Ok... I'm considering a few Giant Hatchet fish...

[Magnum Man]

so I've been reading up on them, & one write up ( I didn't mark it ) said the fish can jump / fly up to 5 feet out of the tanks... ( sorry, it as a blurb on Wiki, & it said 9 feet out of an aquarium ) I can put a cover this particular tank, but all of my tanks have either 14" or 18" sides above the tanks, & are either capped by a shelf holding up an aquarium over it, or the exposed floor joists of the house more than 18" over the tanks... do you think I can keep them contained, or do I really need to add a tank size piece of plexi to lay on top of the tank???

anyone familiar with them???

 

[Byron]

The need for well covered tanks is significant. The hatchetfishes are surface fish identified by their rounded keel. The large pectoral fins are attached by powerful muscles that propel the fish from the water, enabling it to glide considerable distances (up to 12 feet have been recorded) through the air. Studies by Francine Weist (1995) concluded that the pectoral fins are not moved during this "flight" but are used as a powerful thruster to propel the fish from the water as well as to prevent the fish from diving too deeply upon its return to the water [reported in Weitzman & Palmer, TFH, September 1996]. Obviously a thrust enabling the fish to glide for 12 feet is indeed powerful, hence the need for a cover.

 

[Magnum Man]

Thanks...
here is a video ( not mine ) of a few with some quite large marble hatchets... I did have hatchets when I was younger ( not giants ) & they are leapers, back then. when ever my little brothers would run into the room, they would be bouncing off the glass covers... I was hoping having the walls over the top of the tank would result in less violent bouncing after they leap... plus I live a much calmer lifestyle now

 

[Byron]

The marble hatchetfish is in the genus Carnegiella. The species in this clade are the smallest of all the hatchetfishes; the species in both Thoracocharax and Gasteropelecus are significantly larger, G. sternicula attains close to 4 inches, and its cousin G. maculatus attains 3.5 inches. The Carnegiella species are in the range of 1.5 inches, and that is the marble (C. strigata), the others are a bit smaller. I have maintained all known species but two in the entire family.

 

[Pictus]

8 of my hatchet fish jumped out over a 3 month period. I ended up buying a lid.