# my weather loach jumped out of the tank



## zofia

Hi, I am worried about my weather loach I found him on the floor when I went to turn the fish tank light of. I obviously put him straight back into the tank and he swam and hid behind a rock,I don't think he was out of the tank for long and it def wouldn't of been any longer than 2hrs, I no they can survive out of water for a while but worried about the stress he has been hid behind the rock for a couple of hrs,I can see his bottom half and see him move a little every now again just worried he won't survive.my 2 weather loaches are def my fav fish and be gutted to lose my mr loach: ( any help would be great!thanks


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## susankat

Keep your light off for 24 hours so that he can relax and not stress out.


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## KG4mxv

I would add some water conditioner that contains some kind of slime coat enhancers to the tank. 
and forgive the pun but I am sure that this will prove weather or not to get a tank cover or a better cover. 
For some species of fish this is a normal behavior in the wild to hop from small puddles to another.


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## zofia

Thanks will def do both and be getting a better lid : )


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## TypeYourTextHere

zofia said:


> Thanks will def do both and be getting a better lid : )


You might want to get some Duct tape too while you are out shopping for a new lid :fishGreen:


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## holly12

+1 on keeping the lights off for 24 hrs and adding conditioner with slime coat.

When you get a new lid, you can custom cut (with a grinding tool) the spaces to fit things like airline tubing, heater cords and filter outputs, so that there is as little open space as possible. Fish can jump out of the smallest openings! 

Hope he does ok - let us know.


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## KG4mxv

Not to mention cutting down on the evaporation of the tank water. 
Invest in a dremel it will be your best tool in the tool box. 
I have even used it to carefully cut a notch in a 2 gallon glass lid with out breaking it.
and burnished the edges so it won't cut the heater cord or airline.


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## zofia

Wow u lot really no ur stuff and thank u for all the advice he wasn't the first fish to escape a zebra danio managed it aswell as a crab for now iv put tape over the holes and just check on mr loach and he seems to be his normal self : )


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## Hashibur

My weather loach (also about 3" long) is behaving exactly the same way, although he didn't jump out of his tank. He has been floating upside down much of the time, and then swimming around quickly every once in a while. I immediately went to a local fish store and sought the advice of the expert there. He thought that my loach may possibly have some sort of bacterial infection, and he advised me to treat the water with Melaleuca (brand name Melafix). I have a 55 gallon tank, so I am supposed to put 2.5 capfuls of Melafix in every day for 7 days, and then do a 25% water change on day 8. The fish expert (Brian and Brian's Fish World) said that the Melafix is completely harmeless, so the worst that can happen is that it won't resolve the problem. In addition to my sick loach, I have two more loaches, two plecostomuses, and 4 goldfish. I hope your loach gets well soon!!!


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## holly12

zofia said:


> as well as a crab


Do you have a land area for the crab? Crabs need to be able to come up on land to dry off a bit and burrow in sand - that could be why it tried to escape. If it's only in water, it will die.


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## zofia

My weather loach is back to his normal hyper self I have a mrs w loach aswell want more but tank would be over croweded I no u prob no this but I have read that peeled peas can help weather loaches with prob like ur weather loach with the upside down floatin?I no my loaches love them as a treat I'm no where near an expert but hope it helps: )hope ur loach feels feels betta soon there such amazing fish: )


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## Cray4me

I hope both your loaches will be ok. I would die if one of my loaches jumped tank. I have 3. Two which are at 6" each and one that is about 2". He hasn't seemed to grow at all in the time I have had him, since Febuary of this year.

So I just wanted to say...take care of those loaches. They ROCK!!*w3


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## zofia

My loaches have stayed at about 3.5"- 4" for ages I can't imagine that they can get to ten there going to be huge the look big now compared to when I bought them at about 2": )but I have been told that when they get really big they will eat other fish in the tank?


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## Cray4me

Hi Zofia, I have heard of Dojos attacking small fish but they don't seem to notice my White Clouds. Now that might be a different story as they get bigger and I'm considering moving my smaller fish now. Hmm?
One of my Dojos was 3 inches when I got it and the other was @ 4 inches. Not bought at the same time but they have caught up in growth to eachother.
My little one just doesn't want to grow. I'm pretty sure he/she is a M. Fossilis while the goldens I have are M. Anguillicaudatus.
I'm gonna try switching up foods and seeing if he won't grow some.


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