Jumpers

[TrailFish]

The tank is relatively largish (48" x 30") but the little bullet may have gotten into a scrap although I never did see much agression. The fish seemed to be doing well and was getting quite portly... Ah well.

Went out and bought another 6 line today and may put a curtain along the exposed side of the tank to divert future jumpers into the overflow where I can rescue them. So far the new guy has settled right in.

Cheers.

[fishytime]

A lot of fish have a very strong "flight instinct"....As Tony said, in the ocean that "bolt" doesnt have the same consequences as in our tanks

[mr.wilson]

Typical jumpers are gobies, blennies, tilefish, wrasse and triggers. If the aquarium is pitch black with the morning light coming on suddenly, it will cause fish to jump. Commercial holding systems use night lights and gradually introduce light in the morning.

It's usually the first week when fish jump, so a temporary eggcrate top is a good idea for the first week. A eurobrace is usually enough to keep fish in the tank so they are a good investment. A eurobrace also stops splashing when you clean the tank.

[Nebthet]

As Mr. Wilson said, Gobies are known jumpers. I used to have a pair of scissortail gobies. When one died, the other goby jumped out of my tank 8 times before finally biting the dust. I tried covering the tank with eggcrate and with drywall mesh so there were not any holes large enough for him to get out and yet he worked and worked at jumping out of the tank until he got through.

None of the other fish were bothering him either. He would swim along and then look up and then swim down and shoot right up trying to get out.