Suicidal Yellow Watchman Goby

[hahahohol]

Hey there,
I added a yellow watchman goby to my 5 week old Innovative Marine 20g tank… but he went missing the next morning. Last time I’ve seen him was at night (with a flashlight) he was swimming around the perimeter of the tank … but he was pale, no yellow at all. He was also throwing sand (with its tale) during the day at the bigger clown (I have a pair).
Long story short, few days later – that is this morning - I found a YWG jerky on the floor :-/

I was hoping to add a pistol shrimp a ~week later, but not sure what to do.

I still want a YWG & Pistol shrimp pair. Are they all jumpers? Would you recommend I use a Plexi cover instead of mesh cover that I have now?
Or if I add a pair right away, the YWG will stay on the bottom?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Any fish can jump. The first few days is always the most questionable. Once they have their own cave/home set up, it really minimizes the chances of jumping.

Not overstocking and not adding aggressive tank mates will also minimize the chances.

I have 3 tanks, never had a lid on any of the. I would guess that maybe 4-5 fish have jumped on me I’m the last 5 years, almost always new additions. Only had one chalk bass that jumped after being with me for a year.

 

[bluerider098]

I had one for a few years and it never jumped. That being said I've found that for smaller fish in particular, the industry standard 1/4" mesh is too big. Use 1/8" mesh for the lid to keep the smaller fish in. That's what I did.

 

[fodsod]

I have lids on both of my tanks because I've lost fish from jumping (Gobies are well known to jump out). A few were new but there were some that were established. I made the top for my 90g using window screen framing and the netting BRS sells for making aquarium lids. My 50 has a combination of plexiglass and lighting filter grating.

Since I've had both in place I haven't lost a single fish due to jumping. I do hear them slap the water surface occasionally if it's past feeding time but there's no place for them to jump out of. I had one get out of a 1 inch gap so now there are no gaps at all.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Carpet surfing is not fun. Sorry to hear.

 

[hahahohol]

I have lids on both of my tanks because I've lost fish from jumping (Gobies are well known to jump out). A few were new but there were some that were established. I made the top for my 90g using window screen framing and the netting BRS sells for making aquarium lids. My 50 has a combination of plexiglass and lighting filter grating.

Since I've had both in place I haven't lost a single fish due to jumping. I do hear them slap the water surface occasionally if it's past feeding time but there's no place for them to jump out of. I had one get out of a 1 inch gap so now there are no gaps at all.

Are you saying I should re-mesh my stock IM cover with a window screen-net?

 

[hahahohol]

I had one for a few years and it never jumped. That being said I've found that for smaller fish in particular, the industry standard 1/4" mesh is too big. Use 1/8" mesh for the lid to keep the smaller fish in. That's what I did.

Do you have a link to 1/8 net by any chance? And can I just re-screen my existing IM cover?

 

[fodsod]

Are you saying I should re-mesh my stock IM cover with a window screen-net?

The link for the netting is below. I'd say the biggest factor is making sure there are no gaps at all or a fish could get out.

1/8" Clear Netting

Why does BRS recommend this? Every tank we set up at BRS we make a screen net top for. They will save you a ton of money down the line after you have a few fish jump out of your tank, and you find them on the floor. About half of reef fish will jump high enough to get out of a tank, and unless...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[bluerider098]

I got mine from BRS.