I don't know what this is; bad luck or whatever.
After having had a pair of ropefish in an uncovered tank for seven years; I thought I had a pair that would never jump to escape.
Thought it would have been a great idea to stick them into a pond with a large base area of 1 square metre. Dead wrong.
Today one of them decided to take a walk beyond the perimeters of the pond; and we found it a little too late. He's buried in the garden right now.
If there was one thing I've learned today...despite what all your experiences tell you in pet husbandry, never question the inherent foundations of how the fish species were built to survive the environment they were exposed to in the wild.
Still, this brings me to a dilemna. There is still one existing ropefish present in pond from the pair, and he could very well not jump; or he could very well be an accident waiting to happen. I've got three ideas for solutions.
1. Sell him to a proper buyer.
2. Augment the pond. (Its only 30cm high, and I've got it filled up to 25cm of water. I could build a rim, extend the walls upwards etc etc; but it would look hideous.)
3. Buy a fish tank and connect it to the pond somehow; have a canister rated for twice the volume of the pond anyway.
I also have a theory that makes me think that these ropefish do attempt to escape, but do so in a blind and unsure manner. That is to say that the incidents of them "slipping out of any possible hole" is a probability, possibly exacerbated by the more limited base areas that we observe in tank set ups.
Help? Terrible day.
After having had a pair of ropefish in an uncovered tank for seven years; I thought I had a pair that would never jump to escape.
Thought it would have been a great idea to stick them into a pond with a large base area of 1 square metre. Dead wrong.
Today one of them decided to take a walk beyond the perimeters of the pond; and we found it a little too late. He's buried in the garden right now.
If there was one thing I've learned today...despite what all your experiences tell you in pet husbandry, never question the inherent foundations of how the fish species were built to survive the environment they were exposed to in the wild.
Still, this brings me to a dilemna. There is still one existing ropefish present in pond from the pair, and he could very well not jump; or he could very well be an accident waiting to happen. I've got three ideas for solutions.
1. Sell him to a proper buyer.
2. Augment the pond. (Its only 30cm high, and I've got it filled up to 25cm of water. I could build a rim, extend the walls upwards etc etc; but it would look hideous.)
3. Buy a fish tank and connect it to the pond somehow; have a canister rated for twice the volume of the pond anyway.
I also have a theory that makes me think that these ropefish do attempt to escape, but do so in a blind and unsure manner. That is to say that the incidents of them "slipping out of any possible hole" is a probability, possibly exacerbated by the more limited base areas that we observe in tank set ups.
Help? Terrible day.
