Suicidal Clownfish? Please help:/

imarino326 · Apr 4, 2020

It’s currently 6:00 AM, and my orange storm clownfish, keo has jumped out of the tank 4 times the past week, twice this morning with 5 jump attempts this past hour. What could be causing this? He’s been in the tank for almost a month and has never done this before. I haven’t done a water change in two weeks and he enjoys the duncan coral and mushroom coral I have in tank. I just put in a black coral goby, and they leave each other alone. Any help or advice is appreciated.

ScottR · Apr 4, 2020

You can simply put a cover on the tank to prevent this. I’d say about half of us keep a cover of some type on top. Preferably a mesh type.

Fishbird · Apr 4, 2020

Definitely put a top over your tank.

What are all your water parameters, especially ammonia?
How big is the tank?
How old is the tank?

Zionas · Apr 4, 2020

From what I’ve read Clownfish aren’t particularly known for being jumpers. Maybe there’s something else going on. I’m not sure what, and I can’t comment, but I feel it could have something to do with parameters or another tankmate?

Big G · Apr 4, 2020

Might want to check your tank for stray voltage. And or check the fish for flukes with a freshwater dip.

LenG · Apr 22, 2020

I'm curious as to what you may have found out about the reason for your clown's jumping. One of my clown pair jumped out and I didn't see it as I guess is most often the case. I'm suspecting aggression from my Royal Gramma, but I'm not sure.
An experienced aquarist friend also suspects aggression, particularly from hermit crabs. I don't have hermit crabs, only couple of fish.

imarino326 · May 4, 2020

LenG said:
I'm curious as to what you may have found out about the reason for your clown's jumping. One of my clown pair jumped out and I didn't see it as I guess is most often the case. I'm suspecting aggression from my Royal Gramma, but I'm not sure.
An experienced aquarist friend also suspects aggression, particularly from hermit crabs. I don't have hermit crabs, only couple of fish.

My clown has always sat near the top, and never really did it. He just jumps usually at around 3 am, and it’s just weird to me. I couldn’t tell you why they do it but hey

Birdbrains? · May 4, 2020

Is there anything above the tank or in the ceiling, that might appear as food to the fish?

Clowns can make a sudden escape move to get away from predators, where they flee upwards really quickly. Perhaps it just wanted to practice and miscalculated the distance to the surface.

Birdbrains? · May 4, 2020

LenG said:
I'm curious as to what you may have found out about the reason for your clown's jumping. One of my clown pair jumped out and I didn't see it as I guess is most often the case. I'm suspecting aggression from my Royal Gramma, but I'm not sure.
An experienced aquarist friend also suspects aggression, particularly from hermit crabs. I don't have hermit crabs, only couple of fish.

They can flee upwards really fast but it can happen because they are practising and miscalculate the distance. Idk if they would ever jump out of the water in the wild but they tend to flee along the surface of the tankwater when they try to get away.

ZipAdeeZoa · May 4, 2020

These fish naturally come from depths where they can swim straight up for minutes without getting to the surface- the idea of the surface is quite foreign to them and swimming up could be considered natural evasive maneuvers. The idea that their ocean just ends isn't something these animals are naturally meant to deal with. This is why a simple screen top is highly advised.

Birdbrains? · May 4, 2020

ZipAdeeZoa said:
These fish naturally come from depths where they can swim straight up for minutes without getting to the surface- the idea of the surface is quite foreign to them and swimming up could be considered natural evasive maneuvers. The idea that their ocean just ends isn't something these animals are naturally meant to deal with. This is why a simple screen top is highly advised.

Great information, I didn't know that "orange storm" was an ocellaris. I keep shallow water clowns and they seem to love making fast trips to the surface, scouting for food or just generally loving the swim practise.

imarino326 · May 5, 2020

Birdbrains? said:
Is there anything above the tank or in the ceiling, that might appear as food to the fish?

Clowns can make a sudden escape move to get away from predators, where they flee upwards really quickly. Perhaps it just wanted to practice and miscalculated the distance to the surface.

My ceiling is white, and he jumps out of the small cracks on the cover. I’ve done everything from keeping the light off for a full day to see what happens, do water changes, and literally rescaped my tank. Still jumps.

Birdbrains? · May 6, 2020

Yikes, that's terrible on the nerves! I hate when the calm isn't calm! The calm is the best thing about this hobby!

You only have one clown, right?
I would try giving it a friend, it might be going at it because it wants to find a family. I had one polymnus alone but it went crazy each time it heard anything vaguely similar to clown-sounds.

It constantly reacted to all bumping sounds outside my apartment, by patrolling wildly along the glass while clicking loudly. I eventually caved in and gave it a friend to hang out with. Now it only talks to it's friend and it ignores the noises from outside.

Perhaps that could help but you should probably get a better covering for the tank as well. When I decided to keep anemonefish, I heard plenty of stories of clowns jumping out of their tanks, so I made a setup with a glass cover that only have a tiny hole available to put food in.

DeniseAndy · May 6, 2020

Any fish can jump, but yours sounds like it may have an issue as stated with stray voltage, predator, maybe it just wants to be in the Olympics. Get a cover (mesh). Keep close eye on it to see what making it jump so much. Mine only jumped when it thought I was coming near the tank. It really liked to bite me.

Reefnman2 · May 6, 2020

I have one that jumped out 3 times in a week, I agitated the water surface with the gyre I have and also added a cover but I noticed she stopped jumping after agitating the water as if she can now see the surface better maybe.

imarino326 · May 6, 2020

Birdbrains? said:
Yikes, that's terrible on the nerves! I hate when the calm isn't calm! The calm is the best thing about this hobby!

You only have one clown, right?
I would try giving it a friend, it might be going at it because it wants to find a family. I had one polymnus alone but it went crazy each time it heard anything vaguely similar to clown-sounds.

It constantly reacted to all bumping sounds outside my apartment, by patrolling wildly along the glass while clicking loudly. I eventually caved in and gave it a friend to hang out with. Now it only talks to it's friend and it ignores the noises from outside.

Perhaps that could help but you should probably get a better covering for the tank as well. When I decided to keep anemonefish, I heard plenty of stories of clowns jumping out of their tanks, so I made a setup with a glass cover that only have a tiny hole available to put food in.

my clownfish is lonely

i know what I must do