My Hatchet Fish Jumped

Just a warning to everyone, one of my hatchet fish jumped out of the tank. If you have one, or are thinking about getting one then make sure you seal every hole on your lid. They are jumpers in the wild too. There is a small open area where you can stick a filter in the water on my tank. I put some stuff there to prevent fish from jumping out, but there was still a 1" x 2" inch hole there. That was the only place he swam when the lights were on. He never really went anywhere else in the tank. The Petsmart website lists them as intermediate skill level and some of the reviews mention that people have had problems with them jumping out of the water. They are really cool, so I'll get another one now that I have the opening sealed up.

 

If you get some floating plants, they will be less likely to jump

 

I have it totally sealed off by the filter now.

 

They typically jump when they don't like the pH or temp. Check both.

 

They typically jump when they don't like the pH or temp. Check both.

My water parameters are fine. I think it was just a personality issue. All of my fish seem to have a favorite hiding spot when they are resting. I bought two hatchet fish not too long after I bought the aquarium and one died. When I replaced it they started swimming lower. The one that jumped was just behaving like it did. It always stayed near the small open hole.

 

hatchets like to be kept in groups of 6 or more.
to help prevent jumping try some floating plants to take the edge off your lighting.
since I added water lettuce to my tank my hatchets have been swimming lower in the tank far more often than they used to. they only swam lower in the water when the main lights were off in the past.
hatchets normally jump to escape predators or to catch small insects.

 

If it's in their nature to leap out of the water to catch prey, it would be hard to stop something from doing that as it is clearly built into their genetic design. It's like telling a Kangaroo not to hop, or a frog not to leap.
I saw some beautiful Marble ones yesterday, 6 of the swimming together. Tempting yes, but I already have my centre pieces for my tank, with the GBR and DGS, the latter would only compete for space at the top of the tank, and my tank would start to look crowded. Maybe in the future, when I have another bigger tank, I might consider them. Until yesterday, they'd never even entered my mind as a possibility, as whenever i'd heard of Hatchet Fish, I always thought of that big ugly fish in the deepest oceans.

 

If it's in their nature to leap out of the water to catch prey, it would be hard to stop something from doing that as it is clearly built into their genetic design. It's like telling a Kangaroo not to hop, or a frog not to leap.
I saw some beautiful Marble ones yesterday, 6 of the swimming together. Tempting yes, but I already have my centre pieces for my tank, with the GBR and DGS, the latter would only compete for space at the top of the tank, and my tank would start to look crowded. Maybe in the future, when I have another bigger tank, I might consider them. Until yesterday, they'd never even entered my mind as a possibility, as whenever i'd heard of Hatchet Fish, I always thought of that big ugly fish in the deepest oceans.
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I like them because I only have a 20 gallon tank and they are odd shaped. Most of the odd shaped water creatures in both fresh and saltwater seem to require larger tanks.

 

You'll just have to build a taller tank

 

I wanted to get some hatchet fish, but the po of my tank cut a big hole on the cover for a hang on the back filter. If I could find a new cover, that would be the only way I would be able to have the hatchets. They cut a 6+" by 3 inch hole in the back.

Thank you for the advice though! Hopefully it will help someone else not lose a fish. As a side, we had a betta a while back that was a jumper. It jumped out when I was doing a water change once.

 

I wanted to get some hatchet fish, but the po of my tank cut a big hole on the cover for a hang on the back filter. If I could find a new cover, that would be the only way I would be able to have the hatchets. They cut a 6+" by 3 inch hole in the back.

Thank you for the advice though! Hopefully it will help someone else not lose a fish. As a side, we had a betta a while back that was a jumper. It jumped out when I was doing a water change once.

Maybe you could post a picture of the hole and we can give you some ideas on how to cover it. Could you cover it with duct tape? I took the left over pieces of hose from my Fluval 106 canister filter and cut them up. Then I cut a little slit in them and slid them over the sides of the hole. After the fish jumped the other day I then took the rest of the hose and cut it into 2 inch pieces and taped them to the other pieces I had already attached to the hole.

 

Yeah, I'll go get some pictures later today and post them and see what you think. I actually thought about getting some plexiglass and epoxying it over the holes.

 

I actually thought about getting some plexiglass and epoxying it over the holes.

That is what I would do, except I would probably use aquarium safe silicone since it will stretch with expansion and contraction.

 

I started a new thread so I wouldn't take over the thread. It is hood hole.

Thanks jdhef! I figured epoxy wasn't going to be the best bet, but I couldn't think of what to say. I will have to find the silicone. Can I get it from the LFS?

 

You should be able to get it at the LFS

 

I Just got lucky. I was scrubbing the sides of the tank and dropped part of my lid in the tank and made a big splash. Then after a little bit I noticed only one hatchet fish was in my tank. Lucky for me he had some how gotten out, but managed to jump into an empty bucket I had with me. I poured water in it and then scooped him out and put him back. They are so sneaky, but cool!

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