Help! Fish jumped out of cup during water change

[chicagojo]

Our poor fish Rock N Roll has been having so many issues already...and now this. I was doing a 100% water change in his QT tank and had hip cupped and sitting on the counter next to the tank. I finished adding the water conditioner, looked down, and the cup was EMPTY! I panicked for a moment, then saw him lying on the counter - he has never been one to jump, but apparently he decided to today. I tried to gently scoop him up in my hands, but he flopped away from me. On the second try, I managed to get him and put him back in the cup. He lay still on the bottom for what seemed like forever, but was probably actually around 30 seconds, then started opening and closing his mouth and moving his tail a little. I lowered the cup back into the tank (now full of fresh, conditioned water) and he began swimming around and even ate a little. Initially he wasn't using his side fins much, but now he seems to be.

I turned out the light above his tank and covered part of it with a towel (leaving plenty of room for air to get in) so he can chill out a little if he wants to. I had already put a double dose of Stress Coat in the water so I don't think I should put any more. Anything else I should do? I'm a little worried about his exposure to whatever may have been on the counter - it was cleaned earlier this week with who-knows-what and there were a few grains of either table salt or sugar sitting in that general area where he was (whether or not he actually came into contact with these, I have no idea).

This is the last thing this poor guy needed..

[SmokeNLark]

He should be fine. Bettas are tough fish. You're doing good by covering the light. He's just stressed. It wasn't a big fall. If the counter was clean earlier in the week, I wouldn't worry. Whatever it was cleaned with is basically gone. And a bit of salt or sugar won't hurt him in that amount of time. I've had fish jump out before and unless it's a long fall, they fall into something nasty, or they're out for long enough that they start drying up, they'll be ok. I've had fish go through worse and they were fine. :)

Next time though, I would keep the water level down in the water change cup. I've had mine jump out of those before too and now I only keep it half full when doing water changes.

[chicagojo]

Originally Posted by SmokeNLark

Next time though, I would keep the water level down in the water change cup. I've had mine jump out of those before too and now I only keep it half full when doing water changes.

Yes, I have definitely learned THAT lesson! Will be keeping it nice and shallow from now on.

Glad to hear he has a good prognosis. I left the towel off one edge so I can peek in and check on him without disturbing him at all. He has been mostly resting, but swimming around every so often so I am hopeful that he's going to be ok. Fingers crossed...

Now, I just really need him to poop. It has been 4 days (I'm treating him with Epsom Salts and frozen daphnia) and even before this daredevil stunt happened, he was definitely not feeling his finest. Maybe the trauma of the fall will scare something out of him...

[SmokeNLark]

Haha yeah, that's one of those little things they don't tell you and you often learn the hard way :p

If he's doing alright about the fall now, then he should be fine. :)

[chicagojo]

Thanks! As you predicted, he is absolutely fine today. In fact, better than fine - he finally pooped (twice!) and seems to be feeling great. Glad that if I was going to learn about bettas jumping like that, it was a lesson with a good outcome.

[headerthebettalover]

haha i have had that happen to me before. why dont people warn you before it happens? i was totally freaked out but my fish was tough and made it through. glad your fish is going good.

[Sena Hansler]

Yeah... I was warned when I had my first ever betta.... "they jump, so make sure to cover his bowl!" and I sure did x) I've had more trouble with females, as mine seem to jump 4 inches o_o