I figured I would do tank cleaning today as I did not do it this weekend with my finger being cut. Didn't trust the goldfish the way they go after bloodworms. Didn't want to be called "Stumpy"!

Any how, I did seven tanks before lunch, to include the tank with those fast little rubbermouth plecos I bought a week ago.

Well once lunch was over I started my last tank, my 37 tropical, I got the amount of water out, and the sides scrubed and the filter rinsed and I went to get my bottle of Prime and as I get near the stand with the 20 gal long tank I just set up I notice something on the floor, FLOPPING, and it was one of my tiny rubbermouth! Do Not ask, I have no clue how it got out of the tank. But do you know how hard it is to pick up a wet, wigglyly fish that has stuck it's mouth onto ceramic tile??????? Not easy at all!!!!!!!!!!! He was very wet and there was water on the floor so he must have just gotten out. I'm so glad I was home and he's so glad the dogs were asleep!

So if "ick" is brought on by stress, one of us should have it by tomorrow!

I'm so glad your rubberlip is ok.Not been your week has it.

Its a good thing goldfish owners can't get ich from stress, I think most of us would have it from being worried goldie parents.

Isn't that the truth! I would be in salt baths all the time!

I've drank enough fishy water this week as it is...

Well, oh a very sad continuation of this thread, two of these new rubbermouth babies have managed to jump out of their tank but I did not find them until it was too late. I can not believe this. They must have gotten out in the back where the filter is. This tank has a full lid and a light, the only opening is in the back where the filter is placed. I was crushed when I found them as they were laying completely side by side on the tile. It just struck me in a horrible way because their fins were almost touching each other. Its like they new they were going to die and were holding hands. If they hadn't died it almost would have been cute as it looked like they were waiting to be found!

Does anyone have any input on why they would do this? I have heard that fish will leap out if the water is bad so I checked my water and ammonia 0, nitrates 10, nitrites 0, and pH 7.8. The tank has been cycled for a while and I have not ever had this happen before. I have common plecos in my tropical tanks and they have not tried to escape and the other two rubbermouth plecos that I bought with the two that got out are in another tank and have not done this.

I hate it when things like this happen.

Sorry to hear of more problems VM. I don't have any Rubberlips,but I do have a ton of Bristles from newborns to adults,and all I can tell you is that I clean out my filter weekly because these guys are always in it.I really think that they like the streaming water,or the fact that it's fast moving.I once found 30 of them in the filter box. Now I clean it once a week,and I usually find anywhere from 3-10 or so in there.
Rubberlips are closely related,and I would guess that they behave about the same way.And by the way,my params are always good on their tank too.

Thanks for the info Sharon! I still feel very bad that this happened because I think of how they must have suffered! I kept watching the same area where the first one had jumped out and landed thinking it might happen again. But I did not think to look way toward the back of the stand, and I think it must have happened during the night when everyone was in bed!

Bristles and Rubbermouth are very hard to come by around here and I finally found these four last week. That was all they had. I wanted one for each goldie tank and these four would take care of almost all of them. Guess I'll need to cover all the openings on any tanks with them inside.

Gee I'm so sorry to hear your news. I have no experience with rubberlips, but I am sorry you had to find them like that.

How awful!
I'm so sorry vmlola!

Thanks guys for your warm thoughts! It was a horrible way to find them. I keep watching the other two like a hawk. They are in a taller tank, so I don't know if that will make a difference with them getting out. I hope it does anyhow!

i am soo sorry to hear about your rubbermouth fish...i dont think that i have ever heard of mass jumping like that...

How are your params?

Mine did exactly this last night, but I had a warning. At first I thought it was the cutest thing how they were sticking their heads out of the water then when the splashing occured I went to investigate. That led to me catching Rocket mid air.

When I checked my params my ammonia had spiked in a matter of 2 hours!

The water has been fine, really good with ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates 10-15. The tank has excellent filtration, is not over stocked and is cleaned twice a week. The only thing I can think that may have made the escape easier was that I had done a water change the day before and I tend to fill my tanks to the very maximum that I can get in due to the dryness here in the desert and water evaporating so fast. The water may have been high enough for them to go over the back where its open. I thought of the params when they jumped but that did not seem to be the issue,

I too have a habit of filling the tank too high,and as I said earlier,mine end up in my filter box. I was taking water out today as a matter of fact because I looked in and caught one sucking up the filter box.
I have owned these guys for years,and they have always given it a try here and there,so it's not always the params,but it's good to know that for sure