the surface are cories for a gulp of air. I keep an open top tank. But then I just lost my 5-6 year old flying fox to a jump last month. He used to spazz for no reason once a day. I guess that day he truely decided to fly. That was a bit sad.

[2cvbloke]

My mum's 3 Weather loaches are jumpers, but reading up on them that is part of their natural behavior, "carpet surfers" as mentioned before, but as there is a lid over the tank you know when one has jumped when you hear a "clunk" and then a plop sound...

Daft sods!!! But as for your Pleco, something must have startled it, or maybe it just got bored, who knows, either way I'm sorry for your loss, Plecos are impressive fish...