# Which fish species in aquariums are jumpers?



## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

Of all the fish that you have kept,which are the most likely to take the leap and end up on the carpet?
I beleive the most likely jumpers that i know are leporinus sp. and bala sharks that i know of. Also oscars have lept out of my tanks.


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## |squee| (Feb 3, 2005)

_Aplocheilus panchax_ are fantastic jumpers; I kept them in the beginning stages of my hobby and boy did they love to jump out at night.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I had a black Molly that jumped out of the tank three times over his long life. Ultimately it was not the jumps that killed him, but old age.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

The fish I've personally known to try and escape:

Mollies (various kinds)
Bettas

Those fish were pretty sneaky. By the time we noticed they jumped out our cat had his afternoon snack.


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## Faruk Gençöz (Nov 4, 2005)

SAEs are open gap finders and they are the greatest jumpers from these gaps.

When a cory wants to reach the water surface it always knocks its head to the cover with a strange noise.


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## DJKronik57 (Apr 17, 2006)

I've actually had a clown loach fly out of the tank at feeding time. Not sure if it was just an accident in the feeding frenzy or if they are really jumpers, but it sure shocked me to see a clown loach flying through the air over my shoulder! Luckily they're tough little fish as long as they are healthy.


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

My friend had a bala shark that jumped over his shoulder almost every water change. And my sistser had a leporinus multifasciatus that cleared 10 feet and hit the ceiling before crashing to the ground. These fish i would not recommend for a planted tank with frequent water changes and especially open top setups.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

Some of the really good jumpers i've had are SAE's, garra flavatras, bettas, loaches.
Oh... Discus can jump too!

most were 
1. bugged out by parasites, 
2. small tanks, 
3. medication, 
4. startled [lighting or movement] or 
5. poor conditions.[eg. holding tub while the tank was being rescaped]

Regards

Stan


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Yup, I lost one Bala a few years ago. He jumped while I was at work, landed in my Hubby's new hiking boot, and it wasn't until a couple days later that I found him neatly filling the whole sole of the boot.... Oops... Thank goodness he was away in Alaska at the time, so I had time to air it out a little...

Other fish that have jumped on me are Hatchets (one of the best jumpers out there), Betta's, and my friend had an Oscar who jumped every chance he got. My tanks are all covered, so they managed to find the tiniest openings. I also had one Harlequin rasbora jump out of a net and I didn't find him til he was dried up on the floor, but he wasn't even in the tank yet.


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## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

i was changing my tank water one day and took out the betta and had him in a cup on a counter. when i went back to go get him 20min later he wasn't in the cup. i found him stuck to the counter quite a bit away from the cup. i peeled him off the counter (he must have been out for quite some time) and put him back in the cup, sure that he was dead. he was a bit dazed, but is still alive and well almost a year later.


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## mrbelvedere138 (Jan 18, 2006)

I found a crispy Hengel's rasbora once. That's it. Nothing else has ever jumped. Except a lone amano. They say endler's are good jumpers. I've never seen them so much as lurch. They say bettas are good jumpers. I've kept them for years without incident.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Skelley said:


> i was changing my tank water one day and took out the betta and had him in a cup on a counter. when i went back to go get him 20min later he wasn't in the cup. i found him stuck to the counter quite a bit away from the cup. i peeled him off the counter (he must have been out for quite some time) and put him back in the cup, sure that he was dead. he was a bit dazed, but is still alive and well almost a year later.


Off topic, but next to goldfish, I think betas can survive almost anything. I had one in a 2 gallon bowl once with a heater that got stuck on. By the time I found the poor thing the water was almost steaming. I was sure he was cooked. About 18 months later it finally died of slightly more natural causes.


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## wiste (Feb 10, 2006)

With regards to jumping, the silver arowana is in a different category. They need no reason to jump. A covered aquarium is not enough, it has to be bolted without any holes large enough for them to fit through. RIP. Maybe I will try again in a year or two.

Most other fish seem to jump when given a reason. Currently trying hatchetfish and I have heard good things about there jumping ability.


