Fish jumping from opentop aquariums!

[Richie]

Hey guys..

Great forum you have here!

Im considering an opentop planted tank and I am a tad worried about fish "leaping" out the tank.

I see lots and lots of open top tanks which marvellous looking fish in them and I would like to know some of the fish to avoid.

Thanks alot in advance

Richie

[John N.]

I would avoid Siamese Algae Eaters (Crossochelius siamensis). These fish always find their way on the floor for me.


Picture from Tom Messenger's Best Algae Eaters for a Planted Aquarium Article

-John N.

[Roy Deki]

I agree with John, SAE's tend to get spooked and leap right out. I once had one leap from a 40 gal tank into a 3 gallon tank. Imagine my surprise, when I came home from work and discovered a 4" SAE in my 3 gal tank which by the way was about three feet away. What a lucky fish!!!

Other than that If you keep you tank maintenance and water changes up fish tend to stay put.

[goalcreas]

Hatchetfish will jump out one by one.

[Orlando]

Yup, Hatchets end up being late night dog treats if you dont cover up. You can use a fine clear mesh to do so. I know somebody who sells this UV resistant mesh, its almost invisible. I bought some to add to my 150G and never used it. I now have 2 hatchets left. Ha! the other day I was walking by my tank and a hatchet almost landed on my dinner plate.

[goalcreas]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Ha! the other day I was walking by my tank and a hatchet almost landed on my dinner plate.

LMAO

I can see it now "honey, is this all the fish you gave me, am I now on a Diet that I didn't know about"?

[Richie]

Thanks guys!

Thats good news then, Ive never liked SAE's anyway.

And i knew hatchets would jump.

I was just wondering if and why small shoaling fish like tetras would do so!

Thanks alot

Richie

[goalcreas]

Oh, I might add that I have seen dried up amano's on my floor from time to time, so they get out sometimes also.

I think that many a killifish would jump out also.
And not that you will, but arowana's would jump out as well and that is expensive.

There is cases that most any a fish would jump if startled, but most of the time bottom dwelling and mid level fish are fine to keep.

The top level fish, there is always a risk.

[trenac]

Any fish that gets spooked can jump from a open top tank. I had a Molly that jumped out on 3 separate occasions, none of these times killed it. I've also had Rummynose tetras, Sae, & shrimp jump. I'm sure there are some other's I can't recall at the moment.

[Orlando]

I found a few Cherry shrimp on the floor...

[Richie]

Thanks again guys...

One of my amanos also jumped and i found it a good 6feet away from my tank

How do you think Amano keeps shrimps from jumping from his tanks ?

Arent the majority of his aquariums all open topped?

Richie

[John N.]

I've seen Endlers and Cherry Shrimp hop out when they were startled by a light turning on suddenly. Lowering the height of the water from the rim helped. I also stagged when the light bulbs come on, instead of 2 full blasts, one bulb turns on a few minutes later.

I think only when fauna are startled by the light, approaching objects, and sudden/bad water conditions will they be tempted to escape the tank. So if you can keep those things regular, then you might not have a problem with jumping fauna.

-John N.

[kakkoii]

This is very interesting. I have only had 1 Danio jump out of the tank, but my Bettas have also jumped.

[Erirku]

I have lots of fish jumping out of my tank. It is mostly at night and rarely during the day. I hate it when it happens. I have a small thin wire mesh that I try to put on before the lights go out and take off when the lights come on. It is a tiring, tedious job but I value each and one of my fish, greatly! So something must be done.
I wanted to make an acrylic top or a glass top later in the summer. But I think the light will not properly be enough to grow my plants. What do you people think?

[Mellonman]

Does anyone know if Congo tetras (Phenacogrammus interruptus) will jump ?

Thanks

[Orlando]

I maintain a few tanks in town, and in one tank they go missing. Im not sure if they jump out and the janitors pick them up, or if they die and are consumed by other critters. Sorry I could not be of better help.

[XPLOSV]

If you can cover it with a big holes mesh it would help to minimize the chance for them to jump out, 2x2 cm hole mesh or smaller or = to the size of your fish, this way you will get some light to your plants too.

I have bristlenose, sae, beta, DISCUS (4 dead) and many others jump out even if the condition is perfect.

This is just my experience.

[chillaquaplants]

My loaches would jump from time to time. At one point I had about 8 or 9. At my last tank tear down, I only found 3 in the tank.

[echofish]

What I do is leave a small light on at night so they know where the boundaries are. I have calm cardinals and Harlequin rasboras. But I just put in a couple Frucata Rainbow (forktail blue-eye's) and they are wild.I needed a couple dither fish so i thought I'd give them a try because they are so cool looking. But I had no idea how crazy they are. I have even thought about taking one of them back. I have been really worried that they may fly out of there. But I think I read somewhere that they don't always realize where the top/the water line is in the dark and just swim up and over. So I have been leaving on a small light and so far so good? I also leave an inch or two gap from the top. but it's hard because it does look so much better filled up. But finding dried up fishes on the floor is not so fun. The small light has worked for me in the past and so far with the crazy zippy zig zaggers. Good luck. do these nets you guys are talking about have frames on them?

[Mellonman]

Can anyone tell me if these fish will jump out of an open-top tank ?

- black neon tetra (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)
- firehead tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
- black phantom tetra (Hyphessobrycon megalopterus)
- glass catfish (Kryptopterus biccirhis)
- denison barb (Puntius denisonii)

Thanks