Just brought home a Blue dot jawfish today and am currently acclimating him to the QT. While hes in QT I am making him a Cave out of PVC piping to put in my DT since I have a BB tank. I know your supposed to have sand with these fish but I could not resist the beauty of this fish and have seen interesting DIY homes on reef central so far. What I have setup (only place available with my current rockwork) is a 7"long piece of 1" PVC pipe with a 45 degree elbow for the front opening and at the back leading into the middle of my rockwork is a 90 degree elbow giving him a rear exit. Going to cover this in pruple reef epoxy and then roll in rubble rock for aesthetics. Does this seem sufficient to keep a happy jawfish?
DIY Jawfish Home input
- Thread starter puck3
- Start date
LobsterOfJustice
Recovering Detritophobe
I don't think it will be happy without sand.
Moort82
New member
tbh i don't think jaws should be kept without sand as they naturally need it and build very extensive burrows. The downside is that i can see it easily getting stressed and i've heard that this can also be a reason why they pick up diseases from time to time (especially the blue spots). Allowing them to build a home also means they feel more secure and are less likely to jump.
Is there no way you couldn't just add sand for it? i think you miss out on watching them constantly excavating.
Is there no way you couldn't just add sand for it? i think you miss out on watching them constantly excavating.
NMC
New member
I have a sand bed, but built my jawfish a PVC house, hoping he'd like that. He used the house initially, then I had a leak in my tank and had to switch tanks. Moved everything to the new tank, including the PVC house. He hasn't gone in the PVC house since moving to the new tank, but has built a bunch of hidey holes all over the place. The firefish uses the Jawfish built holes, too. No one goes in the PVC.
Your jawfish may or may not like the PVC thing and with no sand....I guess you could always add some sand later, although that would be kind of a PIA.
Your jawfish may or may not like the PVC thing and with no sand....I guess you could always add some sand later, although that would be kind of a PIA.
Well second day in the QT he seems to be doing ok. I built a replica if the cave im going to put in the DT and used that as the only hiding spot in the tank to get him acclimated to the idea. When I woke up today he was hiding inside poking his head out until I walked by and then he would scoot inside. As for adding sand I suppose I could If absolute necessary and I see that he doesnt take to the PVC cave and/or stops eating or I see other signs of stress. But it would be a HUGE PIA. Hes eating PE Mysis right now but only if it lands right in front of him or inside his cave. I used a turkey baster to shoot it in his direction. Here's a pic of him using the back door of the replica cave in the QT (excuse the pic its from my iphone).
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nonimmigrant
New member
@puck3 : I currently have a pair of pearlies and three BSJ's (I've had the pearlies 5 years and the BSJ's two) ... IME you will eventually need a sand bed for this animal. What I have heard from others trying to raise this fish in a BB with other animals is that the fish will eventually get stressed and continuously roam for a natural home (i.e., sand den). Of the two people that I have know to try to raise them in a BB both fish jumped before they were a year in tank. As a matter of reference, my tank has a 3+" sand bed with a lot of LR rubble thrown in there. My QT also has a 2" sand bed, which was added specifically for my JF's and anampses when they were in QT. I wish you good luck, but you should seriously consider adding sand to make this fish happy.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
They are known to be sensitive anyway. You are attempting to rationalize what you know was a bad move. Return it and get a fish appropriate for your tank.
I understand what you guys are saying. So for my 65 Gallon tank if I did want to add sand what do you think would be the best way to go about it?.Theres alot of questions if anyone can help me out with. Floor dimensions are 18" wide x 36" long. Right now there is approximately 90 lbs of live rock in tank. Would I have to take out all the rock to lay the sand? Can I leave the rock in tank and just fill the front and push it into rockwork? What would be the effects on the tank? Would I have to add live sand since theres still other fish in the tank? Any advice or input is welcome. I will prob add sand to the QT tomorow for the little guy.
nonimmigrant
New member
Is this tank sand, or dry sand? I'd not remove the rock to pour the sand, but do make sure that you QT the sand if it's from someone's tank... would hate for you to introduce something bad to the tank...
reeferstace
I'm a little people
^^^^ This. I totally concur.
LobsterOfJustice
Recovering Detritophobe
If you want to add sand, don't take the rock out. You want the rock resting on the bottom of the tank otherwise the jawfish will destablize the rocks by moving the sand out from under them and you'll have a rockslide.
Well I am DETERMINED to keep this fish. In all honesty I like the look of sand anyways, I went bare bottom only bc the LFS said its the only way to go. The jawfish has been in QT for 3 days only so I have plenty of time to make changes to the DT if need be. At this point after considering all the advice Ive been given from this thread I want to put sand in the DT before the jawfish makes it there. So if anyone can Im looking for advice as the best possible way to do this.
In the QT im just going to pick up a bag of fine Arag-alive. I dont have anyone available to get sand from an established tank. For the DT I suppose I have time to get dry sand and rinse it (except the only time Ive ever worked with dry sand I was so new to hobby I didnt understand you had to rinse it and my tank was cloudy for 2 days). But I would also probably add a bag of arag-alive on top of dry sand to get some bacteria in there.
I do agree after this thread that sand is a must for a happy jawfish. So now Im looking for the best way to add sand to an established DT. All opinions and advice is welcome/wanted to help me. Thanks for all your help.
In the QT im just going to pick up a bag of fine Arag-alive. I dont have anyone available to get sand from an established tank. For the DT I suppose I have time to get dry sand and rinse it (except the only time Ive ever worked with dry sand I was so new to hobby I didnt understand you had to rinse it and my tank was cloudy for 2 days). But I would also probably add a bag of arag-alive on top of dry sand to get some bacteria in there.
I do agree after this thread that sand is a must for a happy jawfish. So now Im looking for the best way to add sand to an established DT. All opinions and advice is welcome/wanted to help me. Thanks for all your help.
reeferstace
I'm a little people
Kudos to you! I think you're doing the right thing.
There's one other thing to consider with blue spots, they tend to prefer cooler temps than those at whcih we tend to keep our reefs. I believe that some folks attribute lack of long term success with this fish to the higher reef temperatures.
There's one other thing to consider with blue spots, they tend to prefer cooler temps than those at whcih we tend to keep our reefs. I believe that some folks attribute lack of long term success with this fish to the higher reef temperatures.
OodleyBoodely
New member
CaribSea makes some excellant sand mixes that are ideal for jawfish, a mix of sand and shells. I would get the dry sand and maybe one bag of the live to go on top. You don't really have to buy all 'live' sand, just use some on the top layer. Add some larger shells and marble sized liverock rubble in a pile for the jaw to pull from for his construction projects and you should be good to go. Just rinse the dry sand and add to the tank. Push into place around your rockwork and then add the live sand on top. You will get some clouding no matter how well you clean the sand, but, it will not hurt anything and will clear within a day usually. If you have filter socks or a place in the filter to add some filter floss/cotton batting you can clean the water up even faster. Good luck and I'm sure your BSJ will appreciate your efforts!
OodleyBoodely
New member
I just put about 6" layer in a 5gal bucket and rinse with tap water, replace and repeat. You can use rodi if you don't like that (t-word) idea! (Personnaly, I don't think the trace amount of tap water is going to cause any problems, but then, I know some here are gasping in dismay and rallying up for a serious comeback... 
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