Clownfish jumped

[valley]

Hello, I had a pair of clownfish in my aquarium that I had transferred over from a nano tank that I tore down. The clownfish were in the tank for about a month and were perfectly fine during that time.

I added a Melanurus wrasse and a one spot foxface to my aquarium last night. Both are juveniles, small, and are all very peaceful. They haven’t bothered anything and aren’t stressed. The foxface had its camo on overnight but is now all yellow and the wrasse was in the sand overnight as well but came out once the lights turned on. They are both already nipping at the rock although they haven’t eaten food yet.

Today, the male clownfish jumped out and landed behind my aquarium stand. Within 15 minutes; maximum, I managed to get it out from behind and quickly put it in water again. The clownfish sadly died and the female is now alone. This is surprising because I see so many stories online about how fish jump out and yet they’re still alive after hours of being out of water.

What could’ve caused the clownfish to jump? Could the jump really have been the cause of death?

 

[fishywishy]

I’ve heard of more people losing fish after jumping than them surviving, so it’s pretty normal that didn’t make it.

As for the reason it jumped, it probably jumped because small fish have small fish brain. But It could also be a water quality, temp, or aggression issue. but since your other fish are fine it was probably because of the first reason.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

In my mind, a happy fish will stay in the water.

Sure, some fish are jumpers (I would say clowns are not), some fish can be startled into jumping (maybe, but meh), but without knowing more about your tank it impossible to say.

 

[Tahoe61]

All fish have the potential to jump. My clowns and Coral Beauty have jumped to the rear compartments of AIO tanks more than a few times. I keep a mesh cover on my fish tanks.
It's not unusual at all for a fish to perish after 15 min out of water, it's the likely senerio.

 

[valley]

My aquarium has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and is 78°F with a salinity of 33ppt. All the fish seem fine so I don’t think the fish jumped because of water quality. Is it safe to assume that the fish just jumped randomly for no reason? To stop other fish from jumping I’ve put some egg crate on top of the tank for the mean time.

 

[Uncle99]

Non regular jumpers may jump when chased.
Great to cover, I’ve learned this lately as well.
Sorry for your loss…

 

[Imrahilwjz]

When I had a thirteen and a five gallon tank, I had 3 pearl jawfish jump out of the 13. I had a target mandarin jump into the AIO overflow while I was cleaning the tank. He jumped out of the 13 gallon tank months later. Any fish can be startled by something in or out of the tank (although some are definitelymore prone to jumping out than others). I've seen fish run from each other towards the surface. I've also seen them do this when something outside the tank moved suddenly, or even moved up to the glass. I think it was @Paul B who pointed out that on the ocean going straight up is always a safe route since in most cases even if they clear the surface they mostly just land back in the water.

 

[BryanM]

IN the process of trying to find a new lid vendor for my new tank, as I also believe any fish can jump.

 

[Dom]

My aquarium has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and is 78°F with a salinity of 33ppt. All the fish seem fine so I don’t think the fish jumped because of water quality. Is it safe to assume that the fish just jumped randomly for no reason? To stop other fish from jumping I’ve put some egg crate on top of the tank for the mean time.

There is more to water quality than Ammonia, Nitrite and salinity. In fact, you can ignore Nitrite in a reef tank.

It is likely there was some jousting going on between the new inhabitants and the established ones. Clowns are very territorial and will go head to head with anything encroaching on that territory.

 

[dthom]

No way to know for sure. I have seen fish jump out of the tank because of aggression, just getting spooked, and even getting overly excited at the prospect of being fed. Long story short, we all should have some sort of enclosure on the top of our tanks or we are running the risk of losing a fish to jumping. Some jump easier than others, but there will be examples of all kinds of fish having died from jumping out of the tank.