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I have 2 Marble Hatchets, and apparently one jumped out of my tank from the very small opening of the tank cover. I discovered him late tonight dead on the floor. Just glad I found him before ants got to it.

I'm sorry to hear that, General Hague.

Hatchets are hugely infamous for jumping. You have to cover basically the entire tank to make sure they don't get out.

Hatchets are sometimes referred to as the "freshwater flying fish". To an extent, they are actually the only true "flying fish on the planet. Researchers have found that while airborne, hatchets will actually "flap" their pectoral fins to gain extra distance on their leap (thanks to Calilasseia for that interesting tidbit!).

Joe Potato

Yea they tend to do that. You need to cover any gaps with mesh. You can get stiff plastic mesh sheets at craft stores in the knitting/sewing aisle or a roll of screen door mesh from a hardware store and cut to fit.

When I had marbled hatchets I had this happen too.
Its important to close up any holes at all so these fish cant fly out of the tank. I think they see air and go for it. Kamikaze Hatchets!
Also, Hatchetfish are schooling fish - if you plan on replacing the one you lost, replace him with 5 for a proper school


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When I open the lid to feed I'm always greeted with a little splash on the face from the marbles trying to jump out of the water. They are beautiful fish and display really interesting behaviour and swimming patterns.

I do tend to see that my school of five has one left out, since they usually roam in pairs. Not sure if this has to do with the male/female ratio or something else but I wonder if 6 is a better shoal number for these fish?

All the best!

James

Dang, that's a big time bummer... That amazes me that those fish can jump like that, wow!

I remember mentioning the jumping in a previous thread.

Thats me, prophetic .


Sorry for the loss though.

Unfortunately for now though, the 1 Marble Hatchet will be by its self until I get rid of the ick that was introduced by the Neon Tetras from Petco (should have spent more money at the LFS).

Once the ick is gone, I might possibly get 1 or 2 more Marble Hatchets or give away the current one I have. Haven't decided yet. I can't have too many due to the size of my tank.

When you buy new fish, try to leave them in a seperate tank for a few days, so you can monitor them better.

I would add more Hatchets, when everything is back to normal.



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I was thinking about getting hatchets myself their really pretty i have a 29 with 3 black skirt tetras,a blue gourami and a CAE.you guys said 6 is a good shoal do you think that the fish i have now would be suitable with the hatchets?

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Maddening dream, yep, hatchets would work with those fish. Id also recommend adding 3 more black skirt tetras.
Also - Consider what you plan to do with your CAE when it grows - these are large 8-11 inch fish that often become very aggressive and territorial at maturity. They also seem to lose the desire to eat algae and often turn on tankmates. Id nominate it for removal, return to the LFS in favor of a smaller, more peaceful, and an actual algae eater - like otocinclus cats (3-4 in your tank would do), a farlowella catfish (twig catfish) or a bristlenose pleco.

General Hague - Hatchets are schooling fish. 3 fish is not a school. If you dont plan to have 6 or more, youre better to return the one to the lfs.


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Thanks Sneaky,I'll Probably return the CAE,i think i was goin to go with some albino cory's or the bristlenose pleco i really like the pleco's beside's the CAE is already messing with the gourami and he's only 3 inches.

Est solarus uth mithas,My honor is my life