Jumping alerts

[Katie_Ca]

Hi guys,

We all know that our arowanas jump, and many owners have lost their beloved arowanas this way...and we need to secure our lids.

I'm not sure if this is this right forum to ask this as it's a mixed bag - admins, please move this thread if not.

The question is thus...has anyone completed a DIY of some kind of alert system that can alert you when your arowana jumps out of your tank and ends up on the floor so we can save it early enough?

 

[tlindsey]

Hi guys,

We all know that our arowanas jump, and many owners have lost their beloved arowanas this way...and we need to secure our lids.

I'm not sure if this is this right forum to ask this as it's a mixed bag - admins, please move this thread if not.

The question is thus...has anyone completed a DIY of some kind of alert system that can alert you when your arowana jumps out of your tank and ends up on the floor so we can save it early enough?

Personally never heard of anyone with that idea. Only alert most people would recognize was a crashing sound of broken glass lids. A electronic alert sounds pretty awesome.

 

[islandguy11]

Well of course the best solution would be to have lids your Arowana just can't break through, but barring that or as an extra precaution you do raise an interesting question.

My idea would be (but depends on one's lid design) is to use small magnetic alarm sensors (one piece on the lid and one piece on the frame or tank). Then if any separation between the two pieces an audible alarm will go off. Some like this one also have phone alerts:



Then if you really wanted to go Mission Impossible level you could get some infrared sensors like this and put them near the floor to detect any flopping fish lol.



As a side benefit nobody can steal your Arowana without you knowing!

 

[esoxlucius]

Having an alarm on your tank or on the floor or where ever is a bit like bolting the gate after your prize stallion has already ran and got run over by a truck!

Anybody who keeps fish that are notorious jumpers, not just arowanas, need to make sure the fish, if it jumps, hits a secure, none sharp lid. It's that easy.

Besides, having fancy gadgets to tell you your precious arowana is flapping about on your fish room floor dosen't help you one little bit if you aren't in, and are that far away from home that it'd be dead before you got back home.

 

[islandguy11]

Having an alarm on your tank or on the floor or where ever is a bit like bolting the gate after your prize stallion has already ran and got run over by a truck!

Anybody who keeps fish that are notorious jumpers, not just arowanas, need to make sure the fish, if it jumps, hits a secure, none sharp lid. It's that easy.

Besides, having fancy gadgets to tell you your precious arowana is flapping about on your fish room floor dosen't help you one little bit if you aren't in, and are that far away from home that it'd be dead before you got back home.

In case you didn't get it I was being on the facetious side lol, as first mentioned strong lids are clearly the real answer. But even experienced fish keepers sometimes set up lids that the fish manages to break out of (see Viktor's arapaima thread), it's kind of easy to underestimate their power.

That said I do disagree with your sentiments regarding fancy gadgets not helping one little bit if you aren't in -- if one has a family member in another part of the house or even a friend, staff member or maid living nearby it would surely be better than not knowing, it would at least increase the survival chances compared to not having them.

 

[TheWolfman]

Well of course the best solution would be to have lids your Arowana just can't break through, but barring that or as an extra precaution you do raise an interesting question.

My idea would be (but depends on one's lid design) is to use small magnetic alarm sensors (one piece on the lid and one piece on the frame or tank). Then if any separation between the two pieces an audible alarm will go off. Some like this one also have phone alerts:

View attachment 1399368

Then if you really wanted to go Mission Impossible level you could get some infrared sensors like this and put them near the floor to detect any flopping fish lol.

View attachment 1399367

As a side benefit nobody can steal your Arowana without you knowing!

lol. I could setup a burglar alarm with door contacts on the lids, and a glass brake to pickup the sound of a broken lid. Then have the alarm panel send alerts to your phone. With a web cam setup on the tank to monitor. I wouldn’t ever do it, but it definitely could be done. I think that having secure lids will be enough lol.

 

[esoxlucius]

In case you didn't get it I was being on the facetious side lol, as first mentioned strong lids are clearly the real answer. But even experienced fish keepers sometimes set up lids that the fish manages to break out of (see Victor's arapaima thread), it's kind of easy to underestimate their power.

That said I do disagree with your sentiments regarding fancy gadgets not helping one little bit if you aren't in -- if one has a family member in another part of the house or even a friend, staff member or maid living nearby it would surely be better than not knowing, it would at least increase the survival chances compared to not having them.

Nah, I wouldn't trust anybody enough with a fish that, in an arowanas case, can be worth a fortune. Besides, if my giant gourami managed to jump and I wasn't in, and my missus heard an alarm going off in the next room, my missus wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, let alone pick it up and tenderly put the slimy beast back in its tank. And I think a lot of people are like that with big fish, or snakes, lizards, spiders whatever. And imagine being miles away at the other end of a phone to your wife, neighbour or friend listening to the commotion going on with your prized fish and your helpless to do anything other than hope and pray. I think we both agree a good lid in the first place wins everytime.

Gadgetry can be good, for instance temperature alarms in case you have a dodgy heater that fails. I was looking at them the other day actually.

 

[islandguy11]

Most Thais would have no compunction to pick up a flopping fish and throw it in a tank; the main danger would be they might throw it on the bbq instead lol.

Tbh I dabbled with the gadgetry a bit but gave it up for at least now. I got some simple and relatively inexpensive Sonoff 'smart plug' wi-fi outlets for turning on and off lights or what not, which could be controlled via an app. Kinda convenient but I made the mistake of getting ones that wouldn't automatically re-connect to our wi-fi router in the case of even brief power outages (not uncommon here). In such incidents they were useless, old-fashioned analog timers are more dependable.

So if you do get any such wi-fi gadgets I'd make sure they have an auto-reconnect feature even if outages aren't a big problem in your area. Nothing wrong with old school of course, but a decent sized part of the hobby is moving in this direction, so hopefully better and better products will be coming out (w/o having to spend big bucks on stuff like Apex controllers).

 

[Katie_Ca]

Personally never heard of anyone with that idea. Only alert most people would recognize was a crashing sound of broken glass lids. A electronic alert sounds pretty awesome.

I have never lost an arowana due to jumping, but if I did, I'd imagine I'd be doing every little bit to make sure it doesn't happen again.

LOL...Just trying to think of ways to prevent accidents like this from happening.

I was thinking of a motion detector alarm just above the tank.

Nowadays with those things like the Ring or Nest doorbell, the possibilites are endless, depending on the extent you are willing to go.

 

[AaronKWolfe]

With jumpers I always used a large, thick net that was very secure. The net was secured with bolts on the wooden trim of the lid (custom made).