Imagine walking into the room where your fish tank is and finding your beloved platy pish flailing on the floor! After the initial shock, you’re probably wondering how it got there. ‘Do platies jump?’ is likely the first question on your mind.
Platies do jump! There are several reasons why they might jump. One is that it doesn’t have enough space to move around. Aside from the tank being too small, other reasons for platies jumping include stressful conditions, low water oxygenation, and poor water quality.
If you want to learn more about this behavior, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn all you need about why platies jump and how to prevent it.
Do Platies Jump? And Why?
The following are all potential motives behind your platies’ sudden acrobatics.
Natural Curiosity
Platy fish are instinctively curious and inquisitive. They’re constantly exploring their surroundings.
This behavior is particularly common in young platies. It’s why you usually see them roaming all over your tank and not just in one area.
The evolutionary purpose of this behavior is for platies to locate food sources when in the wild. At the same, it’s also what leads them to leap outside the confines of the tank.
Stress
Another factor that may cause your platies to jump out of the tank is their stress level becoming overwhelming. If the environment in your tank isn’t one that platies consider comfortable, they may attempt to escape that environment by jumping out.
A common reason for stress in platies is not having sufficient space. A tank that’s too small or too overcrowded is one that platies are likely to jump out of.
Another stressful predicament for platies is when the conditions in the tank don’t resemble those of platies’ natural habitat in terms of lighting and terrain. So this can also be a contributing factor to platies jumping out of the tank.
Poor Water Conditions
Water is a fish’s most vital lifeline. Therefore, if the water quality in the tank becomes exceedingly low, platies will try to avoid these conditions by jumping out.
This is likely to happen if the nitrate or ammonia levels are too high. Also, the higher the nitrites, the worse the water quality will be, which is a major stress factor for platies.
Insufficient Oxygen Levels
Another reason your platies may jump ship is the lack of sufficient oxygen within the tank water. For example, the water in the tank may not be oxygenated enough if you’re using an ineffective water filter. Another reason is that you don’t have enough oxygen-releasing plants in the tank.
Low oxygen levels induce stress in platies, causing them to jump out of the tank.
How High Can Platies Jump
You may be wondering how high platies are actually able to jump.
The answer is: not very far. Platies can only jump up a couple of inches above the surface of the water. However, the exact height of the jump depends on the particular platy’s size.
Also, whether a platy can jump high enough to actually clear the tank depends on the tank size.
Ways to Prevent Platies From Jumping
Here are a few measures to keep your platies from leaping out of the tank.
Cover the Tank With a Lid
If there’s a lid on top of the tank, there’s no way your platies can jump out of it. Therefore, you should strongly consider getting one for your tank if you haven’t done so already.
Fish tank lids are available in almost every pet store, and they’re often quite affordable. Things to look out for when buying a lid include:
- Is it transparent or opaque
- How well the cover is air-tight
- Whether it has a port for you to deposit food into the tank without removing the lid
Make Sure Water Quality is Good
The first factor in preventing your platies from jumping out of the tank is to ensure that the water quality is top-notch.
Make sure to regularly monitor the nitrate and ammonia levels of the water. In addition, keep the water clean by limiting its nitrite levels.
By doing so, you’ll be creating a more comfortable environment for your platies that they’ll want to stay in and not jump out of.
Ensure Proper Ventilation
Another way to reduce levels of environmental stress on your platies is to take action towards having a more oxygen-rich tank.
This can be done by installing an air pump or a bubbler. You should also set up a reliable water filter to boost airflow or replace the one you have if it’s not up to par.
Another way to ensure proper ventilation is to mix a bag of oxygenated water with the tank water. When the water is well-oxygenated, your platies will have one less reason to want to jump out.
Get a Bigger Tank
As previously mentioned, not having enough space is a major contributing factor to platies jumping out of a tank. Therefore, if you have a small tank or even a big tank that’s overcrowded, you might want to invest in a larger one with more room for your fish to swim.
Why not invest in a tank with sufficient height and surface area for your platies? This way, they’ll have space to engage in their instinctive exploratory behavior, and you won’t have to worry about their jumping tactics.
Introducing rocks, plants, and other tank decorations is also a good idea. Think of it as having more things they can explore and discover.
By Marrabbio2 [CC BY-SA 3.0]Conclusion
Platies are fascinating fish that are highly curious. They’re constantly moving, trying to find something new to explore. The sad part is that whenever their environment doesn’t allow them to do so, they’ll do the next logical thing: they try to escape.
Yet, that’s not the only reason they jump. Platies will also try to escape a tank when their stress levels increase. Factors that contribute to a platy’s stress level include insufficient space, poor water quality, and insufficient oxygen in their tank.