# Harlequin rasboras jumpers?



## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

So I was getting ready to sleep and heard a bunch of thumping noises near my aquarium. 2 of my harlequins jumped out. I put them back in And they seem fine, as I looked around some more I discovered a dead one looked to be dead for at least a day. Are they just natural jumpers? Seems odd that both jumped at the same time. Anyone know where I can get a plastic lid for a fluval flora?


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

They aren't natural jumpers... either the water in your tank is not to their liking or they're being preyed on.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I've had mine in a rimless for over 4 months with no jumpers. They're a bit skittish but mine prefer the mid level and rarely come up to the surface, not even to eat, so I can't see them jumping very often. It does sound like they got spooked or chased by something.


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

You must have good hearing to hear a fish that small thump around.

I purchased 5 red tail tetra and piut them in a bucket and if I wasn't walking by the bucket I wouldn't have seen 2 jumped out.


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

I wonder why they jump, I have never had an issue with any tetras/danios/rasboras jumping out of their containers before and I breed hundreds of them monthly.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

Thanks for the replies guys. They are the biggest fish in my tank so being prayed on isnt likely. They must not like something about the water, I know fish responds to toxins by jumping out but my neons are fine. Guess I gotta busy out the test kit tonight.


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

Neons that have been living in "toxins" would be fine after a while, they'd acclimate to the water quality.

However, this begs the question, did you acclimate the Rasboras to the water correctly? It could be that your water is completely fine, there is no bullying; just that they aren't used to the water, and would prefer to suffer a slow and antagonizing death than get used to it.


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## hgfx (Apr 26, 2008)

They are very skittish, as said before.
Mine are in an area of high traffic and had a couple of them jump out, (especially after lights out).
Left some of the plants grow over the surface, to provide a natural canopy.
Now they seem to be less spooked when someone walks by.


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Any fish can jump even if they're not known as jumpers. Just because they jump after months of not jumping doesn't necessarily mean somethings wrong with your water. I know sometimes I have to turn on nearby lights at night and my fish freak out and I wouldn't be surprised if they accidentally jumped.

I'd say putting on a top is great for all aquariums but yes it does look uglier. I personally made a window frame to go on top of the tank so it just protrudes out a bit on the edges but otherwise is rimless (you could add a plastic mesh on it as well). I think if you take away the edges they will not jump as much... they still could but it's a lot better than not having something in the way.


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## concepts88 (Oct 4, 2012)

I just bought half a dozen haq rasboras, and I was overdosing Co2 because I had it on a setting but took some plants out, they were panting on top of the water and they didnt jump.. and they have been in the tank only for a day or 2.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

they been in the tank for about 3 or 4 weeks now. and are alive and well this morning when i checked before i headed out. im thinking its the co2, it never bothered them before but i did take out half the plants in the tank recently so possibly co2 levels raised up with less plants uptaking co2? hopefully they are all fine when i get home. i put the glass top on the tank but it doesnt fit becuase of my intake out output tubes. the window screen is a good idea. thanks for the help


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

fusiongt said:


> Any fish can jump even if they're not known as jumpers. Just because they jump after months of not jumping doesn't necessarily mean somethings wrong with your water. I know sometimes I have to turn on nearby lights at night and my fish freak out and I wouldn't be surprised if they accidentally jumped.


Correct. But in this case it looks like a problem with his water quality.



vnghost said:


> they been in the tank for about 3 or 4 weeks now. and are alive and well this morning when i checked before i headed out. im thinking its the co2, it never bothered them before but i did take out half the plants in the tank recently so possibly co2 levels raised up with less plants uptaking co2? hopefully they are all fine when i get home. i put the glass top on the tank but it doesnt fit becuase of my intake out output tubes. the window screen is a good idea. thanks for the help


Do you mind posting water test results? I highly doubt excess C02 would make the water intolerable, as it would take a large amount of that to affect the breath-ability of the water. Perhaps the excess C02 has made your water too acidic?

Please do a full water test and post parameters. PH is the first place you should look.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

heres water parameters. 

ph 6.3 confirmed with digital ph pen. 
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
gh 12? i added ferts about an hour before test
kh 7

the fish seem perfectly fine now. i think it was just my co2 yesterday, noticed it was flying a little bit higher today, probably from when i accidently dropped the cylinder landed on the needle valve. turned it down, all fish are swimming happily and the harlequins are not shy at all. top stays on the tank until all variables are verified thanks.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

also should be noted my water ph is usually 7.2, now that i finally got a hang of this co2 thing its at 6.3. my other tank which is a low light no co2 tank is at 7.2 so your probably right maybe its the ph flux of the co2 or else way too much co2 that night it happened.


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

Just a tiny bit acidic. Good job fixing the problem!


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

hey thanks for the help


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## sphack (May 2, 2012)

vnghost said:


> heres water parameters.
> 
> ph 6.3 confirmed with digital ph pen.
> ammonia 0
> ...


0 nitrates an hour after ferts? What are you dosing for ferts?

I had a problem with my nitrate API test. If you don't shake the second bottle enough you can easily get a zero reading. After "shaking until my arm falls off" as some one suggested I started getting no3 readings.


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## Vincent Tran (Aug 7, 2012)

I used to have harlequins and the only time one jumped was when I was trying to net him out.. but I think that any fish/ shrimp can be a jumper.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

well i noticed something interesting right now. lights on fish swim about happy, excited to see me thinking im gonna feed them. lights off my tank turns into fight club. neons doing the usual sparing for dominance but what was more interesting was the rummy nosed tetra i have in there. i have 2 and they are smaller than the harlequins but one is stocking them while lights off and seem only to be interested in the bottom fin. i think i found the real culprits. removing them as you read this.


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