Reef tank fish suicide question.

by **NoviceTanker** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:16 pm

I am currently having problems with a couple fish who have jumped and fallen to their death in my tank, over the last 2 weeks i have aded 2 sand sifting gobies and both of them have commited suicide both from leaping from the tank and comming in contact with the floor. I added the first one a couple weeks ago and the next morning i found him on the floor, i didnt think much of it at the time till i added one yesterday and he too had done the same thing. Is this normal? The only other 2 fish i have in the tank curently are a Blue tang and a clown fish. The only abnormal thing i find the clown fish doing is he tends to stay near the top of the tank does not swim down much. Would love any advice on this.

by **snowboss** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:08 pm

i know blennies and gobies are sketchy......they spook extreamly easily..........i think they even scare themselves

when i first set up my tank i had an algae blenny and he would out of no where fly across the tank and slam into the glass as if he got shocked - - -he eventually shot up into the HOB filter and i didn't find him in time to save him ...............stupid lil guy, lol ...........

i would sat some sort of top is needed to keep them and maybe after a few months he/she will learn how far they can go before getting into trouble

Boss

by **a1k8t31524** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:50 pm

i have had a few fish do this to me also, but only right after a waterchange when the water is all the way to the rim......

by **a1k8t31524** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:52 pm

also had a freshwater rubber eel that you climbout at night and wiggle his way to the bathroom behind the tolite..... he did it atleast 5 times, then i finally took him back.... it was some funny stuff,

by **BurgerKing7704** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:28 pm

As far as I know(not too far) it's when a fish is startled that they jump, like Boss said. Is there any way they could be starteled from the side of the tank? Is it in a high traffic area where people come from all different angles? If so try covering the sides with a background or even some paper. You saidthey usually jump over night, If that's the case I have no clue what startled them as, to my understanding, both of the other inhabitants are fairly peaceful.

by **Snowboss4492** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:01 am

lights switching on and off can scrare em.............when my actinics go off at night the clowns freak out and head for high ground ...............i think they're afraid that sabastian wil get them .....................and i think he would kill em if he did get ahold of one ................

but as i said the lights will make em jumpy ................is your light schedual the same everyday? ............if it's different all the time, they're probably jumpy because of that somewhat.......also.........do you have cats or dogs jumpin up to see whats going on in there scareing the crap out of em???

Boss

by **puffedupseagull** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:02 am

seems to me like a power issue in the tank from something else, i would suggest maybe the clown being territorial..Also as stated above they can also be startled, but unlikely to be at night..
Fish will follow the tank wall up to jump out if they are going to jump. its not because they want to jump, but they cant tell the start and finish of the water line. If you have an active fish they are more likely to jump than less active.
A way you can eliminate this, or to minimize it happening, is to add euro braces to the side of the rim off the tank.
You can lower the tank water level, and silicone on some braces around the edge line of the tank. Around 30 mm braces or so. This will stop the fish jumping.
But this wont eliminate them jumping if they are being bullied. they are getting chased up away from a territory and jumping over the side accidently.

Reef tank fish suicide question.

7 posts