# Do Oto Cats jump out of tanks?



## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

Its a possiblity. they are pretty powerful swimmers


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## toksyn (Aug 15, 2011)

HD Blazingwolf said:


> Its a possiblity. they are pretty powerful swimmers


Hmm, they always struck me as kind of clumsy...


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## Elppan (Aug 21, 2012)

I've never seen mine jump, but that doesnt mean they couldn't. They are fantastic hiders though, i have 4 that love to swim around front and center on my tanks, and 2 more that are always hidden where I can't see them.


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## flc (Sep 10, 2012)

Never had a jumper... in contrast, to say, Hatchet Fish which require laying towels out to catch them every time the glass top is off for more than a minute.

Chalk up another vote for hiding- had them disappear for weeks at a time.


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

They are devilishly good at hiding--they're pretty much invisible in my heavily planted tank with it's black painted back. 

When the tank was lightly planted, they'd spend most of their time laying on driftwood or tucked in the middle of plants; once it grew in, they moved to the underbrush. Favorite hiding places right now are in a little clearning under a dense thicket of broad leaved plants and the underside of some branches shaded by stems. Takes a flashlight and careful study to see 'em.


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## rustbucket (Oct 15, 2011)

Sometimes a piece of cucumber or zucchini will draw them out of hiding


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## salmon (Apr 14, 2011)

An oto was the first fish I ever lost to jumping.....so yes it can occur.

They don't like getting startled or quick on/off of the lights, at least IME. Ymmv....


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## Bluek24a4 (Mar 16, 2010)

An oto was the first and only fish I have ever had jump out. If you watch them long enough you will eventually see one jump, not necessarly out of the tank.


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Every fish can jump. Otos are fish, so yep they can. With that said, I'm sure they're just hiding. Mine will hide on bottom of driftwood or between plants and they're very hard to find. If I do see them, I just make sure their belly is full and I can continue to ignore them as they do their job well.


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## CatSoup (Sep 21, 2012)

I had an African cichlid in my tank with a few ottos, and I found one dried out like fishy jerky behind my tank. I have heard that they will accidentally jump out at night when popping up for a breath. I think this one of mine was being pursued and bullied by the AC at the time of his suicide though. Maybe he was being nipped at and accidentally jumped too far up. 
Anyway, it's possible, but not highly likely in most cases.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Oto cats are prone to jumping.


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## Jules (May 20, 2012)

I've had one jump out my quarantine tank when startled (not many hiding places in the quarantine tank, so I'm sure stress was the main reason for jumping).

I've never seen any jump in my display tank (I have 12 in there); however, they are good at hiding until the Repashy comes out.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

I'm surprised to hear their jumpers. I have never had a jumper


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## JunJunJenn (Aug 1, 2012)

My only jumper!


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## concepts88 (Oct 4, 2012)

I turned off all the lights except my moonlight, and I went down in the middle of the light. I saw only 3 swimming out of my 15+ oto cats on the front of the glass (schooling), so I am quite curious where the other 12 or so went.

I try to look around in plants, underneath, etc and I dont have any driftwood, so they are just missing... I used to see them all the time even with the lights on. They used to sit on leaves just mellowing out, that is one reason why I am asking about the jumping. I don't have a rimless tank btw.

I dropped an algae wafer down, and the only fish that went for it was my baby saes (bad habit!) and some neons


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## CatSoup (Sep 21, 2012)

They'd be fish jerky around the floor of your tank if they had all jumped out. Highly unlikely that many took a "dive".


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