Oscar Jumps!!

I have been on spring break and I thought it would be really cool if I could teach Oscar to jump and I did!! hes so cute! Miley

 

Bettas naturally know how to jump. That's why it's always suggested to cover the top of the tank or bowl or whatever they may be in because they will. My very first betta Mr. Red did that once and nearly gave me a heart attack because I was cleaning his tank and he landed right in front of me. Just be very carefull with it and make sure that his tank is always covered and there are no gaps that he can fit through because they will find away to get out if they are given the chance too. Natalie

 

They're funny when they jump, aren't they? Did you train yours to jump with food on your finger? Sometimes when my wife is feeding the bettas, if she holds her hand over the tank too long (I put some food in her hand & she measures out the amount they get in her hand) without dropping the food in, they'll jump up & nip her hand. It really surprised her the first time one of them did it and that betta almost got a BIG breakfast. LOL

If your betta gets to jumping a lot & your tank has some open holes in the back, like around the filter & heater - one idea might be to take a net, cut the netting off the frame and tape it securely in place on the lid over top of the holes as best you can. I'm not sure if this is what a lot of people do & could be wrong, we're newbies with bettas - just started this year, but it seems like a good idea if your betta gets real jumpy or you want to train your betta to do more jumping tricks. If you do like the idea, maybe run it by chickadee - I've read a lot of her posts and she really knows her bettas.

 

That is really cute. But, do be careful as Bettas can jump out of their tank. You don't want him to get so jumpy he launches straight out of the tank when you open the lid.

 

Wow, I didn't know Bettas are such acclaimed jumpers! LOL What's even more interesting, I didn't know you can actually teach a Betta to jump! How do you do that?

 

Wow, I didn't know Bettas are such acclaimed jumpers! LOL What's even more interesting, I didn't know you can actually teach a Betta to jump! How do you do that?

I think it's an instinct that they've inherited from the wild Bettas who live in those huge rice patties and dine on mosquitos flying near the surface so they will jump as part of their nature - the other day, impatient Aslan jumped up & nipped my wife's hand while she was measuring out his food and apparently not getting his breakfast in the tank fast enough to suit him. I've heard a lot of people train their bettas to do things like jump up to eat food off a finger or even jump thru a little hoop. It is cute and shows their ability to learn, but it also gives you a chance of waking up that jumping instinct and waking up to a dried-out Betta behind the furniture or on the floor, etc. They can live a little while breathing air thanks to their air labyrinth (the fish guy at our LFS had one that made it halfway down the hall before being found and put back in his tank) but it's still a pretty short time. Even knowing that, it's hard to resist the urge to teach our Bettas to jump on command (or on promise of food ).

 

thank you all for your concern but I have a lid with no holes and he only jumps when I tell him and he ABSOLUTLEY refuses to jump if the lid isn't there. its so cute too!!! Miley

 

thank you all for your concern but I have a lid with no holes and he only jumps when I tell him and he ABSOLUTLEY refuses to jump if the lid isn't there. its so cute too!!! Miley

He'll need a little bit of a hole to let air in while covered but that sounds good.

 

I haven't been on in forever! it has small holes all over it its a crittur keeper tank so its safe.. Miley

 

I haven't been on in forever! it has small holes all over it its a crittur keeper tank so its safe.. Miley

Welcome back Miley. Hope you, your sister & your bettas have been doing well.

 

I'm glad to hear that Oscar is doing well Miley. We miss hearing from you, but I'm sure we will once your on summer break. Natalie

 

Hi! So some of you may know my Oscar Delta (he is mentioned in other forums I have made). Anyway this morning (quick disclaimer my Oscar DID NOT did) I was feeding the 130 (with delta) and delta has become a bit of a splashy feeder (he hits the water really hard creating a big splash) and will sometimes jump a little bit (which I try to discourage). And way the feeding flap I have is barely big enough for him to fit through but this morning he did fit through it and jumped clear out of the tank hitting one of my other aquariums lights before hitting the ground. He flopped around for about a minute before he stopped, once he stopped I grabbed a net and got him back in the tank. He got quite a few scratches and one big scratch but what I am most worried about is that when he was in the ground he started to bleed from his gills. Now this generally isn’t good right? He isn’t bleeding (that I can see) not that he is in the tank, but should I be worried about him? I am going to monitor him all day today and probably am gonna do a water change but other than that there isn’t anything I can really do. He isn’t laying on the bottoms he is kinda just hovering in a general area of the tank. He seems to be stressed but not to horribly. Any recommendations? Ima keep the water super clean so that his side doesn’t get infected as he did retain a large scrape down his side, but he has had those before (from the other fish before the pecking order was asstablished) and he always heals fine. Here are a few photos of the feeding flap he fit through, and a couple of him.





