# About to stock my tank, question about jumpers



## Boogerboy (Sep 23, 2008)

This is all in all my second go at a lidless tank. My first one was a bit of a mess, the water parameters sometimes got out of hand, it was overstocked, etc. In the end a lot of neons and harlequins chose the fire over the frying pan.

So now, I'm doing it right. Got a much bigger tank (50gal) the water conditions have been pristine for going on 2 months now, and its ready for inhabitants. I was pretty keen on getting a mix of CPD, Brigittae and other nano fish (peacock gudgeon, too, but I can't find any). Upon further research, it seems Brigittae have a tendency to jump, even when water conditions are fine. So, what are some good fish to have in an open top tank? How does Amano not lose fish?

I see Cardinals are very popular with the open-top crowd. Are they not as jumpy as their neon cousins? They look pretty, so I wouldn't mind having them, but would rather something a little more rare/unique if possible. (If anything I'm probably gonna have some cardinals in there anyway).

TL;DR looking for Rasbora/Tetra species that are least likely to jump (but are still pretty and ideally exhibit schooling behaviour)

Thanks!


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

have you thought about adding duckweed to prevent any jumping?


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## Boogerboy (Sep 23, 2008)

GAT said:


> have you thought about adding duckweed to prevent any jumping?


I'd rather not, really. The plants are all fairly high light and I hear duckweed can get out of control pretty fast. Also I'm not a fan of the look. Amano manages to do it without surface plants so I figure there must be a way I can, too.

Working on installing an LED striplight behind the tank (mainly for photography) but it could work as a good nightlight to keep the fish from getting startled at lights off time, I wonder if that's even a factor.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

I don't know, from what I've seen, some fish jump in the spring when there's low barometric pressure, regardless of the light levels and often at night. It's probably related to their mating season. Is there mesh or something you could put on the tank at night?


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## Boogerboy (Sep 23, 2008)

characinfan said:


> I don't know, from what I've seen, some fish jump in the spring when there's low barometric pressure, regardless of the light levels and often at night. It's probably related to their mating season. Is there mesh or something you could put on the tank at night?


I suppose I could figure something out but thats pretty unsightly after throwing down so much on a starfire tank just for the way it looks. Is this behaviour in all fish species then?


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

I'm sure it's not in all species, and some species are more prone to doing it than others -- and some individuals within species are more prone to doing it, as well. It's up to you how much you want to wager on your fish not jumping out.


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## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

I currently have about 12 CPD and 12 Chili Rasboras (Brigittae) in a starfire 9.5Gal tank and haven't had any jumpers. 
Only jumper I had so far, was an SAE =(

I might have had jumpers though. When I stare at the tank from time to time, I notice the Brigittae like to swim against the current and swim REALLY fast and try to jump out of the tank, but they usually get stopped by my frogbits! 
I removed the frogbits to see if they can jump out of the tank and they can't as long as the water level is about 1.5" below the rim. They only jump a lil bit out of the water. 
I dont think I will have any jumpers in that tank as it has an abundance of frogbits


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## default (May 28, 2011)

me and freeman at AI always joke about things like these. i ask him, soo if they jump do i get a refund?  he always replies, if they jump your tank sucks 

i have a 29 long, with 15 CPDs, 1 chili red rasbora(alone for the time being... biggest chili i've ever seen... little under an inch), 8-9 rummynose, 5 pencilfish, 5 gold money tetras, like 15+ amanos, and some rice shrimp. its an open top tank and im very paranoid with any jumpers... but despite it being overstocked, the fish seem to be happy. i dont test the water and dont add any special treatment.
-its pretty heavily planted especially near the bottom, and has a strong current from the right to the left, - i personally think that helps too. the fish seem to like swimming in the current and when theyre done with that, they just chill out behind a rock or something. this might make the quick fishes less jumpy? since there is the feeling of a much larger area and more current to satisfy their energy? espeically the rummies.
however there are some species that are more likely gonna jump - SAE, hatchetfish, and usually any surface swimmers.


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## Boogerboy (Sep 23, 2008)

Thanks all. I wound up picking up 23 Brigittae, 4 Blue Eye Forktail. They are all still pretty tiny (being fed fry food) and I don't even know if they are strong enough to jump. So far they seem content.

I hear about Brigitt's jumping all the time though, I wonder if there's a wild-caught/tank-raised difference? Yeah the guys at AI told me they've never had any jumpers, so that gives me some hope.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Boogerboy said:


> Thanks all. I wound up picking up 23 Brigittae, 4 Blue Eye Forktail. They are all still pretty tiny (being fed fry food) and I don't even know if they are strong enough to jump. So far they seem content.
> 
> I hear about Brigitt's jumping all the time though, I wonder if there's a wild-caught/tank-raised difference? Yeah the guys at AI told me they've never had any jumpers, so that gives me some hope.


I think the tank raised helps too.
Good luck!


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## vraev (Mar 29, 2012)

Boogerboy said:


> Thanks all. I wound up picking up 23 Brigittae, 4 Blue Eye Forktail. They are all still pretty tiny (being fed fry food) and I don't even know if they are strong enough to jump. So far they seem content.
> 
> I hear about Brigitt's jumping all the time though, I wonder if there's a wild-caught/tank-raised difference? Yeah the guys at AI told me they've never had any jumpers, so that gives me some hope.


Actually...I myself saw a dead fish outside one of their uncovered tanks. Now that I think of it, looked like a small SAE.


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## Boogerboy (Sep 23, 2008)

If you're gonna have fauna that's known to jump, it's to be expected. If anything, it seems rather cruel.

All the inhabitants look healthy and happy though, no jumpers yet. I just haven't been able to feed them for the past 2 days because of work  Hope I can do it tonight but I did feed them a lot before that, so I think they'll be fine. I just hope they wont jump in search of food.


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