Betta jumped out of tank

[Matt C.]

This morning as I was getting ready to feed my betta and minnows I noticed my betta wasn't the first one at the surface waiting for food. Ended up finding her just behind the aquarium on the table, gentle scooped her up and was able to get her into the water rather quickly. She couldn't have been out for long considering I saw her just before I took the lid off the tank. By the time I turned around with the food I noticed her, so maybe a minute at max? She still felt wet when I picked her up so that's luckily at the very least. She immediately sank to the bottom after the fact hiding in a corner of the tank. She was breathing deeply and swimming in an odd way when she did move. A minute or two later she was able to dart to the surface for air and after that started swimming more or less like normal even coming to the surface to eat and acting normal. 

Really my big thing here is just wanting some advice. What should I be looking out for or doing as a precaution? She looked fine minus some small tears in her fins and what appeared to be lost scales left where she landed. She already has what I think may or may not be fin rot(I have medication on the way from the co-op) so I will have that at my disposal. 

I am really just looking for some sort of advice, i know she wasn't out for long but I'm just trying to be careful. What should I be looking out for and what precautions should I take? Any advice id appreciated, I have additional info on my tank below.

Tank size: 10 gallon (top fin starter set)
pH: 7.8~
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 10ppm
nitrate: 25-30 ppm
kH: N/A
gH: N/A
tank temp: 76-78 degrees F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): White coloring on the tip of her "main" fin (it was torn on a decoration, now removed), smaller holes that are new from the fall and probably a few lost scales 

Volume and Frequency of water changes: Once every week and a half to 2 weeks 

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Seachem stability when adding new fish and tetra or prime for conditioner. Media consists of the 10 gallon HOB filter, the cartridge it came with and the blue bacteria grid. Plus a sponge filter on the other end of the tank for aeration and extra filtration. Plus I have some java ferns that have been in the for awhile. 

Tank inhabitants: betta (splendens) female. 5 white cloud minnows (3 male, 2 female), two java ferns, a dwarf aquarium Lilly, a water sprite and some moss balls.

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): minnows we gotten 2 weeks ago along with the sprite. Lilly was added just before new years(sprouting fine so far)

Exposure to chemicals: I use easy green and plan to add root tabs soon for the Lilly.

Sorry if this is long, just wanted to offer as much info as I can.

[Brandy]

I would just watch her and feed her and not worry much, Daniel tells a great story about a betta who was out much longer. Mostly you would be looking for fuzzy white areas indicating fin/body injuries that are infected with bacteria or fungus. Treatment would be ichx+maracyn, and prevention would be keeping up with water changes.

[Colu]

You could put some catappa leaves in the tank some people use them to treat injurys and cuts and monitor to see if it showing abnormal behaviour   such as hanging at the surface or hiding away or if it swimming is abnormal

[Schwack]

I'm a bit concerned about the high level of nitrites present in the tank. Nitrites inhibit blood's ability to carry oxygen in fish and might explain why she jumped in the first place. 10ppm nitrite would be a "hair on fire" type problem if it showed up in one of my inhabited tanks.

I think others have given the best advice in terms of fish first aid. Good luck!

[Matt C.]

1 hour ago, Brandy said:

I would just watch her and feed her and not worry much, Daniel tells a great story about a betta who was out much longer. Mostly you would be looking for fuzzy white areas indicating fin/body injuries that are infected with bacteria or fungus. Treatment would be ichx+maracyn, and prevention would be keeping up with water changes.

Will do! Luckily I like to cover my bases so I got ichx along with the maracyn. Should arrive today so I can start that just incase, thanks!

1 hour ago, Colu said:

You could put some catappa leaves in the tank some people use them to treat injurys and cuts and monitor to see if it showing abnormal behaviour   such as hanging at the surface or hiding away or if it swimming is abnormal

I've seen some of those leaves on the co-op. Got super close to buying them but didn't follow through unfortunately. Better luck next time I suppose. But I'll keep an eye out for that stuff!

1 hour ago, Schwack said:

I'm a bit concerned about the high level of nitrites present in the tank. Nitrites inhibit blood's ability to carry oxygen in fish and might explain why she jumped in the first place. 10ppm nitrite would be a "hair on fire" type problem if it showed up in one of my inhabited tanks.

I think others have given the best advice in terms of fish first aid. Good luck!

Oh so sorry about that! I didn't mark my results from my last test (normally do but just plain forgot this time), plus I typed all this at work so I didn't have the little color measure guide from the kit when I was typing. I pulled it up and remembering the color it was closer to like .5-1 ppm. I'm pretty new to all this (started in june) so I don't have the scales memorized, only two I knew for sure were ammonia and nitrates so just pulled the nitrite number out of mid air. Sorry for the confusion there. 

Either way thank you all for all the advice! It helps a ton! I worry a lot so it's help me ease up on myself a bit seeing that it probably isn't too bad. So thanks again! 

 

[FrozenFins]

Your nitrates are a tiny bit high but it should be fine. I like mine at 10-20ppm.

I'm sorry about your betta I hope she recovers. Just keep a close eye on here making sure she is not displaying any unusual symptoms. The fin rot meds will help with any bacetrial infections she may be getting after this inccident.

[FrozenFins]

Just now, swivvr said:

Just recently my betta fish jumped out my tank. When I came to it in the morning he was no where to be found and was out on the front of the tank. He must've jumped at night and was sadly not alive. It was a shame that I could not save him. He was all dried up and it was a horrible sight. I had him in a topfin 5 gallon retreat tank and he must've jumped from the small lid openings.

sorry to hear that

[Tonik]

I had the same thing happen with my betta two days ago and this was the exact question I came to the Forum with today!   She jumped out of a new tank I had moved her to because I hadn't covered the HOB gap in the cover properly (I have a sponge filter instead)  Luckily she was only out for a short time but I noticed that her fins looked kinda "puffy" and as though she'd lost a scale or two, and she had what looked like algae on her face (probably dust from behind the tank/)  I added the Dark Water additive I had and another catappa leaf and increased the temp a degree to 80.  She seems to have recovered pretty well but gave me a good scare! 

[Nana Finopolis]

I use plastic canvas to prevent fish jumping through those small holes. You can get it at craft stores or amazon, of course. It's easy to cut with scissors and can be cut in just the right form to fit any opening.

https://www.amazon.com/4-Pack-Darice-Mesh-Plastic-Canvas/dp/B073WJYWTC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Plastic+Canvas&qid=1611782314&s=arts-crafts&sr=1-2