Leopard wrasse jumped out. Chance of survival?

[reefpunk]

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to read this. I have an ornate leopard wrasse that I’ve had nearly 4 years jump out of my tank yesterday evening. I don’t know how long she was out of the water for but if I had to guess it must’ve been between 10-30 minutes. She was dry when I picked her up and barely breathing. I put her in front of the return and after a few seconds she woke up and instantly buried herself in the sand. She came out of the sand not even 10–15 minutes later and swam about for another hour before hitting the sand for the rest of the night. I haven’t seen her since and she is normally out and about by this time.

do you think she will be okay? What kind of survival rate do fish have when found dry outside of the water? She didn’t seem to have any physical injuries that I could see and was swimming fine.

Thank you all.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to read this. I have an ornate leopard wrasse that I’ve had nearly 4 years jump out of my tank yesterday evening. I don’t know how long she was out of the water for but if I had to guess it must’ve been between 10-30 minutes. She was dry when I picked her up and barely breathing. I put her in front of the return and after a few seconds she woke up and instantly buried herself in the sand. She came out of the sand not even 10–15 minutes later and swam about for another hour before hitting the sand for the rest of the night. I haven’t seen her since and she is normally out and about by this time.

do you think she will be okay? What kind of survival rate do fish have when found dry outside of the water? She didn’t seem to have any physical injuries that I could see and was swimming fine.

Thank you all.

Thats miraculous after being dry. It may be stressed, which I hope. Often introducing food may bring her out. If not, run a stick or plastic wand Slowly through the sand and see if she comes out. Thats all you have to see and give her another day to come to.
If you havent already, add an air stone for added oxygen

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Fish jumping out are always a wild card - there is just no way to judge how severe the drying was, and then, there is no treatment other than supportive care.

Jay

 

[MnFish1]

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to read this. I have an ornate leopard wrasse that I’ve had nearly 4 years jump out of my tank yesterday evening. I don’t know how long she was out of the water for but if I had to guess it must’ve been between 10-30 minutes. She was dry when I picked her up and barely breathing. I put her in front of the return and after a few seconds she woke up and instantly buried herself in the sand. She came out of the sand not even 10–15 minutes later and swam about for another hour before hitting the sand for the rest of the night. I haven’t seen her since and she is normally out and about by this time.

do you think she will be okay? What kind of survival rate do fish have when found dry outside of the water? She didn’t seem to have any physical injuries that I could see and was swimming fine.

Thank you all.

I think it's hard to say. However, I had a fish jump out - and found it about an hour later - and it survived. Though not specific to marine tanks - here is an interesting article. I would watch carefully for any bacterial infection/scale damage (which may require an antibiotic treatment). https://fishlab.com/how-long-can-fi... sometimes,extended periods than smaller fish.

 

[reefpunk]

Thats miraculous after being dry. It may be stressed, which I hope. Often introducing food may bring her out. If not, run a stick or plastic wand Slowly through the sand and see if she comes out. Thats all you have to see and give her another day to come to.
If you havent already, add an air stone for added oxygen

Fish jumping out are always a wild card - there is just no way to judge how severe the drying was, and then, there is no treatment other than supportive care.

Jay

I think it's hard to say. However, I had a fish jump out - and found it about an hour later - and it survived. Though not specific to marine tanks - here is an interesting article. I would watch carefully for any bacterial infection/scale damage (which may require an antibiotic treatment). https://fishlab.com/how-long-can-fish-live-out-of-water/#:~:text=Large saltwater fish can sometimes,extended periods than smaller fish.

Thank you all for the advice and help. She decided to come out and behave as if nothing happened. I’m happy to report that I think she will be okay!

 

[Saltyanimals]

Thank you all for the advice and help. She decided to come out and behave as if nothing happened. I’m happy to report that I think she will be okay!

Found your thread. Same thing happened to my 3 yr old Blue Star Leopard. Found him this morning (7:50am) when I heard some strange sound like something dropped. Only to find a mostly dry fish. So much that I used something to nudge him to see if it was dead. He did move, so I returned him to the tank. I picked him up and he was mostly dry and sticky to my dry hands. (wet hands are preferred, but emergency situation). He immediately sank to the bottom and laid there, but was still trying to breathe. After about 30-45 seconds he started to move and tried to swim. Eventually found enough energy to bury himself in the sand. My guess is he was out of water for at least an hour when I judge it based on my lights schedule when he usually wakes up. He's a big one and jumped out of large high system so it will be a miracle if he makes it. And if not, he'll die in the sand bc I won't be able to get to the body. Time will tell.

