Percula Jumped out of the tank :(

[cj10488]

I was looking in my tank and noticed that one of my perculas was missing.. After looking Extremely hard inside the tank I still did not notice him.. I started looking behind the aquarium and found him Dead and stiff on the floor... Could there be a reason he jumped out of the tank.. He has been in the tank for atleast a month now without issues.. Very sad now and wondering what made this fish jump to his death... I want to run my tank topless but do not want to risk another death due to fish jumping out.. Could I add another percula to the tank without issues??? Or should I get a few and add them.. like 2 or 3..

Please advise

Thanks in advance,
James

 

[cj10488]

Well I went ahead and ordered 2 true percula's from liveaquaria.com along with a Short Tentacle Plate Coral (Purple)... I cant seem to figure out why the other false clown jumped out.. Still has me confused.. Anyways I went ahead and did a 10% water change as it needed one anyways... Been wanting to get that nasty old tap water out.. Is the other False clown going to have a problem with the 2 true perculas that i will be adding??? If so would he do ok by himself in a 29gal along with a few Mantis Shrimp and misc crabs???

 

[fishfreek]

Carpet Surfing as many of us like to call is it seems to occur alot with Percs. I personally have lost 3 percs to this over the last 4 months. I cant tell you why they jump other than to speculate.

The first thing that could cause them to jump is something startling them. Maybe the lights common on when they where no expecting it. Alot of clowns seem to take up a position just under the surface of the water at night for sleeping. If they are still very close to the surface when the lights pop on they might get startled and jump out.

Other causes could be agressive tank mates chasing the fish.

There are probably a few other possible causes that I have not touched on that others might be able to include.

To continue to run an open tank what you can do is purchase a sheet of eggcrate from your local hardware supply store. eggcrate is the white plastic grating that is often placed under florecent light fixtures to difuse the light. Usually the eggcrate is made up of small 1" squares. You can use some heavy duity cutters to cut out the size of your tank and place this over the tank. Then to have the fish jump out they would have to get thru the 1" squares.

 

[Biggen]

To continue to run an open tank what you can do is purchase a sheet of eggcrate from your local hardware supply store. eggcrate is the white plastic grating that is often placed under florecent light fixtures to difuse the light. Usually the eggcrate is made up of small 1" squares. You can use some heavy duity cutters to cut out the size of your tank and place this over the tank. Then to have the fish jump out they would have to get thru the 1" squares.

This is exactly what I have done to my 40 tall in my store. Keeps the fish in and the customers hands out. FYI, eggcrate isn't the easiest thing to cut. I used a combination of tin snips and a box cutters to cut it to the correct size of my tank.

You may even want to buy two sheets just in case. The size it typically comes in is 2' X 4'.

 

[cj10488]

ok and as for adding 2 true perculas should they be fine with the 1 false percula?


TIA,
James

 

[BBReef]

shouldnt be a problem at all. is the false perc the only other fish in the tank?

 

[cj10488]

I have a yellow-tail damsel in there as well.. he doesnt seem that aggressive.. he leaves the fish alone and harasses the Sally Lightfoots..

James

 

[Travis]

CJ,
From what I understand, I would avoid putting the false perc in a tank with mantis shrimp and crabs. The mantis shrimp is a voracious predator and crabs are to be watched carefully. Also, a damsel, a false perc, and two true perc's could make for a mighty unhappy crowd. These fish will most likely bicker over property in the tank relentlessly. How large is the tank?? HTH.
Travis

 

[scuba_steve]

found that like yellow head jaw fish that are carpet surfers that when the lights are shut off they get spooked but in my set up i shut off all but one antinic light and then after 1/2 hour shut it off which leave the moon light and never have had any jump out and the top is wide open just food for thought do the reverse in the am