Clown jumped...too late

[Hooked]

My female ocellaris clown jumped out of my tank for the third time and this time I wasn't there to save her.

My poor little male looks very lost. I want to get him another mate, but I'm not sure if I should wait for him to morph into a female or get another one now and let them decide who's going to be the boss.

An additional concern is my purple tang. I just added him last week, so he's still getting settled in. I worry that if I wait 6 weeks or so, he'll bully a new fish.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[semigodd154]

What are your tank parameters as far as water tests go? It seems like something might be wrong if the same clown jumped 3 times I personnaly have never had a clown jump only a 6 line wrasse and that is because i had a death in the tank and it caused a small spike in the amm. and he jumped. Hopefully it will be your fish was stubborn and just couldnt get along with your male but find out if there is a problem first. HTH

[Tarasco]

Bummer, sorry about your clown. You have a couple of options. You can either buy a clown that is much larger than your male. If the new clown is a male, it will quickly change into a female. Or you can find a clown that is smaller than your current male, so that your current fish will turn female. I don't see anything wrong with either of these scenarios.

If you are worried about the tang bullying newcomers, you can remove the tang and put him in quarantine for a week while the newcomer gets settled in.

And you may want to think about adding eggcrate to the top of your tank to prevent jumpers.

[Hooked]

Thanks everyone. These three "jumps" occurred over a six month time span. I'm OCD about my tank and am constantly monitoring conditions. I have a pH monitor and check calcium, magnesium, SG, and alk weekly as well as the pH and alk of my calcium reactor effluent; my params are fine. Can you say "out of control"

There's no reason I would have had any ammonia or nitrite spikes around the times she jumped. The first and last time she jumped, she ended up on the floor, but the second time in the overflow. All three times she jumped in the overflow area and I suspect she might have been playing in the current from the return. She played in the current from a powerhead in the tank I had her in previously. The first time I was napping on the couch in front of the tank and woke up because something sounded different. I think what I heard was her in the water stream from the return.

It's amazing that she actually gets out, as my tank has a canopy with the only opening in the back (about 7' high), and the back of the tank is covered by 3 vho bulbs. I'm guessing she's made many "jumps" but only ended up out of the tank those times.

semigodd154 said

Hopefully it will be your fish was stubborn and just couldn't get along with your male

Interesting, because actually I think she never liked him. They never displayed any mating behavior or spawned, even when they were the only fish in the tank. I've never heard anyone talk about clowns accepting each other, but not actually mating. I guess it happens?

I'd like to give him a chance to be the boss ('cause he got such a bad deal the first time ) so maybe I'll wait awhile and then find a small clown to add.

[NaH2O]

Oh man, Katrina! Sorry to hear that! How in the heck could it get out? Amazing. Anyway, I think if you wanted to wait you'd be fine with your tang...I could always tang sit for you

[Hooked]

Thanks Nikki. You know, just today I was thinking that Oceanic would make a great QT!

[NaH2O]

Hey...now that's a thought!

[Gumby]

I feel your pain. One mine jumped almost a year ago and I am still fighting with myself on adding another. I could not tell you the differ (sex wise) between the two, but the bigger of the two jumped.

You have my sympathies.

[Hooked]

If it was the larger one, it was probably the female.

Did they ever display any mating behavior? I'd never heard of a clown jumping before.

Thanks for your response--I'd encourage you to get the lil fella a new friend

[jks1]

sorry aout the loss man..

[Gumby]

Hey Hooked,
I would love to get a partner for my clown, but I am slightly afraid to add another to the tank. I uncertain as to the reaction of the tankmates.

HOnestly I coudl not tell you whether they exibited mated behavior. I can tell you that they rarely (and I mean rarely) were more than 6" away from each other. They acted like they were pretty tight with each other. Pals, KWIM (know what i mean)