OodleyBoodely
New member
PS, fine mesh fish nets are great for washing sand!
DIY Jawfish Home input
- Thread starter puck3
- Start date
nonimmigrant
New member
As an FYI, I keep my tank at 26*c ...
Re the sand rinse, just do it a few times to ensure that you get any unwanted dust and fine sediment out. If it's dry sand then you should not have much in the way of issues.
NMC
New member
BRS has a calculator to determine how much sand you would need.
Don't lift the rocks, leave them securely on the bottom. Put the sand in and spread it around. No matter how much you rinse it, you will have a cloudy mess for a day or 2. It won't hurt anything and will clear up. Don't worry about it.
You should use a pretty fine sand, although not that sugar fine stuff, perhaps the next size up. If I had it to do over, I'd get that one that has the small shells in it, but the sand itself is pretty fine. I had some leftover rock that I pulverized and threw in there and lots of seashells and pebbles. My jawfish is constantly building. Put your jawfish house in there as well. He may just use it and you will have less sand getting thrown about. Don't get coarse sand or crushed coral. Too rough. The holes they build are just big enough for them to fit and they are constantly in and out of them....if the sand is too course I imagine they'd get kind of abraded.
I keep my tank 77-78 degrees and the corals and inverts don't seem to mind. Right now the only other fish I have is a purple firefish and he doesn't mind it either. I really enjoy my jawfish. It's a little extra work providing the right environment, but he's a great fish! I'm sure you'll enjoy yours, too.
Don't lift the rocks, leave them securely on the bottom. Put the sand in and spread it around. No matter how much you rinse it, you will have a cloudy mess for a day or 2. It won't hurt anything and will clear up. Don't worry about it.
You should use a pretty fine sand, although not that sugar fine stuff, perhaps the next size up. If I had it to do over, I'd get that one that has the small shells in it, but the sand itself is pretty fine. I had some leftover rock that I pulverized and threw in there and lots of seashells and pebbles. My jawfish is constantly building. Put your jawfish house in there as well. He may just use it and you will have less sand getting thrown about. Don't get coarse sand or crushed coral. Too rough. The holes they build are just big enough for them to fit and they are constantly in and out of them....if the sand is too course I imagine they'd get kind of abraded.
I keep my tank 77-78 degrees and the corals and inverts don't seem to mind. Right now the only other fish I have is a purple firefish and he doesn't mind it either. I really enjoy my jawfish. It's a little extra work providing the right environment, but he's a great fish! I'm sure you'll enjoy yours, too.
nonimmigrant
New member
+1 on NMC's comment and I'd take a rock from your sump and go medieval on it with a hammer. Place those rocks (no more than 3/4" in size - I'm assuming your BSJF is no more than the typical 4" long) in a small pile on top of the sandbed for the JF. It will take them trust me.
So woke up this morning and found the BSJF laying on the floor dead, had the top of the tank covered with eggcrate and I guess he was somehow able to fit through it. Pretty ****ed off actually, mostly at myself for not taking better precautions I suppose. But I never thought he would be able to fit through the tiny holes and tank was absolutely covered everywhere.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Carib sea live sand doesn't need to be rinsed. One of the best things about it.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
I bet you'll like your tank more with sand anyway. Great bio filter and habitat for organisms. And looks nice. Once the sand is in, don't disturb it or try to clean it. A heathy sandbed is essentially a living organism. Leave it be and let it do it's thing. Good luck with the fish.
NMC
New member
Oh no!! So sorry for your loss. I read lots of places that the holes in the eggcrate are way too large....I guess you've confirmed that 
.
If you try for another and need a lid, BRS sells cheap fine mesh and also a kit to make a cover that is inexpensive and will do the trick.
My QT had a cover, but I still put duct tape over all the little openings for filtration equipment, etc. I've heard that jaw fish don't just randomly jump, but specifically go for openings, especially in a QT where they haven't been able to establish a "home." I feel lucky that mine made it from QT to DT with no accidents like this. Great fish and not an inexpensive one either. So sorry. Will you get another or stick with your original bare bottom plan and do different fish?
. If you try for another and need a lid, BRS sells cheap fine mesh and also a kit to make a cover that is inexpensive and will do the trick.
My QT had a cover, but I still put duct tape over all the little openings for filtration equipment, etc. I've heard that jaw fish don't just randomly jump, but specifically go for openings, especially in a QT where they haven't been able to establish a "home." I feel lucky that mine made it from QT to DT with no accidents like this. Great fish and not an inexpensive one either. So sorry. Will you get another or stick with your original bare bottom plan and do different fish?
Yea I'm def upset about it. I thought the eggcrate would be small enough but obviously not. I think I'm gonna get another one because I have a friend who runs the LFS and I get really good prices. But before I do I'm gonna take the time and put sand in both the DT and QT. And make sure I completely cover every tiny hole possible in both tanks. I do like the look of sand so I might as well put it in. I don't keep corals so it makes sense to put it in. And I I have the sand mIght as well keep the fish I like.
Fish Biscuit
Active member
Sorry to hear about your jawfish, they had one at my LFS a few weeks ago. Beautiful little fish & kept peeking out to look at me, it's like he was saying "take me home, take me home"
I have eggcrate & needed to keep my goby from jumping into the back chamber of my cube so I went to Home Depot & got the plastic netting. What I ended up doing was taking the piece of eggcrate & putting the netting over it so it made the open space about half the size. It was a pain to hold together so I made do with plastic tubing (it's what was available at the time lol). I would think tightly wound fishing wire around the ends or plastic zip ties would work pretty good.
I have eggcrate & needed to keep my goby from jumping into the back chamber of my cube so I went to Home Depot & got the plastic netting. What I ended up doing was taking the piece of eggcrate & putting the netting over it so it made the open space about half the size. It was a pain to hold together so I made do with plastic tubing (it's what was available at the time lol). I would think tightly wound fishing wire around the ends or plastic zip ties would work pretty good.
Yea that's exactly what I'm going to do also... I went to the restaurant supply
Depot today and bought the plastic betting that bars use to put glassware on too of (cheaper than ordering from BRS and comes in bigger pieces). Going to go check out sand this weekend and then take it from there.
Depot today and bought the plastic betting that bars use to put glassware on too of (cheaper than ordering from BRS and comes in bigger pieces). Going to go check out sand this weekend and then take it from there.
Chipie
Active member
The material called bridal's veil can be found anywhere sewing material is found. Very inexpensive and the hole are very small and it doesn't bother the lighting. I use that to cover all my tanks and never lost a fish. Even tiny ones 
You can put it over eggcrate but with a screen kit, looks very nice.
You can put it over eggcrate but with a screen kit, looks very nice.
