Clownfish jumped

[kaiimac]

Hi all. I bought my very first saltwater fish last weekend...a pair of clowns. Just Saturday (after having them less than a week), my Davinci clown jumped from the tank and died. I have a IM 20 with a mesh top, but somehow he got through. I’m so sad about it..not to mention out $40. I tested all the parameters, and they look good. The only thing I can think is maybe the flow was too high or something. It’s weird because she was the less active of the two...pretty chill in general.

So now, I need another clown. It seems like a huge risk to spend a lot of money to spend again, but I really liked the Davinci. Any ideas why she jumped? The pair were from two different tanks, and she was the bigger one. I didn’t notice any fighting. Can I get another clown for the tank, or do I have to take this one back to introduce a pair again? Thanks for your help. I mainly wanted to share how much this sucks because I was so excited!

Sorry for the crappy cellphone picture. I realize I only took videos of them outside the bag but no photos.

 

[sfin52]

Sorry for your loss. They can get spooked and jump out only to end up with the potato chip diese.

No you can add another one. Make sure it’s smaller and they will battle a little bit to see who will be the female. The smaller one should end up as the male.

Check the screen again and you may be able to find the gap it jumped out of. Good luck to you.

 

[kaiimac]

Haha, potato chip disease! That's definitely what it had.

I can see where it jumped out. The screen doesn't go all the way to the end of the tank, but it's such a small gap. It must've had some really good aim to get out. I guess my only option is to built my own screen, but that sucks because this one was built for the tank. My other fish is now constantly glass surfing. It feels cruel...like they really hate/hated it in there!

 

[lickyricky]

Hi all. I bought my very first saltwater fish last weekend...a pair of clowns. Just Saturday (after having them less than a week), my Davinci clown jumped from the tank and died. I have a IM 20 with a mesh top, but somehow he got through. I’m so sad about it..not to mention out $40. I tested all the parameters, and they look good. The only thing I can think is maybe the flow was too high or something. It’s weird because she was the less active of the two...pretty chill in general.

So now, I need another clown. It seems like a huge risk to spend a lot of money to spend again, but I really liked the Davinci. Any ideas why she jumped? The pair were from two different tanks, and she was the bigger one. I didn’t notice any fighting. Can I get another clown for the tank, or do I have to take this one back to introduce a pair again? Thanks for your help. I mainly wanted to share how much this sucks because I was so excited!

Sorry for the crappy cellphone picture. I realize I only took videos of them outside the bag but no photos.

Are you sure your tank is cycled? The rocks don’t look like they have matured

 

[kaiimac]

I cycled it for 6 wks dosing ammonia. Current readings are Ammonia (o) Nitrite (0) and Nitrate (10). I used dry rock.

 

[sfin52]

My clowns did that till they settled in. I lost them due to my cat Nemo fishing for them. She got themand dropped them to being to salty. Now I have a covering. No more fishing or potato chip disease.

 

[kaiimac]

My clowns did that till they settled in. I lost them due to my cat Nemo fishing for them. She got themand dropped them to being to salty. Now I have a covering. No more fishing or potato chip disease.

Oh no! I guess you can’t blame a cat for wanting a fish dinner. I have a screen covering, but those little guys must have killer aim (no pun intended.) Its good to know they take time to settle. I’m wary to get another one. I turned off my wave maker just in case it was too much for the remaining one.

 

[sfin52]

They are decent swimmers but they have a vertical swimming pattern. My cinnamon clown did that for a bit till it found his spot in the rock.

 

[Michael Llabona]

Since you had a mesh top, it was likely a complete coincidence and bad luck. He/she just got the right angle to jump. You are probably fine getting another if your parameters are fine.

 

[kaiimac]

Since you had a mesh top, it was likely a complete coincidence and bad luck. He/she just got the right angle to jump. You are probably fine getting another if your parameters are fine.

Okay, that's helpful. I thought that it might be bad luck. I also skipped a day feeding them because I was at a friend's house, so maybe they were hungry. The day I came back is the day I found him. I read on the forums that people sometimes leave them for entire weekends, though, and this was just one day. I just want to be safe and make sure another one doesn't get hurt. I have tried to put on the mesh top more in the center so there isn't a big gap on any side.

The other one is still perfectly fine, swimming around, eating well. He has stopped glass surfing as much. I've noticed he does it more at night than during the day. For example, if I turn off the tank lights but have lights on in the next room, I can see him going up and down repeatedly in the corner of the tank. As I said earlier, I lowered and moved the flow just to be safe, and maybe that is helping. Maybe they do just need time to adjust. My tank isn't very tall vertically, so if they swim vertically, I can see that limiting them.

 

[Dom274]

It's just bad luck with clowns. I've had one jump, which coincidentally, made it thru an eggcrate top. Also had clowns in a tank with no top for years without a problem...