Fish jump out of tank because they are stressed and want to escape from this situation as quickly as possible. The environment which you have created for your fish must be such that they feel happy and they grow healthy. There are several factors that lead to stress in fish and if not cured can lead to death.
Two most important reasons why fish get under stress is because of poor water quality and fear of getting bullied from other stronger fish. Fish will try to jump out of fish tank to save their life. Since a fish doesn’t know what’s outside of the fish tank they will try to escape from this situation and unfortunately die. The truth is, living constantly in fear and stress is worse than death for them.
Creating the perfect environment for your fish includes two parts. The first is the water chemistry and secondly fish compatibility. Let’s have a look at some of the important factors that lead to stress in fish.
1) Water chemistry – Just like fresh and pure air is necessary for humans and other animals, pure water is a must for fish. Fish breathe dissolved oxygen in water and exhale carbon dioxide. If there are other toxic gases in water fish will suffer a lot and if not treated will die.
To maintain water chemistry it is necessary that you keep a habit of testing your water on regular intervals using a “water testing kit” and see to it that harmful toxic gas levels are close to minimum and ideally zero.
One of the best ways to keep water free of toxins is to have live plants in your fish tank but this is not a compulsions. If you don’t want live plants then keep changing 25% of water every week so that minimum of toxins are left to deal with in your tank.
Apart from a tank maintenance schedule it is necessary to install a good quality biological filtration system in your tank. Biological filters take care of the dissolved toxic gases when water passes through filter media and throw back pure water in the tank.
2) Fish compatibility – Apart from water chemistry fish compatibility is the most important factor when it comes to building a community tank. If you pick wrong tank mates they will fight for life and the weaker fish will get killed in the battle.
In a fish tank, stronger fish will try to setup their own territory and will attack weaker fish for dominance. In such cases the weaker fish will try to jump out of the tank to save their life. That’s why while choosing tank mates see to it that male-female ratio is maintained properly and even fish compatibility is studied properly.
Fish will also attack each other for mating purposes and will chase each other for dominance for a single female for mating. That is why male-female ratio is very important in a tank so that fish fights are reduced and fish live happily in the tank.
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What makes water quality poor in a fish tank?
1) The first reason water quality because poor is solid waste accumulating at the bottom of the tank. Solid waste (poop) if not removed from the gravel and rocks or from the bottom of the tank gets decayed and gets converted into ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. All these gases are highly toxic and causes skin of fish to burn. When levels of these gases become excess this water becomes toxic for fish and beyond a certain level it causes skin burn. To prevent this it is a possibility that fish will try to jump of the water.
To avoid this situation never overfeed your fish. When you feed your fish observe how much quantity they actually eat and how much gets settled down at the bottom of the tank. Once you understand this simple thing only feed your fish that will be consumed most of it so that no food particle remain at the bottom of the tank for decaying.
2) Poor filtration is another reason why water quality will become poor. If your filter is not strong enough it will not be able to handle the volume of water in the fish tank and then toxins will remain in water causing trouble for your fish.
Ideally a combination of mechanical and biological filtration system will work best in a fish tank. Mechanical filtration will remove any physical and visible solid particles from water such as fallen leaves, floating food particles etc and the biological filtration will convert harmful toxins into slightly beneficial gases that are bearable to fish.
The biological media in the filter has colonies of beneficial bacteria that convert harmful ammonia into slightly beneficial gases that fish can bear.
How to stop fish jumping out of tank?
As mentioned above to stop fish from jumping out of the tank it is first necessary to have a clean environment with pure water and following fish compatibility rules. If you do this the fish will never feel stressed and obviously won’t feel the urge to jump out of water.
Many people think that to stop fish from jumping out of fish you can fix a lid on top of the tank. But this is like keeping your fish permanently in jail and forcing them to live in hell.
A lid above the fish tank is necessary for lighting installations and preventing other physical garbage like dust and solid particles falling in the tank. If you are going to fix a lid then make sure to absolutely follow tank maintenance rules so that fish feel safe and don’t feel an urge to jump out.
Signs that fish are under stress
When fish are under stress they will show some definite sings through their behavior. You must keep a habit of observing fish behavior so that you can identify stress in fish before any such accidents happen.
