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I lost my pickerel :(


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#1 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 16 June 2009 - 05:41 AM

Do grass pickerel frequently jump for freedom? I got a fry about four months ago that was no more than an inch long, and he had been kept in a 30 gallon tank with some crawdads, shrimp and feeder fish and a young eel for a long time. I just moved into a new house and transferred him, now just over six inches long, into a 60 gallon tank. Initially I just put the old 30-gallon filter on it, but left the tank open topped with lowered water level. The old tank had always been sort of covered, but there were always gaps. When I came home from work the next day my favorite fish was dead on the floor. I had lowered the water level quite far because I had discovered the tank was leaking up near the top, so he cleared a good 7 inches of glass. Is this a known problem with this species, did I do something wrong, or just bad luck?

#2 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 16 June 2009 - 08:41 AM

It's hard to keep Grass Pickerel in a bucket long enough to get a photo. I quickly learned they are quick to jump from captivity and I believe this has been discussed before.
I'm sorry you lost your fish.

#3 Guest_tglassburner_*

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Posted 16 June 2009 - 09:17 AM

Do grass pickerel frequently jump for freedom?

I've lost a few this way, you need a tank lid with no room for a pickerel to escape. I found that if you put the mirrored window tint on the front and sides of your aquarium the pickerel are less freaked out when people look at them or walk past the tank.

#4 Guest_therealorangejuice_*

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Posted 16 June 2009 - 04:57 PM

I recently found a normal pickerel, I put it in a small isolated pool-ish thing that I dug, it was a good 6" from the edge of the water. Went away for about 7 minutes, and it was gone. Then on another trip, I found a grass pickerel. It was in one of the fish-holding containers of the same water that was in the river, but it died on me. Still trying to get a pickerel. :sad2:

Edited by therealorangejuice, 16 June 2009 - 04:58 PM.


#5 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 16 June 2009 - 06:06 PM

I guess I missed the discussion. I hadn't observed any evidence of jumping after months in captivity, so I didn't even think twice about it when I moved him to the bigger tank.

#6 Guest_EdBihary_*

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Posted 16 June 2009 - 09:13 PM

They are definitely jumpers. Tom is right, they get spooked easily, and panic, which can result in an accidental jump from the aquarium. They also will jump when nobody is around, for no apparent reason. You must keep the tank well-covered. Keeping a hood on your aquarium is not enough. I had one jump into the hood lid with enough force to push the lid open and the fish to land on the floor. Ever since, I keep a rock on the lid of the hood. It works like a charm.

#7 Guest_Ajohnson_*

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 02:27 PM

this may sound like a dumb question but have any of you guys seen pickeral jump into the hood or lid of your aquarium? I would think this could really injure the fish??

#8 Guest_schambers_*

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Posted 29 July 2009 - 04:53 PM

I haven't seen it happen, but it wouldn't surprise me. It could injure the fish, they haven't evolved to check for lids overhead before jumping.

#9 Guest_darthcard_*

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Posted 25 September 2009 - 09:19 PM

My 8 inch redfin pickerel did exactly that the other day. Slammed into the top of the tank 3x.

I was shocked how much force he did this with. It freaked me out i was running for the water test kit. Ammonia,nitrite,and nitrate were

a lil high. Did a water change and threw some aquarium salt in there. Oddly he was the only fish freakin out. He put a small white gash

on his top mouth from the jumping/banging. Doing fine now though treated him with melafix. I never want to see him jump like that again.

#10 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 26 September 2009 - 05:46 AM

How is your tank set up and maintained? An established tank should never have a measurable amount of ammonnia or nitrite, and it's really odd to have nitrate high with both of those still present. Did you change your filter or something? What is "high" exactly?

#11 Guest_darthcard_*

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Posted 26 September 2009 - 12:01 PM

How is your tank set up and maintained? An established tank should never have a measurable amount of ammonnia or nitrite, and it's really odd to have nitrate high with both of those still present. Did you change your filter or something? What is "high" exactly?

My tank has been set up for 3 months and yes i believe the mistake i made is i washed new filter pads in

tap water. I'm a newb to working with a cannister filter like the fluval. The ammonia had a .25 reading the nitrite was lite purple and the nitrate was a rich red which the test read a little un comfortable. I've had algae bloom from phosphate. So i tried phosphate pads with algae destroyer.
And when i did that i dumped the water in the cannister and washed the new pads with tap. Everything is cool now though. I now ad some stress zyme with water changes. I really hated seeing him jump like that though. The odd thing was only my larger pickerel stressed out. I'll never make that mistake again though

#12 Guest_catfish_hunter_*

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Posted 27 September 2009 - 12:12 AM

One solution is to get floating plants such as duckweed to cover the surface, which makes them feel safe and secure enough to not jump. Sorry about your pickerel. That SUCKS! :-(



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