bettas are jumpers?

Question
I heard that bettas can jump out of their tank.  Is this true?  I have just bought 2 siamese fighting fish and they are in a tank with a lid (it's not air tight though).  I took the lid off because one of them was trying to make a bubble nest and I wanted to give them better quality air. Should i leave the lid on?

Answer
Hi Jessica,

Yes, bettas can and do jump and often quite high for a fish their size.

I would recommend you replace the lid immediately as these little fish often jump in pursuit of bugs, shadows or simply to find out what is on the outside of teh water! Which is death in most cases.

I would not be worried about bad quality air, if the tank is not airtight then air will circulate fine.   

Congratulatulations on your new fish!

Prue