Do platys jump?

[thegrandpoohbah]

I am thinking of turning their tank into an uncovered tank with some easy plants. Will they jump out given the opportunity?

[Melody]

Depends on how much Swordtail is in them. Swordtails are jumpers. Platy's I don't find jump at all, but they can if they want to - I had a piglet jump into a fry trap and eat all of the fry once :mad: . But that's their undoing I think - they're too fat to jump high most of the time. If its Oleg's Hifins, they're pretty much all Maculatus and I don't think they could jump far even if they wanted to.

I would leave a couple of inches above the waterline to be sure. You can also chase them with the net and try to grab them when they're close to the surface - my jumpers jump high when I do that.

[thegrandpoohbah]

They are Oleg's hi-fins. I think I will take the chance and try it. Thanks!

[AquaScaper]

I had a nice fat preggo platy that committed suicide one night. The tank was covered but there was a decent sized gap on the one side and I guess she aimed just right and out she went. :wideeyed:

[Melody]

I forgot about that! :yes: Thanks for speaking up Ms. Aquascaper - Heaven knows there's very little consistency in this hobby sometimes.

I don't think the Maculatus are built for jumping, but better safe than sorry - definitly keep that waterline lowish. Good luck!

[AquaScaper]

I forgot about that! :yes: Thanks for speaking up Ms. Aquascaper - Heaven knows there's very little consistency in this hobby sometimes.

I don't think the Maculatus are built for jumping, but better safe than sorry - definitly keep that waterline lowish. Good luck!

Very true, it's always best to play it safe. In my case I didn't realize that any of the fish in that tank were capable of escape so I never worried much about keeping it totally covered. Had I closed that gap her death would have likely been prevented. If you're planning to keep the tank uncovered then Ms. Melody's suggestion may be quite helpful :)

[ashah]

Very true, it's always best to play it safe. In my case I didn't realize that any of the fish in that tank were capable of escape so I never worried much about keeping it totally covered. Had I closed that gap her death would have likely been prevented. If you're planning to keep the tank uncovered then Ms. Melody's suggestion may be quite helpful :)


This is an old thread but I just wanted to let you guys know about my recent experience.

I have an uncovered tank with some guppies. Few weeks ago, I decided to put in 5 platys into the tank.

1 week ago, I found that all my platys are gone except for one. I just assumed that my turtle ate them all. I have a turtle living in the same tank but he usually cannot chase live fish because they're too fast... So I felt that it was weird but eventually I just came to a conclusion that he got lucky.

Anyways, the interesting part was the remaining 1 platy. He was frantically swimming back and forth in the aquarium non-stop for days. After about 3 days since I noticed this, I found him on the floor all dried up... Few days later, I found 1 more platy (which was dried up for much much longer) who also jumped out, on the other side of the tank, hidden behind some carpet.

I don't know what really happened, but it's almost like the last remaining platy got sad and decided to suicide (perhaps he got traumatized after he saw one of the other platys get eaten).

[Melody]

:Welcome: They may have been jumping to elude the turtle. Predators in the tank result in constant levels of stress for the prey. Sorry to hear that you lost them... time for another tank!::D:

[Ursus sapien]

welcome to the forum, too bad about your jumpers.

Melody's right about predators in the tank, or even perceived ones. I had a betta jump out of small tank once because the ghost shrimp nipped it's fins. Took a while to figure it out, too. Only when I saw the shrimp do it with a different betta did I clue in.

[GaryofMontreal]

Any aquarium fish will jump. Even Corydoras will jump. With predators in the tank, I've seen Ancistrus jump. Granted, they went about an inch and barely surfaced, but.
The first urge is to outrun a problem. The glass walls stop them. A lot of fish will burrow for safety, but with a turtle, that doesn't work. So there's only one way to go, up into the land of birds with hopes of landing far enough away from the predator to confuse it. Nature rarely has a rim.
I have calm, single species tanks with no cover because of their filters, in which I keep traditional leapers. They don't leap. If I were to move those fish to a new tank or especially to a community, they'd be bouncing off the glass like pucks.
I also have three geriatric red-eared sliders. As they age, they become increasingly herbivorous, but they remain delighted at any opportunity to eat any small fish.