I think most likely he jumped. I've had various fish jump right out of my aquarium, even with the hood on it! They got out in the small opening where the tubing was inserted. Sometimes they jump because there are parasites, sometimes because of an ammonia build-up, sometimes because they're startled by something -- or sometimes just for the sheer joy of jumping. Plants do well at filtering out toxins, especially when you're not overstocked, but if you're curious, the easy way to check the water quality would be to get a testing kit.

You can use filtration without carbon, which might help in keeping the tank really clean. Quite often you can find filters (exterior ones are great) at garage sales for not much, even a box filter might help. Other than that, there are inexpensive ones at Walmart, etc. Will he be fine? Yes. Keeping the tank clean is helpful, but given the size of your fish and the size of the tank, not a biggie. I tend to put filtration in because I usually leave them in the tank either until the fin heals, or until I get around to taking them out...which is longer than 72 hours. I put in a shubunkin back in March and am just now going to put him back in the pond. Good thing I did, or he would be dead by now killed by car washing solution. :/ You can also siphon up the poo while doing your partial water changes so the filtration really is not a big deal. I've had great luck at healing the wounds like this, so I think you did wonderfully well by not returning the fish.

LOL! I have seen National Geographic video about elephants, monkeys and chimps seeking out fermented fruit. Apparently humans are not the only ones who imbibe. Now we can add fish to the list. I wonder if they get a buzz from the alcohol in the water of if it is only the fruit that makes them drunk. Not everyone agrees the animals are drunk or are seeking out the fermented fruit. In any case, it is funny seeing the tipsy critters. It isn't fun for the villagers who have to deal with them. Sandy Here is a link that might be useful: Are they tipsy or not?

There are fish for sale in the 3 to 5 dollar range at Petco....Lots of various damsels as well as a few gobys.....SW is not any harder to maintain than FW is IMHO....I currently have a 10 gal in th works as well as a 90 gal both reef type tanks.....I got started on what is probbaly the hardest type of setup (so I was told) and thats a Pico reef tank with one small neon goby.......and its been great, and no harder than a betta tank......To be honest and this is only my opinion, save the money onf canister filters etc, and go with a tank with a sump or refugium, and lots of live rock and a good live sand bed. The live rock and sand will do the majority of your filtering. A skimmer is nice to have but certainly is not required......A small Pico type reef tank without fish, is about as hard to care for as a house plant that you have to water. There is so many inverts out there that can make a very interesting and good looking setup that odds are you will not miss any fish not being in it. Just to see if yuor cutout to fool with SW wihtout getting into it over your head, setup a simple 2.5 Pico or even a 10 gal reef type tank. Use a Aqua Clear HOB filter (a 50 or 70 size) for the 10 gal, and remove all filter media, and fill the filter chamber up with small pieces of live rock rubble.......Use 1.5 to 2 pounds of live rock per gal of tank size, and keep your sand bed to 1" or less....Really no need to have a deep sand bend in a reef type or even a tank with just one or two fish. In a 2.5 you can easily place an algae type eating snail (cerith snail) and 3 or so small blue leg hermit crabs, a small brittle starfish, and load it up with lots of polyps and mushrooms etc, and just set back and watch it mature and grow......Do a 10 or 20% water change once a week, and top off daily as needed with RO/DI water......Good lights is a must and lighting on a saltwater setup is much more critical than on a freshwater setup, unless its fish only.......If your local store caries fully cured LR, you can buy rock to suit, and live sand from his tanks, and also premixed saltwater, some shrooms etc and have it setup in no time, without a long cycle time if things are already properly cycled and cured. I have less than 100 bucks in my 2 gal Red Sea wave tank pico with filter lights and inhabitants, and close to $150 in my 10 gal including a AC70 sized filter/fuge, 96 watts of lighting, moon lights, live rock, live sand (all fully cured) and a heap of shrooms and polyps, and two small $3.49 domino damsels and one $7.99 Neon Goby from Petco......all doing just fine.........Can't say what the 90 gal is going to run yet as its still in the works but its in the 4 digit bracket already, and still not completed. You can buy RO/DI water at most LFS, and already premixed saltwater. RO/DI around here is less than 50 cents a gal and premixed SW is about 70 cents a gal........LFS will tell you that you can not keep SW or RO/DI water more than a day or two, but thats a bunch of nonesense. I was buying 5 gal of SW and aerating it with a airstone for a month and have not had problems...RO/DI just store it no aeratin needed....Keep in a dark cool place and they both will keep fine. YOu also need a hydrometer to keep an eye on specific gravity, which again is only a one minute afair and once you get to know your setup for the most part can be done very infrequently......Go for it, SW is much nicer even without fish.