 

[JayM]

Back in the late 80's I woke up to my 4 year old daughter screaming. Turns out she stepped on my Snowflake Eel. no idea how long he'd been out, but he was literally stuck to the carpet. Picked him up and put him back in the tank hoping for the best. He was still alive and well years later when I broke down the tank.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Found your thread. Same thing happened to my 3 yr old Blue Star Leopard. Found him this morning (7:50am) when I heard some strange sound like something dropped. Only to find a mostly dry fish. So much that I used something to nudge him to see if it was dead. He did move, so I returned him to the tank. I picked him up and he was mostly dry and sticky to my dry hands. (wet hands are preferred, but emergency situation). He immediately sank to the bottom and laid there, but was still trying to breathe. After about 30-45 seconds he started to move and tried to swim. Eventually found enough energy to bury himself in the sand. My guess is he was out of water for at least an hour when I judge it based on my lights schedule when he usually wakes up. He's a big one and jumped out of large high system so it will be a miracle if he makes it. And if not, he'll die in the sand bc I won't be able to get to the body. Time will tell.

Please give me updates if he decides to un-burry himself/survives

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I had an ocelaris clown jump into the overflow once, and from there behind the tank that was about 1cm off the wall. After pamicking and truing to see if I could get to it without moving the tank for a time. I finally tried to see if I could move the 1300lb system without taking the time to lighten it. Luckily I coould, I had to pull it out pretty far and was able to get him. It may have been up to a half hour, was very dry and completely covered in dust. Got it back in the sank and it was okay.

Over the next day my cleaner shrimp took a bunch of scales off and tore up the edges of its fins.

The damage was looking pretty heavy but it recovered quickly. I think what the cleaner shrimp did may have been important in preventing illness, as the clown kept going up to the shrimp and letting it tear him up. Or maybe it was just removing damaged tissue that would have been fine to leave. That was a few months ago and the clown is doing great.

I assume my situation might be a little worse than a total hour out of water, because mine was covered inside and out with a year worth of dust and pet hair.

 

[Idech]

I finally tried to see if I could move the 1300lb system without taking the time to lighten it. Luckily I coould,

You moved 1300 lbs by yourself, and without the tank leaking afterwards ? That’s gotta be a miracle…

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

You moved 1300 lbs by yourself, and without the tank leaking afterwards ? That’s gotta be a miracle…

It might be leaning but not visibly. I am very strong but it was probably only 300lbs of force used in tital and I was able to utilize a lot of leverage and mostly slide it, just given its adhacent furniture and wall position.

I never thought I'd be able to do it, good to know becayse now I can pull it out to rearrange and clean if needed. I thought I was doomed to keep it in one spot until I emptied it, the 75G tank alone was really difficult to move on my own given the weight and length, I ended up calling in help once I got it into the house because I couldn't maneuver it and hold it through amy doorway. Had to cheat it and shoulder carry it hunched over basically using my neck and upper back. I swear the tank alone weighs 200lbs before anything went in it.

 

[Dburr1014]

Here is my story.
It's a crazy story but I hope your wrasse makes it.

Leopard wrasse in a bucket for 36 hours

Pray for his survival I was taking all my sand out Wednesday for cleaning and going to dump it back in my tank. A feat more than I anticipated. I was 2/3 done, it was late, so I stopped for the night. 1/2 the sand cleaned in 1 bucket and a couple pounds in another in another bucket ready for...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Saltyanimals]

Mine did not make it. He eventually came out of the sand the next day where i found him alive, but pinned against an SPS colony from a powerhead. Not sure how long he was there, but I assumed he was too injuried and weak to swim. He was breathing, but I did notice a long white injury on his side which looked physical and likely with an infection as well. I turned off the powerhead and he moved enough to dislodge himself and landed in between the rock. Where he eventually died there. I couldn't recover the body given the location, so I allowed nature to take care of the rest. RIP.

Time out of the water was just too much for mine. Because he was still beathing the next day, he might have made it but the injury was too much.