Thoughts?

 

Your Oscar is swimming in an "Up right" position, which is a very good sign. He is a thick heavy fish which affords his organs with a lot of padding. Hopefully the bleeding is a result of superficial tissue tears.
This sort of thing happens to all keepers at one time or another. Its happened to me on numerous occassions.
Here's a pic of my Royal Blue, which leaped out of my tank during feeding, and did a swan dive to my flagstone floor. He was a Cichlid zombie for a few days, but had a full recovery.
Hang in there.

 

I would change as much water as you can in case he's fine but so he doesn't get any infections on the cuts he got. But just in case he did get something from the floor, I would put some general bacterial med in the tank, maybe even just general cure. Stress coat might be helpful if you want

 

Like others have said he will make it through this he is a big dude with good padding. Wondering if f in the future you just drop the food through the feeding flap instead of opening it up at all if that’s a possibility.. good luck!!

 

Hi! So this morning his side seems to be ok, however one of his eyes is looking a little rough. It was a little cloudy yesterday, however today it seems to be a little cloudy but very red. It also seems to be popping out more then his other eye (which seems fine).

 

That's pooling blood in his eye, most likely caused from an internal injury. Another user on this site had this happen to her gold fish. He lost his eye but lived.

I would have no idea how to go about treating this. People seem to love throwing salt at everything I looked up relating to this but I don't think that would feel too good on his wound. I'm so sorry about your big guy and hopes he heals quickly.

 

That's pooling blood in his eye, most likely caused from an internal injury. Another user on this site had this happen to her gold fish. He lost his eye but lived.

I would have no idea how to go about treating this. People seem to love throwing salt at everything I looked up relating to this but I don't think that would feel too good on his wound. I'm so sorry about your big guy and hopes he heals quickly.

What do I do if his eye falls out?

 

In that case you'll want to prepare a way to stop the bleeding in case it doesn't stop on its own.

 

What do I do if his eye falls out?

Just keep the water as clean as possible and the fish as quiet as possible. Aside from that there isn't really anything to do but let nature take its course, I think. Is it by itself? If not, maybe it should be until it heals.

 

Just keep the water as clean as possible and the fish as quiet as possible. Aside from that there isn't really anything to do but let nature take its course, I think. Is it by itself? If not, maybe it should be until it heals.

No, he is with other fish. The only other tank I could possibly move him to to make him be by himself would be a 20 gallon, and I don’t think that’s a good idea. Non of the other fish really bother him other than my blood parrot which can only really smack Delta with his tail.

In that case you'll want to prepare a way to stop the bleeding in case it doesn't stop on its own.

How do I do that?

Oh, BTW: Delta ate this morning like normal.

 

Well the first thing to mind is cauterizing it, but that seems too hard and risky. Maybe just find a fish vet close to you so he can get taken care of there if it doesn't stop bleeding

 

Well the first thing to mind is cauterizing it, but that seems too hard and risky. Maybe just find a fish vet close to you so he can get taken care of there if it doesn't stop bleeding

Hopefully the bleeding stops because I don’t live anywhere near a fish vet. We only have like 3 (good) vets within a 100 mile radius of us, all only really do dogs and cats. Will it bleed a lot if the eye falls out (I would assume yes but never know)?

 

Well I would love to assume that in the off chance it falls out he'll be fine and stopping bleeding, but I'm just thinking logically that if the bleed is from behind his eye there will be nothing to stop it. That said though, it could also just be some burst blood vessels inside his eye which would mean it's completely contained and will stop.

 

Well I would love to assume that in the off chance it falls out he'll be fine and stopping bleeding, but I'm just thinking logically that if the bleed is from behind his eye there will be nothing to stop it. That said though, it could also just be some burst blood vessels inside his eye which would mean it's completely contained and will stop.

Well I hope it’s the last thing you said. Quick question though (a little off topic):

In my african (and South American) cichlid tank there is a jewel cichlid that is being picked on. A little while ago the same thing happened to one of my firemouths and I moved it to the 130 and he did really well. This jewel cichlid isn’t very aggressive so do you think it would be a problem to move him to the 130? Thanks

 

I think it should be ok, just wait until Delta is healed up first.

 

I think it should be ok, just wait until Delta is healed up first.

HI all! So by today delta is pretty much healed up, he is back to eating normally and the cut on his side is (for the most part) gone. His eye is still a little cloudy but I don’t think he is gonna lose it. Today I feel so confident he is better the jewel cichlid will be moving in with him (because he just keeps getting picked on). Thanks for all your help

 

The jewel cichlid is a little acclimating!


This guy wasn’t being physically beat up in the African cichlid tank, it was more mental stress for him. He didn’t have a territory and just say in the top corner all the time. If he tried to move he got chased. Hope he likes this tank better!