Oscar Flop

[guppymonkey]

I was up late watching some tv last night, getting ready to call it a night, when I heard a wet thump from my fish room. I went in and immediately noticed that my oscar wasn't in his tank! He had somehow jumped out the back of the hood where the filter is and was under the tank. After crawling under his stand and wiping the dirt off him I put him back in the tank where he seemed stunned but otherwise okay. He is missing a line of scales on both his sides from where he rocketed out of the tank and scraped himself on the edging of the hood. He somehow fit himself through a space that is actually smaller than the width of his head. He seems to be mostly recovered today and is already thrashing his tail when he sees me. I wonder if fish can get a concussion?

 

[WILDER]

Yes fish can get concussion, does he look dazed.
Also when they hit the floor hard they can damage there swim bladder.
I would add some melafix if he has quite a few scales missing.
Good luck.

 

[paul_219]

Yeah oscar can jump from tank and even can train them from eating from u hand, they are gr8 fish. Also some sharks do jump from the tank.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

I hope your oscar recovers soon.....

I had a iridescent shark who used to jump all the time..... no matter how I tried to seal off the tank, when I opened the tank up he would come up and cover me with water in a leap of faith! hahahaha!

Also a Dojo Loach who like to "explore" the rest of the house.... luckily we both found our fish before anything serious happened......

 

[guppymonkey]

He doesn't have any problem keeping his balance so I am going to guess he was bashed around but will recover. I put some aquarium salt in until I can get to the store to get some melafix. He still has his appetite and ate his pellets fine. Maybe he will learn his lesson finally and calm down a little bit. ( but I doubt it).

 

[WILDER]

Do oscars jump as jumping out of the tank can be many things.

 

[for_my_fish]

as youre doing, keep a close eye for signs of the injury not healing. You might want some heavy books on that tank lid

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Do oscars jump as jumping out of the tank can be many things.

yes oscars can jump, people often train them to jump out of water like dolphins for bits of food, really bad idea it's fine when they're young but when they grow up they'll keep trying to do it and often end up on the floor

ours jumps up and bangs his head on the tank lid when he wants feeding

 

[guppymonkey]

as youre doing, keep a close eye for signs of the injury not healing. You might want some heavy books on that tank lid

He jumped out the little space next to the filter! I actually have been weighing down the front doors of the hood since he was about 5 inchs long. He always smacks himself on the hood when he gets excited, like when I enter the room or I feed him or if he sees something shiny. I will have to figure out some way to cover that back space, its only a few inchs long and a couple wide but I guess its obviously large enough if he has the will to try it.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

maybe post some pictures of the fish and the hole he got out of...... there are tons of creative people who probably fixed the same thing with a DIY fitted door or something like that! hahahaha! your call, may take away your worries if you are feeling like making something

 

[Crayola105]

Also a Dojo Loach who like to "explore" the rest of the house.... luckily we both found our fish before anything serious happened......

You HAVE to name that loach Dora the Explorer!

 

[Scott MacAdam]

hahahaha......that would have been good! unfortunately that loach has died last year...... it was a Nasty case of Ick and if I still have the pictures I will post them but It was the most severe case I have EVER seen in anything..... I felt soooo bad for the loach, he was definitely my favorite fish I've ever had.....

 

[Gatorbait]

as youre doing, keep a close eye for signs of the injury not healing. You might want some heavy books on that tank lid

He jumped out the little space next to the filter! I actually have been weighing down the front doors of the hood since he was about 5 inchs long. He always smacks himself on the hood when he gets excited, like when I enter the room or I feed him or if he sees something shiny. I will have to figure out some way to cover that back space, its only a few inchs long and a couple wide but I guess its obviously large enough if he has the will to try it.

Get some mesh or screen.

 

[Nevergone815]

My oscar tends to jump all the time!!! He loves food and everytime he sees me he thinks I'm feeding him, it's cute. I put the tip of my finger in the water once and he gave me a little nibble and looked at me saying, "Daddy, that isn't my usual food... I don't want that" It was cute!!!

What i do is keep the water level lower. I've noticed that doing this they tend to just splash the water around and in most cases can't do anything too outrageous! Maybe lowering the water level a couple inches may discourage him as I've noticed oscars to be "lazy" and the extra couple inches may make him think it isn't worth it. It might work, it might not, but it is a suggestion