Gar's do jump!

[adrideh]

can anybody suggest why they would jump ? I had 4 gars (originally) and one of them jumped and I was late to find out, so it's dead.
Just now another one jumped out from the tank (today is about 1 week since the 1st incident), but we found out quickly and managed to get it back to the tank safely.

Could it be because they are hungry ? This morning I saw there is no more feeder goldfish left in the tank. And the gar jumped out in afternoon.

 

[E_americanus]

can anybody suggest why they would jump ? I had 4 gars (originally) and one of them jumped and I was late to find out, so it's dead.
Just now another one jumped out from the tank (today is about 1 week since the 1st incident), but we found out quickly and managed to get it back to the tank safely.

Could it be because they are hungry ? This morning I saw there is no more feeder goldfish left in the tank. And the gar jumped out in afternoon.

gars jump...any fish will jump. don't worry about why they do it...cover your tank COMPLETELY before it happens again--
--solomon

 

[Mystus Redtail]

To my knowledge mine haven't attempted jumping, granted, I keep the tank well covered, and leave enough space for them to breathe without hitting their "nose" on the cover. I've just never seen any attempt to evacuate or visible signs of a failed attempt. I have two FL ~12-14" and one Longnose~17'. The FL are usually content to just chill on the bottom most of the time.

 

[jworth]

mine was covered and it still jumped out. luckily the wife was on the couch sleeping and heard it. The tankmates could have spooked it, but gars just jump and splash. its what they do.

 

[Noto]

I've found that basking turtle traps- which can only be entered from above the waterline- are great for catching shortnose. The damn things just like to jump.

 

[Hao]

i never knew until 1 month ago b/c my 5" florida jumped =(

 

[random fish guy]

good to hear he made it

 

[crowxviii]

does this mean that a 7" gar could get out of a 1" space? coz i have a 1" space distance on my top glass for the overhead hose.

 

[Dale Cove]

this is my first post on here but i've been on this site looking around for probably 6 months. anyways i just got home from work and as soon as i walked in the door all i could smeel was fish. i immeadiately ran over to my tank not having any idea what it could of been but i was pretty sure it was not good. sure enough i didnt see my gar. he had jumped out and was in between my tank and the wall. i grabbed him and threw him back. he sat at the bottom for a bit taking deep breaths for about 10 15 min then he began swimming around normally which made me feel a little better but he must have benn squirming like crazy when he was out because his first set of fins are a little bloody. whta do you guys suggest i do???? hes swimming around ok now and seems fine but i wanna be sure he doesnt get an infection or anything. sorry for the long post but i love this fish, he's the reason i keep fish and i dont wanna see him die on me because of some easily treatable wounds.

 

[Polypterus]

I've found that basking turtle traps- which can only be entered from above the waterline- are great for catching shortnose. The damn things just like to jump.

Funny thing is your not the only one to notice this.. Those traps for some weird reason really do catch a lot of Shortnose.