Orfe jump out of the pond. But why?

[IanS]

It seems Orfe are well known for jumping out of ponds. Lots of talk about that on the web.

Last year I had 3 orfe jump out of the pond.

In EVERY case I found the fish on the ground directly behind the water fall. They'd jumped over the water fall and landed about 3 feet away from the pond.

It really looks as though they were trying to migrate "upstream".

Anyone else had orfe jump out? Was it near your waterfall or other water inlet?

Maybe they just don't like where they are and that nice filtered water coming down the waterfall mkaes them think it's nicer upstream?

Maybe orfe aren't so dead set on killing themselves after all.

 

[Jhn]

How big is your pond?

Orfes do like to jump but a large well oxygenated pond will help with that. I keep them and have never had one jump out, my pond is roughly 10,000 gallons with an aerator and 12,000 gph in pumps.

 

[Lisak1]

I've heard they are known to jump out - who knows why? Something from their natural habitat would be my guess... at some point in their life cycle jumping must be important!

 

[rubyduby]

It sounds to me that you are right in thinking that they are trying to migrate up stream. Sad...

 

[j.w]

I've heard Orfe's like tons of room for their fast moving ways. They love to jump, speed and fly so they need a big pond like @Jhn 's

 

[WaterGardener]

That's interesting. I have some and I've never seen them jump, knock on wood. They are only in their second year, so quite young still, but already pretty large. They do like to hang out at the bottom of the waterfall, for the aeration, I think.

Sorry you are having this problem with yours. Would a net help to keep them in?

 

[EricV]

I had all three of mine jump out of a quarantine tank within hours of putting them in there. Two I caught in time and they fully recovered from sitting on the patio for who knows how long. I ended up with a fine mesh net and hard top over the tank for the duration of their quarantine.

A year later, they have never tried to jump out of my pond nor do they seem that interested in the waterfall. Pond is 2500 gallons, 5-6000 gallons of water flow.

My fathead minnows, on the other hand occasionally migrate into the waterfall filter (two decent jumps).

 

[Jhn]

Forgot to mention they,do like to eat insects, so they will leap to catch any that venture to close to the water surface. Have seen them do that on occasion in my pond. I imagine this is where a recommendation of a large pond comes into play and they like to be able to speed around the pond at times, as well.

 

[Faebinder]

Usually fish do this when they are in a too small of a pond or container.

 

[WaterGardener]

I have seen mine jump less than half way out of the water to grab insects on the rocks along the edges of the pond. But otherwise, they don't jump.

I have read that poor water quality will make fish jump, trying to escape the issue, I suppose. Might be a good idea to test your water parameters to see if that is contributing to the problem. But I have seen some of my fish jump when the water tests perfectly, only goldfish, not the orfes. Bottom line, I have no idea what causes them to do that!

 

[Attyeye]

It seems Orfe are well known for jumping out of ponds. Lots of talk about that on the web.

Last year I had 3 orfe jump out of the pond.

In EVERY case I found the fish on the ground directly behind the water fall. They'd jumped over the water fall and landed about 3 feet away from the pond.

It really looks as though they were trying to migrate "upstream".

Anyone else had orfe jump out? Was it near your waterfall or other water inlet?

Maybe they just don't like where they are and that nice filtered water coming down the waterfall mkaes them think it's nicer upstream?

Maybe orfe aren't so dead set on killing themselves after all.

I've had a big orfe jumping out of my pond twice today and managed to find it still slightly submerged under the water on top of the net. There was a slight gap under the waterfall where he jumped out which I then attached to the side and he managed the second time to dislodge the net. It's happened s few times before but only but with orfes. Must be to do with the waterfall.

 

[Lisak1]

Orfes are known jumpers.

 

[splash]

It seems Orfe are well known for jumping out of ponds. Lots of talk about that on the web.

Last year I had 3 orfe jump out of the pond.

In EVERY case I found the fish on the ground directly behind the water fall. They'd jumped over the water fall and landed about 3 feet away from the pond.

It really looks as though they were trying to migrate "upstream".

Anyone else had orfe jump out? Was it near your waterfall or other water inlet?

Maybe they just don't like where they are and that nice filtered water coming down the waterfall mkaes them think it's nicer upstream?

Maybe orfe aren't so dead set on killing themselves after all.

I have had 2 offer jump out of pond in the last 5 weeks, orfe

 

[Jhn]

I have had 2 offer jump out of pond in the last 5 weeks, orfe

Check your water parameters, how large is your pond? and as I mentioned in this thread orfes love to speed around the pond, smaller ponds may cause them to jump. Mine outside of chasing insects pretty much never jump.

 

[GBBUDD]

one sign of gill flukes is jumping