Not every fish that is under stress will jump of the water but will show some other signs. Also not every fish will go under stress in the same tank. Many fish have a capacity to withstand larger amount of stress and will overcome it because of strong immunity but this does not mean this thing must be ignored.
When fish are under stress you will see some physical and behavioral changes like
- They will stop eating because of bad appetite
- Their movement will become slower and sluggish
- Their body color will become pale
- They will stay in one place and avoid covering the entire tank
- They will try to hide behind plants or decorations
- They will gasp for air at the top surface of the tank
- If stress is not cure it will lead to some kind of disease
- And many more
So instead of waiting for accidents to happen why not avoid them by carefully and daily observing fish behavior. Many of us in our lives have this habit of ignoring warning signs related to our health and one day body falls for some serious disease.
This is true for fish a well as an owner it is your duty to take of environment in which your fish are living and take urgent and necessary step to cure it so that fish rarely get under stress and never feel an urge to take drastic steps like jumping out of the tank.
Just imagine the kind of stress a fish must be feeling when he feels to immediately run away from the situation in which he is living right now. That’s why never crate such instances in which he feels to take drastic measures and jumps out to save his life.
How to save a fish that jumped out of water?
If a fish jumps out of water right in front of you then obviously you can save him by picking him up in a fishnet and putting again in water. But this must be considered a warning sign that he is not happy in your fish tank.
If you can afford, have a quarantine tank installed and put him in that tank for a few days alone. When a fish jumps out of fish tank it means that either water quality is too harmful for him or other fish are bullying him and to save his life he has jumped out.
In that case do a water test of your main tank from where he jumped out and check for levels of toxic gases. Also check if other fish species are compatible with him or not. Simply putting him back in the same tank is not going to help because eventually he will die out of stress.
The best thing to prevent fish from jumping out of the tank is to eliminate the reasons why he jumped out which are poor water quality and checking fish compatibility. In the natural world when stronger fish bully weaker ones they have the space to run away into deeper areas or in other areas of the pond but in a tank this is never possible. As a result fish will chose to jump out of the tank out of fear of death.
Fish jumping out of bowl
A fish jumping out of bowl is a clear sign that a bowl is the worst way to keep a fish. Firstly as compared to fish tanks, bowls have a narrow mouth at the top that prevent exchange of beneficial gases in the tank water.
In case of a tank which is mostly rectangular with a broader opening at the top, allow easy exchange of gases in the water. But is a glass bowl due to narrow mouth less amount of oxygen gets mixed in the fish tank water. Because of this fish living in a bowl are more likely to go under stress quickly as compared to those living in a fish tank with wide opening at the top.
Fish breathe dissolved oxygen in the water and the only place that can enter in the water is from the top. The air pump installed in the tank pushed outside air in the tank water through a tube and escapes from the air stone. This air travels above in the form of bubbles and agitates the water surface. The purpose of this water surface disturbance is to encourage gas exchange at the top level and increase oxygen levels.
In a bowl all this equipment is mostly absent and that’s why fish living in bowl are more likely to be under stress and will try to jump out of water to save his life. Since a fish doesn’t know that there is air outside of the glass bowl he’ll try to save his life and die.
Whether it’s a betta or a gold fish trying to jump out of water, all fish need dissolved oxygen in the water and if gas exchange is not encouraged they will opt for drastic steps to save their life.
Creating a fish friendly environment in your tank
As mentioned above, the best way to prevent fish from jumping out, is not to fix a lid but to create an environment where they will feel safe and happy. Yes, you may fix a lid for other obvious purposes but at the same time pay closer attention to their safety and security.
There are simple rules that you can follow so that fish feel safe.
1) Maintain a tank cleaning schedule
2) Install the minimum equipment required for tank safety
3) Check fish compatibility and tank mates
4) Avoid overcrowding of fish
5) Maintain a male-female ratio.
6) Install a good filtration system
7) If possible have live plants (Not mandatory)
8) Don’t overfeed your fish
9) Make a habit of observing fish behavior.
10) Keep looking for symptoms of fish diseases if any.
11) If you budget allows install a quarantine tank.