Fish on the Floor

[DonMD]

:( Woke up this morning to find a beautiful 4.5 inch blue turq motionless on the floor. :(

He jumped out sometime in the night, and judging by him being about 3 feet from the open part of the lid, he must have flopped around a bit.

Sooooo, my question for all you users of automatic feeders, how do you prevent your fish from jumping? Admittedly, in the 6 years I've been keeping discus, this is the first jumper, BUT . . . Tell me :argue: if you keep an opening in the lid so that the auto feeder can dump flakes, what do you do to keep the fish in? Nets? Small openings? Just don't worry about it ? ? ?

-Don

[packerkid]

Sorry to hear about your losses, I dont use automatic feeders... so i cant give a ton of advice other then glass makes wonders

[jerbear]

My auto feeders are position at the rear of tank... I don't use the vinyl strip that comes with most glass tops so their is only a 2 inch width window of opportunity for them to jump out.

[Don Trinko]

full hood for all my tanks. If I used an auto feeder I would mount it on the hob filter. Don T.

[Eddie]

My auto feeders are position at the rear of tank... I don't use the vinyl strip that comes with most glass tops so their is only a 2 inch width window of opportunity for them to jump out.

Same here, except I use the vinyl strip and only cut a small opening for the autofeeders.


Eddie

[poconogal]

I cut a section about an inch big in the vinyl strip at the back of the glass tops for my auto feeder to drop food through.

[Eddie]

Don, did you not have a lid at all?

Eddie

[Darrell Ward]

My auto feeders are position at the rear of tank... I don't use the vinyl strip that comes with most glass tops so their is only a 2 inch width window of opportunity for them to jump out.

2" is plenty of space for a discus to jump out of. I've had discus end up in built in overflow boxes, which is far less space than 2" with the tops on the tank. I'd say you've been lucky so far that your fish haven't jumped out when spooked.

[jerbear]

Thanks Connie and Eddie,
I will put the strip on and make a cut out for the feeder..Don't know why I never thought of that.:o:o

[cc_woman]

Hmmm, interesting. I would have never thought of discus as jumpers. I have a fluval osaka open top tank mine are in, and in the year they have been in it I haven't had any losses due to jumping (other fish on the other hand yes)

Sorry for your loss, sucks it had to be one of your discus :(

[seanyuki]

i use egg crates as lids for all my tanks.:D

http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu111/aiseanyuki_2009/th_2009_04030136.jpg (http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu111/aiseanyuki_2009/2009_04030136.jpg)


cheers
francis:)

[Eddie]

Hmmm, interesting. I would have never thought of discus as jumpers. I have a fluval osaka open top tank mine are in, and in the year they have been in it I haven't had any losses due to jumping (other fish on the other hand yes)

Sorry for your loss, sucks it had to be one of your discus :(

Don't worry, your favorite one will be the first to jump.

Eddie

[cc_woman]

Don't worry, your favorite one will be the first to jump.

Eddie

Thanks Eddie for the comforting words lol. Problem would be is finding lids to fit since they don't make lids for this particular style of tank. Egg crate sounds like a doable idea though.

[Eddie]

Thanks Eddie for the comforting words lol. Problem would be is finding lids to fit since they don't make lids for this particular style of tank. Egg crate sounds like a doable idea though.

LOL, wasn't being mean, just how it works. The Egg Crates are a great idea. Lucky I have some friends in cool places and they've been making me plexi glass lids. ;)

Eddie

[cc_woman]

LOL, wasn't being mean, just how it works. The Egg Crates are a great idea. Lucky I have some friends in cool places and they've been making me plexi glass lids. ;)

Eddie

I know you weren't being mean, just a good wake up call haha :p

[DonMD]

Don, did you not have a lid at all?

Eddie

Hi, Eddie,

Yes, I have a lid. It's a 90gallon, the top is divided in two parts, both with solid glass and a plastic hinged narrow glass panel towards the front. I left off one of those panels and placed the auto feeder on top of the light fixture. It's worked great like this for years, until yesterday!


i use egg crates as lids for all my tanks.:D

http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu111/aiseanyuki_2009/th_2009_04030136.jpg (http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu111/aiseanyuki_2009/2009_04030136.jpg)

cheers
francis:)

Francis, that's a GREAT idea! Dang. I've got a home depot nearby that sells it, so I think I'll try that route. If that doesn't work, then I may try cutting a small opening at the back of the tank in the plastic strip.

Thanks to all who replied! -Don

[poconogal]

Thanks Connie and Eddie,
I will put the strip on and make a cut out for the feeder..Don't know why I never thought of that.:o:o
Jerry, sometimes the obvious has to hit us on the head, LOL!!! ;) :D Been there myself at times. LOL!!!

The only other openings I have in the vinyl strip are for the intake and output tubes to my caniser. For that I cut openings almost exactly the same size needed to fit the tubes through. Those Discus buggars are not getting out of my tank! :)

[poconogal]

Hmmm, interesting. I would have never thought of discus as jumpers. I have a fluval osaka open top tank mine are in, and in the year they have been in it I haven't had any losses due to jumping (other fish on the other hand yes)

Sorry for your loss, sucks it had to be one of your discus :(
About 2 years ago one of my Rose Reds got spooked as I was walking near the tank in the dark (there's a thread about it on here). She hit the glass top with such a loud thunk, then hit I think the tank bottom, hit the top again, then the side, then was unconscious and landed on top of an internal UV sterlizer I had at the time. Laid there for several minutes, not moving or breathing -- I thought she was dead -- and was debating on waiting a bit longer or scooping her out. Finally, I saw a gill move and she slowly got up. Her mate was with her and they stayed down in a corner for a few days until she fully recovered. If not for the glass top, she'd have been out of the tank and judging from the loudness of the hit on that top, probably on the ceiling. :D

[MostlyDiscus]

uggg,,, Don that really sux my friend. I use lids somewhat but not completley covering the tanks. I would use egg crate to custom cut it to fit that opening. I have some extra if you need it. Man... Sorry to hear that.

Ed

[korbi_doc]

So sorry for your loss, it really hurts to lose'm.....I have AC filters on some tanks, & put the auto feeder on top with double sided tape, I like this way cuz it disperses the food well...on some tanks I have egg crate & that's easy, but do see much more water evaporation this way....need to cover the egg crate with that thin plastic that comes in sheets from HD...do like that egg crate........

Dottie .

[DonMD]

uggg,,, Don that really sux my friend. I use lids somewhat but not completley covering the tanks. I would use egg crate to custom cut it to fit that opening. I have some extra if you need it. Man... Sorry to hear that.

Ed

Well, Connie's post was rather humorous!:p Don't know what spooked my turq, but he definitely made it out of the tank. I think I will use egg crate, Ed, thanks for your offer, but I'll pick up a sheet at HD.

But got to look on the positive side, might make more room for some other fish! Know anybody with any albino juvies? ? ?:D

Or, I just might have to break down and look for a 150g.

[poconogal]

Don, I think your choice is clear... you must get the 150... after you get some egg crate for the top. It also makes a great tank divider should you ever need one.