6 years later my $5 fish jumped :(

[andrewkw]

It would almost be funny if not for the fact the story includes a dead fish. A lyretail damsel that I originally thought was just a chromis (very similar). I remember clearly buying 5 in 2013. One died right away and the other 4 lived for years, survived long distance move ect. One disappeared a year or 2 ago and the remaining 3 have had a weird dynamic. They go through stages of looking really beat up, then recover. They spend much of their time hiding / guarding eggs on the back glass. Now that there is only 2 left I'm curious to see how they act.

My tank is covered but with a hood. I don't really know what happened but I heard a loud splash and thought a fish jumped. I found him in the water with an obvious spinal injury. I put him in a container with an air pump floating in the sump but he never recovered. RIP. Old picture below when they didn't look as rough as now.

 

[Leslie Tabor]

This is such a bummer! I had a flame wrasse getting bullied and I neglected to get my top on all the way after feeding...it is not pleasant. So sorry.

 

[Silly clownfish]

So sorry for your loss. I have lost more fish to jumping than any other single cause in my 20+ years of reef keeping (always with full glass canopies - they find every little gap around plumbing, near the feeder, etc). I had a McKosker’s flasher wrasse that would jump out when I was feeding and need to be put back in the tank, and he hit the canopy hard enough to be heard across the living room with the tv on multiple times.

my worst loss that way was my 19 year old flame hawk. I suspect my foxface spooked it. It is particulary hard when you lose a fish you have had for years.

 

[andrewkw]

Thanks. I'm still not exactly sure what happened nor will I ever know. He definitely jumped out of the water but when I found him swimming on his side he was back in the display. Perhaps out of the water or just hit the top / side really hard. It's true fish fine a way out. I used to cover my tank with eggcrate but sure enough some wrasses made it through. You wouldn't think they could find but if they jump just perfect they're out.