How do they still manage to jump???
 

I've had 2 wrasses jump on me in the last week. My Lubbock's and red sided wrasse managed to get through the eggcrate and hit the carpet.....:sad: I find they do get excited when I feed and jump, but I watch to make sure no one escapes. Buggers......

Awwee. Sorry to hear that. I had 3 Yellow Coris Wrasses in a row jump on me. It's frustrating that you take the time and care to prevent that stuff and it still happens lol.

I had large wrasses escape though eggcrate. I don't know the mechanics of how that's possible but they got out. I guess it's not surprising because I swear those fish can swim through solid rock so why not eggcrate as well?! .... Seriously, either two possibilities: they fit through the squares; or they hit the eggcrate with enough force to lift it up enough for them to still pass overhead and then the eggcrate falls back into place afterwards ....

Sorry to hear of your losses... I love them wrasses to bits but it's so heartbreaking to find them on the floor. :(

I would recommend maybe switching out your egg crate top, for a smaller holed screen top. One like this....

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/catalo...d/1810/.....If possible.

The holes are a 1/4 inch and not 1/2 inch. You may not think it would make a difference, buy it might. Couldn't hurt.

You can get the supplies for the frame, at home depot, and the screen possibly from someone on the forum, saving you on the cost.

Its just an idea. Merry Christmas!

I have eggcrate with mesh on top of my tank and already have had my fish break the eggcrate in 2 places and I think it is either my lubbocks of lawnmower Blennie doing the damage if the mesh wasn't there I think my cats would be having fish food literally

I've got screening I guess I could add. The lighting is already affected by the eggcrate so I've resisted adding more to block even more light. But I guess that's always adjustable....:lol:

Stupid fish....maybe I'll find some time over the holidays to get something done. If my last 2 wrasses jump before that, then I might just go back to an open top and stay away from them for a while....

The clear bird netting should have smaller holes and block less light - and you can do away with the eggcrate altogether..

I guess Im guilty now. First for me in a gazzillion years. My beautiful yellow coris was dried up on the floor this morning, despite partial cover on my 20g

So no more wrasses...no sandbed. Maybe back to some Ora orchid dottybacks

Ahh, that sucks, sorry to hear!! Silly fish!

I also had my solar and carpenter jump within a couple of days of each other in December. I found them on top of the glass cover. they got thru gaps in the deteriorating mesh on the back 4 inches of the tank where all the gear is.
I decided away with the glass top and just mesh in the area between the tank and the canopy. now more light gets in and no more fried fish.

Ya sucks. It was an active beautiful fish. Was looking forward to putting it in the larger tank, plus a leopard.

But no more more for me. Will find different fishies.

Just found my red/orange wrasse (not sure what species) on the carpet yesterday afternoon too. They jump through small gaps in the glass top. Arrrrrgggg!!!!

Seems all you can do is add a cover to discourage them from jumping, but if they want out, they want out....sorry for your loss.

My yellow stays closer to the middle/bottom of the tank - they are beautiful!!! My blue sided wrasse's fins are always above the water, I keep an eye on him when I feed....I won't be adding more wrasses, I've lost count of how many have carpet surfed on me....will move to anthia's I think, they school and are just as pretty!

Sorry for your loss :sad:

I don't see how either of those fish could physically break eggcrate. At all. Unless what you are using is not the egg crate I own... As what I call eggcrate I struggled to cut with side cutters capable of slicing a finger off. No way a fish would break the egg crate I know of.

As for the thread user ... Do you have any spaces that perhaps are cut around wires or pipes or something like that? Maybe they found a crack. :twised:

I forego eggcrate now and use a canopy about 8" tall. I have not lost a jumper since. Not even a wrasse in several years. Short of loss while doing maintenance. I failed to notice a jumper during extended maintenance. Oops.

My bet is on the cats. Which means your curious felines would have been in the tank had you been using screen top!

I have cut outs for wires, but there's only enough room for the wires and still covers the eurobracing, gap is smaller than the actual eggcrate holes.

I haven't skinned my tank (top or bottom), but any that I've seen with a canopy do not seem to have jumpers, so this may be the plan for this year. :lol: I do think they may have jumped when I feed. I have a 2'x2' piece that I move to feed them, that's really the only way I could see them escaping, unless they did actually fit through the holes.

Our cat sits on top of my tank too, is up there as soon as I move the ec to feed. She loves watching them but she won't put her paws in the water. She did this before I added the cover, she just walked along the euro bracing.....:twised:

I've lost several to jumps lately, I had a beautiful pink tile goby and a solon fairy wrasse that decided to jump through the eggcrate a few days apart.

I dont know why people keep using eggcrate. It does'nt work and it looks like crap. Mesh is way better, and why is it called eggcrate? It's called light diffuser in the hardware stores.

Use it because of cat....

I wondered on the eggcrate too, looks on employee's faces when asking for it, then realizing what you're asking for and looking at you like you're an idiot or something. I can see it working for bigger fish, I know it's kept my bigger wrasses in.....

sorry :sad:

I use the mesh too.. I framed out 2 mesh covers using window screen frame. I was going to use diffuser too but i was afraid that would hurt the fish more if they jumped and hit something rigid.
They just sorta bounce off the mesh lol.
Not one fish lost! (due to carpet surfing that is)
As far as the cats.. Mine stays far away after i splashed him with tank water one day, but some cats might not be so easily deterred. :(