Why did my siamese fighting fish (betta) jump out of the bowl?

Question

I woke up this morning to find him outside of his bowl and obviously deceased :( Why and how would he have jumped so high? Is it part of his playing?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Because it wasn't covered properly. Bettas like to jump. Sometimes a betta will not realize he is not jumping into more water. In the "wild", a betta can jump from one wet puddle and into another - one which might be bigger. Since bettas can breath some oxygen directly from the air, a betta will stay alive as long as it stays moist. If it wiggles and jumps around, it might just find itself a better water hole by jumping. Bettas have a lot of body strength and can leap pretty high and far.

In your bowl, your betta will normally stay right where he is. Sometimes he will jump out by accident, without thinking. It helps to let the betta know where the top of the water is, by having a cover over the top, or by using a plant or decoration that is partly out of the water, or a toy/plant that floats on the surface. If your betta is building bubblenests, chances are good he knows where the top is.

Sometimes a betta jumps from his tank on purpose. If he has just been transfered to a new habitat, he might be confused. He might try to get back to his old home, or be confused about where the top of the water is. Try covering your bowl with something - maybe use a saucer or plate if you don't have a proper cover like a screen.

He might also be trying to get to a nearby tank with a female in it, or into a tank with a male that he would like to fight. Again, covering the bowl is always a good idea. You might want to use tanks with lids if you are clustering different bettas in an area. This way, you will not have to worry about your fearless boy leaping to his death!

One note - be wary of those tanks that have separate areas for different bettas in one tank - many a betta fancier has come home to find their males together, ripped to shreds, or even dead. A betta male will try to leap into those different sections if they can. Keep the water level low enough so he cannot jump the barriers. Still the best home for your betta is a five gallon aquarium with gentle filtration, heat (78-80 degrees faharenheit) and a proper cover.

A betta will also jump from his tank to escape bad water conditions. This is going back to the survival skills we discussed above - he is hoping to land in cleaner water somewhere. Make sure you provide him with clean, dechlorinated water. The smaller the bowl, the more crucial this is. If he is living in nasty water, he will do everything he can to escape.

When you change his water, also make sure you are giving him conditions that are safe. If the water is too hot or toxic in some way, he will probably go nuts, almost immediately, bashing himself against the gravel and walls and trying to jump out. Use a thermometer to make sure the temperature of the fresh water is the same as the old water. Make sure you did not use soap when you cleaned his habitat. Make sure you use a declorinator if you are not using reverse osmosis de-ionized water or collected rain water.

Mentally review what you did recently, to see that no contaminants got into the tank. Put your betta aside in a clean cup of water, and clean out the tank again, gravel and all, being mindful of creating a safe and clean habitat, before you put him back in.

Lastly, sometimes bettas exit their bowls and tanks because we have filled them too high after adding water or doing a water change. It's happened to me several times, and now I am extra-careful. Bettas are too inquisitive for their own good and can go swimming right out of their bowl.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Thanks to everyone for answering. I did take good care of him but didn't have the lid on on that particular occasion. Sucks. I will keep this in mind next time.

Answer 2

All fish tanks should have a lid as fish like to jump.
When I got my first danios...I didn't know this and I ended up losing a couple of them:(
He probably got frightened or maybe he saw something he wanted, like a bug to eat, and he jumped.
I sorry do here about this but next time I would suggest a lid.

Source(s):

I lost danios because of they jumped

Answer 3

my goldfish did that too.

seriously

but mine jumped out cause i guess it didnt have enough room in its bowl.

Answer 4

Betta fish are natural jumpers and they use the ability to catch food in their native habitat. This ability is one reason why uncovered bowls and containers are terrible homes for bettas. Your betta needs to kept in a tank with a heater because bettas are tropical fish.

Answer 5

Whne they live in artificial aquariums they jump out when they get stressed or frighted to something.

Answer 6

maybe the bowls dirty when did you last cleen it ?....

Answer 7

They will do it just for the he ll of it. Nothing that you did wrong caused him to jump. but they are notorious jumpers and require a covered tank.
If you do ever find one on the floor, it is still worth putting it into the tank for a while, some miraculous recoveries can happen. Many (well, some) fish species do have a survival reaction where they basically go into a temporary state of suspended animation - for want of a better term.
I had a purple spotted gudgeon which I went missing for two days from memory when I was a kid. I eventually found it all dry and completely covered in dust that it had picked up on it's flipping floor adventures. With no real hope I put it back in the tank and it recovered really quickly and lived for years more! I did have to help it out of it's new dust cocoon though. This fish was fully stiff and completely dry looking, couldn't really believe it at the time despite my hopes.
Should have named it Lazarus...
Mind you this was a gudgeon, a species which was adapted to seasonal creeks which requires a dormant state to survive in it's natural environment. Other fish do sometimes respond to this treatment. I know that loaches are commonly able to survive for periods also.

Answer 8

YOu shouldn't have kept your betta in a fish bowl. NO fish belongs to a fish bowl. All fishes need to be put in a tank with a lid as it is natural for a betta to jump out of the water.

Answer 9

do you have a cat

Answer 10

Must have been on instinct...
Some people actually train their fish to jump out of the water for food. i believe they can naturally jump to get from one rice paddy to another, though i am not too sure if this is true. most fish can jump, whether there is a reason behind it or not. even fancy goldfish, though i have never had this problem. here is one video of what someone has taught their beta fish:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ijQXglW6pDE
remember, if you think it is absolutely necessary that your beta must live in a bowl, it must be at LEAST three times it's total body legth.

You could use fly screen, but make sure it is weighed down or it could easily blow off or maybe your betta might even be able to knock it off.

Answer 11

not enough oxygen, probably. fish in bowls do not usually have areators, and sometimes they will actually leap out of the bowl to find air. bettas are labrynth fish, though... it probably hated where it lived and wanted to go to fishy heaven. bowls are not suitable homes for any fish, and here are some reasons why not to keep a betta in one:
no space to really move and get excercise
ammonia builds quickly from waste and rotting food, rapidly evaporating water and algae growth do not help
no heater, also no hood so the air above the bowl doesn't stay around the same temp as the water and the betta would prefer to live/breathe in warmth (tropical labrynth fish)
warped sides of the bowl can make the betta go blind because it cannot focus correctly
nothing to do but sit in his own poop and stare out the warped sides of the bowl and consider committing suicide!!!!
if you want success with bettas, get a 5g (20l)+ heated filtered etc tank!!!!!
bettas are living, breathing creatures that need proper care and housing, they are not decorations!!!!

Answer 12

may be your water was not clear and bettas are great jumpers there bowl should be always closed but mine never jumped out of water

Answer 13

I had this experience once and my betta laid for hours and when i put back in the tank it swam!! miracle i guess! but its natural for them to jump but maybe there are several factors to consider.....the environment, condition of water in tank or maybe the temperature of the water in the tank? it could be the size of the tank too. But to prevent another incident from happening just buy a tank with a lid and it will never happen again!! cheers!!!