Oscar jumped out of tank

Question
Hello:

My oscar is about 3 years old now.  He is about 11 inches long and very active.  Lately he has taken to jumping at the lid of the tank.  I have tried to put heavy things on it but he manages to knock them off.  About 20 minutes ago he managed to jumped straight out of his tank.  I have him back in the water but his body has a lot of damage and he was bleeding from somewhere I couldn't tell where but there was blood on the floor.  I was hoping you could tell me what to look out for in case there is something internalally wrong with him.  Please any advice you can give to help save him or keep him from suffering would be a great help.  He is part of the family.  Thank you.

Twyla

Answer
Hi Twyla;

Poor guy. Keep his water very clean to help ward off infection. Replace 25% of the water every day for the next 3 days. It reduces the number of bacteria that could infect his wounds. You could also add aquarium salt and melafix. Follow the instructions on the labels. Raising the water temperature to 82 helps fight infection too.

Is it possible that his tank is too small? If it is less than 55 gallons he could be frustrated from lack of space. Sometimes other fish with them make them nervous and more prone to jumping too. Parasites will do the same thing. Water quality is important too. Be sure it is clean and maintained every week.

For our larger fish tanks in the store we used heavy metal bars. One on each side of the glass top laid from front to back. Or, you can put nylon or cloth straps across it held down with velcro on the glass at each end. That way it is lightweight and easily removed for maintenance and feeding.

I hope he feels better soon.....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins