Clownfish jumped out of the tank! ARRGGHH

[NanoTank1]

I woke up this morning in a great mood. Took a shower, got dressed, ate something... alright time to feed my two clownfish. Went over to the tank and thought, oh, he is hiding again, silly clownfish. It took me a minute to realize that one of my two clownfish (the one I liked better!) was lying dead underneath the tank. Normally I would try to assess what is wrong with my tank. This time I think the clownfish simply got spooked out in the middle of the night and jetted out of the tank. Part of me thinks it is time to purchase a mesh cover for the tank... but I REALLY like the open top look. And I kept the water line 1 inch below the top of the tank. And no, the clownfish had been behaving beautifully the past couple of weeks. And yes, my tank parameters are solid.

 

Can anyone relate to my experience? Please join me for a moment of silence...

[tpme06]

Ah that's a bummer, sorry to hear! I use a glass top now because I'm way too paranoid of losing fish :/

[xiaoxiy]

Mine also went bye bye a week or so back. He was sleeping on the sand bed last I saw him, then in the morning he was dried up on the ground.

[sthill]

Sorry to hear this ...

[kush.]

thats such a horrible feeling. My melenarus wrasse jumped twice. The first time i saw him on the ground and popped him right into the tank and to my surprise he just started swimming around! the second time, i had just done a water change the previous day and have yet to empty the water in the bucket that was sitting next to my tank, when i went to feed my fish i couldn't see my wrasse and was looking on the ground and found him in the bucket! so i popped him back in and off he went.

[Reef_Ninja]

You know, I have had the same luck with clownfish in the past. No idea what it is. I 've kept several successful tanks, and three times I caught my clownfish carpet surfing their final wave. My kids wont let me NOT have a clownfish, so Im making a mesh top this time around. Lowes/HD has black bird netting that would work great.

[NanoTank1]

Perhaps I'll need to reconsider the open tank and use some form of mesh or glass on top. After this incident my wife is convinced that I am a fish killer!

[Steensj2004]

FYI, I run a Nuvo 16 with the stock glass top...The other day my Yasha Goby jumped out and died...there is only about 1/4 inch gap around the solid glass lid. Just letting you know to make a tight fitting lid, as they are able to get out of tighter spaces then you might think. Sorry about your loss!

[Bobyboy]

You can pick up the plastic clips from lowes and make a mesh top the sits on the clips right inside the glass, this way you can keep the clean look until you're looking down the top.

[ChocolateChipz]

Happened to me 5 months ago.

My fish jumped out. It was a wyoming   white  clownfish .

[dling]

I made my own mesh top due to fish loss. It's the right thing to do. I've lost more then one fish

due to having an open top.

[Snow_Phoenix]

18 minutes ago, dling said:

I made my own mesh top due to fish loss. It's the right thing to do. I've lost more then one fish

due to having an open top.

I did the same. 

[Melfy77]

I have the same issue with clownfish jumping. I've only had 2 kinds of fish jump on me: clowns and puffers (valentini). I now have a glass lid.

[DSA65PRO]

I’ve always liked a Glass Top on an Aquarium, to deal with excessive evaporation and jumping fish. On my Rimless Tank I used the BCP Clips just on the sides. I had a Glass shop make the top in two Pieces with the Dimensions that served my purpose. Had a standard Slight bevel done. The glass was ordered to match Aqueon Thickness, so I could use Aquen Backstrips, Hinge and Handle. The Clips do have to be glued in place, to the top sides of the aquarium. The Top is barely noticeable when viewing the Aquarium. 
 

The BCP Clips are on Amazon, if you look at a Side view of them,  there are three triangles, on each clip, for reinforcement. 

[second_decimal]

glad to see not much has changed since 2014 😳 🤣 i think the available options at that time were probably a little different compared to what is available today. 

[NanoSean]

You should check out the clear / mesh lids at Kraken Reef.  Maintains the rimless aesthetic while keeping fish in the tank.

https://www.thekrakenreef.com/

[mcarroll]

On 3/26/2014 at 9:23 AM, NanoTank1 said:

I woke up this morning in a great mood. Took a shower, got dressed, ate something... alright time to feed my two clownfish. Went over to the tank and thought, oh, he is hiding again, silly clownfish. It took me a minute to realize that one of my two clownfish (the one I liked better!) was lying dead underneath the tank. Normally I would try to assess what is wrong with my tank. This time I think the clownfish simply got spooked out in the middle of the night and jetted out of the tank. Part of me thinks it is time to purchase a mesh cover for the tank... but I REALLY like the open top look. And I kept the water line 1 inch below the top of the tank. And no, the clownfish had been behaving beautifully the past couple of weeks. And yes, my tank parameters are solid.

 

Can anyone relate to my experience? Please join me for a moment of silence...

Bummer for sure.  I think everyone has had critters jump....whether freshwater or salt.

 

I don't know what size your tank is, but 30 gallons-ish is about the smallest tank I'd even consider without a top.   IMO tiny tanks are too much temptation to leave...like a tide-pool....and lots of reef fish have that tide-pool mentality: "This is too small....thankfully the ocean is right over that wall!!  <LEAP!>" 

 

Fish can jump from any size tank, but the smaller the tank, the more crowded the tank, the more likely it is.  (Do fish jump from the gigantic displays at the major aquariums around the world?)  

 

Having night predators like serpent starfish or a crab on the prowl at night is another "good" way to motivate a sleeping fish out the top in a panic move.

[Mazapis58]

I feel the loss. I have lost two clown fish in the same way. In my case I came to the conclusion that they jumped because they were scared in the dark of the night. Since then I never turn off the light and left the leds in "moonlight" mode and, in addition, I cover the aquarium with its glass cover only at night. So far I have not had any loss.

[Tired]

Fish can jump at any time of day. They're more likely to be startled at night, but not because of the dark. They have lateral lines that can feel things coming. They're more likely to be startled at night because they're asleep at night, so they don't notice things coming, regardless of the light. You should turn your lights all the way off at night, so they can rest properly. You should also cover the tank during the day, so the fish can't jump during the day. 

[Mazapis58]

On 7/14/2020 at 11:33 PM, Tired said:

Fish can jump at any time of day. They're more likely to be startled at night, but not because of the dark. They have lateral lines that can feel things coming. They're more likely to be startled at night because they're asleep at night, so they don't notice things coming, regardless of the light. You should turn your lights all the way off at night, so they can rest properly. You should also cover the tank during the day, so the fish can't jump during the day. 

Thank you very much for your explanations and clarifications.  I have been able to verify for myself that fish do not only jump at night.  Yesterday afternoon one of my Ocellaris jumped at four in the afternoon.  When I wanted to realize it was too late.  From this moment I have my aquarium covered.

[j.falk]

My very first clownfish jumped out of the tank the first day I got it and that was with a lid on the tank.  It jumped through the cutout part of the plastic lid where the filter sat.  Since then I've exclusively used glass lids with tight cutouts for the filters/cords.  Haven't lost a fish since.

[ChocoChipzz]

My 3 fish all jumped out. One was a Royal Gamma and another was a Wyoming White Clownfish. I forgot the name of the other one. Sorry to hear.

[tdannhauser30]

How many of you that had clowns that jumped had a nem to host them? I have been lucky enough to have had my clowns 8 years now and if ever startled or unsure it is always straight into the anemone.  I feel like the last think my clowns would do is streak towards the surface out of the safety of the anemone (knock on wood). Just a theory. Sorry for the loss, makes me feel very thankful.