Is this pearly jawfish a must have? I've seen videos but videos are videos. I have a fairly new setup with no sand yet and is planning to buy 90 lbs for my 30x30x30 JUST FOR THIS FISH. I would rather not have a dsb but I need an active bottom fish (gobies suck) so this jawfish seems to do the trick and seems gorgeous base off YouTube (never seen one at a lfs). Another words, is the jawfish worth $110 (90lbs sand/$90 + fish/$20?)?
Calling All Pearly Jawfish Owners!
- Thread starter SEEREEFS
- Start date
Jerry W
Active member
I kept a mated pair for a couple years. Really fascinating fish. The shared a borrow, spawned a few times, although we never saw fry. I have considered dedicating my 37 column to a pair of blue spots but so many of them are not healthy. A pair of yellowheads is not out of the question however. Yes, worth the money!
Curious on how you ended up with a pair of pearlies? Paired it yourself? If so, complicated process? Purchased it as a pair? I'd love a pair too so any tips would be great!
Jerry W
Active member
Just luck. Bought two from the lfs and they bonded. Shared the same digs
and hung out together. Came a time when we didn't see one for a few days. Thought it had died or jumped, but then saw it holding the clutch of eggs in it's mouth while the other came out for food. Way cool!
rssjsb
New member
They've also got juvies that you can pair yourself.
I have a pair that share a burrow. Introdued them about a month apart...they faught for a couple of weeks, then became lovers
. I have a 2-3" sand bed and they do fine. They have their burrow under one of my rocks and have built up an impressive mound around it. Be sure and brace your rocks with some PVC or something like that, because they will cause a rock slide. And as for the price, Pearly's cost around $25-30 a piece. The Blue Spot cost around $110...didn't know if you were getting them confused. Also, you can keep multiple Pearly's in a tank together, but you can only keep Blue Spots in singles (unless you have a really large tank).Cheers!
I love pearly jawfish, a beautiful and very entertaining fish. However, their natural lifespan is commonly overlooked by the average hobbyist. They only live 2-3 years max. If you're purchasing wild (captive-bred are very rare) it's quite likely that the fish you're getting is already at least a year old. Which means you'll only enjoy the fish for 1 maybe 2 years tops. I've enjoyed keeping groups of pearlies but its become increasingly difficult to justify replacing them year after year... and its a bit of a downer too. FWIW
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Lsufiregal
New member
I like mine. If you have a busy active tank you may not see it much though. I moved mine from the biocube to a 60 gal, only saw her occasionally after that. She was always digging and making mounds in the biocube. When I upgraded my 60 I put her back in the biocube. Also mine pretty much has to be target fed bc she doesn't come out to eat. I can drop pellets right past her burrow in the biocube, but in the big tank it was harder.
PatW
New member
Years ago I had 2 pearly jaw fish. They loved to artfully arrange pebbles around their burrows. The fun part was they loved stealing each other's prized pebbles. The practice resulted in all sorts of high drama with no damage. I would suggest a mix of a couple of sand sizes along with some coarse stuff.
I have to target feed these guys? I'm not about to target feed anyone because this is a 30 tall tank and I'm not that tall lol.
Caribsea Aragonite Special Grade Reef sand should do the trick, no?
I plan on getting one, bummer about the lifespan tho...
Also i have heard you do not need a DSB. Just a deep area of your sandbed. I constructed sort of a dune area. In some areas of my tank the sand is 1-2 inches, in this area its 6-7, and a fairly large area.
48"x13.25" bottom and i believe i have 60 lbs of sand in there
Also i have heard you do not need a DSB. Just a deep area of your sandbed. I constructed sort of a dune area. In some areas of my tank the sand is 1-2 inches, in this area its 6-7, and a fairly large area.
48"x13.25" bottom and i believe i have 60 lbs of sand in there
