Flying Fish

[parttimeaussie]

So I'm watching a movie last night with the lights out when I look over at my 55 gal tank and I can see a dark shape on the carpet. I turned the lights on to see my 6 line wrasse lying on the carpet. I immediately freaked. I didn't know how long he had been there and he wasn't moving at all. I figured him for dead when all of a sudden he made a slight twitch. I immediately put him back in the tank. He was kinda moving his fins a little, but basically he was just floating around the tank on the current. Because he was still moving a little I figured I would leave him in there a few hours and monitor him to see if he got any better, but I figured he would be dead in minutes. So for the next 3 hours or so he didn't do alot of moving but it was time for bed so I figured he would be ok in the tank till morning. To my surprise I got up this morning to find him swimming very actively around the tank, happy as ever, like nothing had ever happened.
I'm very happy my wrasse survived, but I'm worried he will pull another suicide jump out of the tank again. Should I be worried, or was this just a freak occurrence?

 

[sk8shorty01]

I would go to your local "Home Improvement Store" and get some egg crate (called light defuser [sp?] there). It is plastic and is quite easy to cut to shape to fit on your tank, which will prevent your fish from jumping out again. That is the best thing in my opinion because if you cover the top, you are not only trapping heat, but you could also prevent gas exchange on the surface of the water.

 

[dogstar]

Its not a freak occurence,,,many fish have a reputation for jumping...
I agree with the fix suggested by shorty
Glad the fish made it back in time.

 

[sk8shorty01]

Originally Posted by Dogstar
Its not a freak occurence,,,many fish have a reputation for jumping...
I agree with the fix suggested by shorty
Glad the fish made it back in time.
Thanks, and yes a lot of wrasse's are prone to jumping. The fix is cheap, quick and easy to accomplish.

 

[renogaw]

heh, i learned the hard way with a crunchy jawfish that sometimes the egg crate isn't enough sometimes. i ended up supergluing some door screen material to my eggcrate after him.
here's a pic of what eggcrate looks like btw, it should be in a 2'? x 4'? sheet.

 

[parttimeaussie]

Thanks Everyone.

 

[scsinet]

Yeah I had a pseudochromis jump right through eggcrate once.