Blue Dot Jawfish

[Long Time Beginner]

Does anyone have any information about or experience with the Blue Dot Jawfish? I was at the LFS yesterday and they have one that really caught my eye.

I have a 54g tank. Soft corals, about 75lbs of LR, starboard bottom. Several soft corals. Current inhabitants include starfish, cleaner shrimp, hermits, snails, 2 clowns, a pseudochromis, and a yellow clown goby. Also, the tank has an open top.

I'm concerned about the open top and lack of substrate. Can the Blue Dot Jawfish still thrive in a tank with these two issues?

Is there anything else I should know about this fish before buying it?

 

[blface]

You need to have a dsb for any jawfish. I would also recommend covering every opening on your tank. They are known jumpers!!!
I wouldn't chance it. Especially since they cost a pretty penny. Mine lives in his den at all times & is constantly rearranging the sand.

 

[Long Time Beginner]

Sigh, those are the answers I expected but not the ones I wanted to hear.

I've been thinking about adding a sand bed anyway; I have white starboard and it's virtually impossible to keep the stuff clean. Even when I scrub everything off it, it still retains various stains. The people who post pictures of beautiful white starboard in mature tanks must either have a ton of time on their hands to clean it 800 times per day or have so much flow that nothing could ever possibly settle or grow down there!

However, even if I added sand, covering my reef isn't really an option as my lighting setup won't work with a top (I use clamp-on-tank lights).

I also have a FO 29g tank. It has a cover and about 3" of crushed coral substrate. Could the Blue Dot Jawfish go in that tank, or is crushed coral not sufficient for him to burrow in? That tank has been neglected a bit since I got my 54g. I clean/feed it but I haven't bought anything new for it in over a year and all I have in there now is one clown, one shrimp, and some snails/hermits. Maybe it's due for an upgrade

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I just picked one up last friday. So far, all he's done is sit in the same old spot. I don't know if he's still acclimating or what. I haven't seen him eat or even dig in the sand. He looks OK and has some nice color. I'll just have to wait him out and see what happens.

 

[Angel*Fish]

A predominance of softer sand is preferable to crushed coral only.

I recently bought a bluespot jawfish and so far it is doing fine. My sand bed is 6 in. deep which I believe is a minimum for this species. I regularly put lots of rubble of varying sizes near his hole & he so far has incorporated every bit of it (about 2 cups full) into his construction project. He has actually raised his area a couple of inches - thus the sand bed in that spot is more like 8 in

One of the things that is often neglected when considering jawfish is their need to be somewhat away from the reef. I think this is pretty important - some jawfish have trouble settling on a permanent home & this could be a factor. I have an area that is probably about a square foot of nothing but sand and he chose a spot right in the center for his home. That too is the bare minimum.

Before buying a bluespot, research should be done as their success in captivity is splotchy. The general consensus seems to be that a healthy one will do great if given the correct environment.

Very important - a healthy one does not have a white belly or any white at all-- the "stomach" area should be just as deeply colored (burnt orange with blue spots) as the rest of the fish

Here' a link to an old thread on the problems with "bluespot disease" http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79880&highlight=bluespot+AND+jawfish

HTH

 

[Homey the Reefkeeper]

Good post Angel*Fish How long have you had yours? I followed that old thread on the BS Jawfish a long time ago and I always wanted one. Unfortunately at the time the mortality rate of these fish were so high that I felt it was best to wait until there was more info on keeping them.

 

[Stephany]

Is he the one at Fairmount the upper left corner?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=777063

He is very beautiful, and does seem healthy.. ate right away.
Good luck with your decision. I'm sure he'd be well taken care of with your experience.

 

[Stephany]

That pbmas link in the above thread shows the guy breaking up larger shells as well as aragonite for them to use.
And it seemed nice that he did a peaceful fish community tank with them.

 

[reefgeek84]

The blue spot is more senstive then some of the others. The best I would recommend is the yellow headed jawfish, they tend to be hardier, and in more abundance then the blue spot. They do not need 6inch of sand, 1.5-2" is fine, I had a yellow head for almost year and he did fine in my 1.5" sand bed, he only died due to some weird parasite. Also you may want to add some crushed coral and shells as well as the sand, they really like both. as a side note they are the coolest fish ever, I will be getting a yellow headed once my 55 is up.

 

[Long Time Beginner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6756210#post6756210 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stephany
Is he the one at Fairmount the upper left corner?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=777063

He is very beautiful, and does seem healthy.. ate right away.
Good luck with your decision. I'm sure he'd be well taken care of with your experience.

That's the one! Looks like I'm not the only one who noticed this beautiful specimen! I watched him for about ten minutes and he shot out about once every 30 seconds to snatch a shell or some crushed coral. I have no experience with this species but based on my past experience with various fish, he looked extremely healthy. I didn't notice any white patches and his entire body was vibrantly colored.

I'm really thinking about overhauling one of my tanks to better accommodate this fish. Of course someone will probably buy him before I can finish. I would have bought him on the spot but one thing I have learned is not to bring fish home without researching them first. Even if I miss out on this one, I can always watch for another once my tank is ready for it.

 

[Stephany]

I agree. And he ate frozen mysis right away. He was alll over it like a hungry hungry hippo.

 

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6756153#post6756153 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Homey the Reefkeeper
Good post Angel*Fish How long have you had yours? I followed that old thread on the BS Jawfish a long time ago and I always wanted one. Unfortunately at the time the mortality rate of these fish were so high that I felt it was best to wait until there was more info on keeping them.

Gosh thanks! That was a sad thread to follow wasn't it? So much death

I've had my new one about 2 weeks now. He's shown no sign of decline or problem. I hope he is a lucky fish - I bought him against my better judgement as I still today agree with your earlier assessment that, "the mortality rate of these fish were so high that I felt it was best to wait until there was more info on keeping them."

Another tidbit of advice for anyone wanting one - they really really are jumpers - more so in my limited experience than the pearly jaws. I read a post , wish I could give the person credit, that said with this fish if you don't block all the exits you will for sure eventually find it on your carpet. I would add an exception to that, however, if you have tile instead of carpet...well you know

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6758377#post6758377 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angel*Fish

Another tidbit of advice for anyone wanting one - they really really are jumpers - more so in my limited experience than the pearly jaws. I read a post , wish I could give the person credit, that said with this fish if you don't block all the exits you will for sure eventually find it on your carpet.

I lost two to carpet surfing. First I had the aquarium covered with eggcrate. He managed to jump trough th holes. The second one I covered the aquarium with acrylic. He jumped trough the small hole for the powerhead cables!.

Note that as mentioned before they need a deep sand bed if your rock sits on the sand and not on the tank buttom then this fish (or any such digger) will be advisable as they will cause the rock to shift and potentially fall against the aquarium panels.
Also they are very easy to scare so they need a sand space not so close to the aquarium viewing pane and also if you have somehow larger fish like tanks or wrasses they are also scary to him.