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## Skelley (Mar 4, 2006)

guaiac_boy said:


> Off topic, but next to goldfish, I think betas can survive almost anything. I had one in a 2 gallon bowl once with a heater that got stuck on. By the time I found the poor thing the water was almost steaming. I was sure he was cooked. About 18 months later it finally died of slightly more natural causes.


even more off topic...
when i was in college and living in the dorm there was a girl who had a "miracle goldfish". the story was somehow he gold left in a place where his water ended up frozen. he ended up being a little fishcicle, but when he thawed out he came back to life. well my first night in the dorm a bunch of us where hanging out knocking back a few when some guy decided to pull some retro crap and swallow her fish whole. she was beyond upset.


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## Ransom (May 3, 2006)

Pearl danios are good at jumping and finding small cracks to jump through. I used to have some that would jump through the space between the cover and the HOB filter, over the HOB, and not be found until I needed some from underneath the tank.

Caecilians (an amphibian sold as a "rubber eel") will climb out when stressed but fortunately they have lungs and I found mine several times before he dried out until the one time the tank was on a kitchen bar and he managed to find his way down the sink drain (I think).


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

Ransom said:


> Pearl danios are good at jumping and finding small cracks to jump through. I used to have some that would jump through the space between the cover and the HOB filter, over the HOB, and not be found until I needed some from underneath the tank.


 Sounds like you allowed them to see the movie "Finding Nemo".


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

Hatchetfish (Gasteropelecus sternicla) are very good jumpers. My Betta also seems to like to jump out of my tank. Thank goodness they can survive a long period out of the water!


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

I have read that hatchetfish can actually fly using their long pec fins for buzzing wings. Has anyone seen this?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Chris S said:


> I have read that hatchetfish can actually fly using their long pec fins for buzzing wings. Has anyone seen this?


Well, they can extend their jump just because of their design, but they can't actually flap their little fins and fly.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I once had a hatchetfish jump out of a tank and end up on a desk where I was doing homework. The horizontal distance between the two points was at least 4 feet. Pretty cool huh? Needless to say, he got put back in and did just fine. I also remembered to close the lid after feeding time from then on.


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## psidriven (Feb 21, 2004)

I think every top to mid level swimming fish has potential to jump with top swimmers being the most likely to. I have an open top tank and only had one SAE dry out. My golden wonder killie seemed to jump regularly though.


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## j_chicago (Jun 3, 2006)

I had a betta that took a flying leap on to the floor after a water change (filled his tank too high) and layed for I can only guess how long (several hours)...

He lasted about 3 days, but was basically paralysed.


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

My pair of angels were brooding their young and I had my silver striped algelfish leap out of the water, straight at me! It was so all of a sudden and unexpected I jumped back a couple of feet, and yelped , he flopped on the floor for a little bit before I could get him back in. My girlfriend almost pee'd her pants laughing at the sitution. Never underestimate the parental instincts of animals!

I also had a female congo tetra jump out. Unfortunatly I only discovered her after she was dried out like a prune


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## AlexTal (Mar 23, 2006)

Skelley said:


> even more off topic...
> when i was in college and living in the dorm there was a girl who had a "miracle goldfish". the story was somehow he gold left in a place where his water ended up frozen. he ended up being a little fishcicle, but when he thawed out he came back to life. well my first night in the dorm a bunch of us where hanging out knocking back a few when some guy decided to pull some retro crap and swallow her fish whole. she was beyond upset.


Sorry to be off topic AGAIN, but a guy I work with was telling me about a betta he had in college that he kept in a rocks glass (one of the smaller bar type glasses). He forgot about it and the water evaporated. He saw it laying on its side in a tiny bit of water and being a typical college guy, didn't clean it up. Some girl at his place for a party noticed it breathing slightly about a week later, put it in more water, and the thing survived a long while after that.

ON TOPIC, I have had a number of giant danios jump out of my tanks and one time I had my 14 inch pleco jump out. That was terrible. I raised him from when he was like 4 inches.


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