How many jawfish in a 125 gal?

[jellyfish4me]

Hi! I just finished reading your article about the jawfish, it was/is great! Lots of info! In fact it explained a lot to me about what I have heard others complain about, but didn't understand. As in clearing out 1/2 the tank of sand. I have kept a yellow head jawfish before in my 30 gal, but never experienced this before. I unknowingly had the right environment. 12" sand bed & lots of rubble. My jawfish just made his original mess, I cleaned it up, then everything was fine.

The jawfish is my holy grail, it is the fish I saw many years ago in the fish store that got me interested in saltwater. It was a blue spot and it was kept in the main display tank, not for sale, with a clear upside down cup over him and his home, at the time, the store owner said this was the only way to keep him from jumping.

Anyway, I finally have all equipment bought to set up my 125 tank. It has a 55 gal refugium/sump about 3/4 full under the tank. So my water volume is slightly higher than 125, if that matters. This tank will be a reef tank, but I'm trying to set it up around the needs of yellow head jawfish. This will PROBABLY be the only type fish I keep in this tank.

Sorry for the life story! Now for the questions!

I have enough sand purchased to go 6" deep, Would you recommend more?

When I purchase my live rock, I will place it in the tank, then add the sand. I am also planning on drilling the rock to insert pvc tubes, to avoid rock slides. Your article suggests open spaces. Should I leave a large open area, maybe in the middle? Or an opening on each end of tank, Or (my choice) a lagoon type look, with only the front/middle open? As in....

Top View...

_________
/ \
/ \


How many Yellow heads can I comfortable house in an aquarium this size?

Last question... In the hopes that someday, I could see this fish breed, is there anything else I can do that will encourage this?


THANKS SO MUCH FOR ANY ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE!

 

[jellyfish4me]

My drawing didn't turn out. It's supposed to look like the letter C, Duh! I guess I just should have said that in the first place!

 

[Sloeber]

I have enough sand purchased to go 6" deep, Would you recommend more?

the deeper the better. since this might be a dedicated jawfish tank i would consider making it deeper.

Your article suggests open spaces. Should I leave a large open area, maybe in the middle? Or an opening on each end of tank, Or (my choice) a lagoon type look, with only the front/middle open? As in....

your best bet for a spawning pair would be to have the rockwork in the center of the tank, with either end having open sandbed. if the jaws couldn't see each other it would be best. have the middle of each clearing piled with rubble to encourage the digging in the center.

How many Yellow heads can I comfortable house in an aquarium this size?

if a pair is obtained, i see no reason to have more than 2.

Last question... In the hopes that someday, I could see this fish breed, is there anything else I can do that will encourage this?

nothing to specific. give each jaw enough room to build their own den. the male may build 2 dens. don't overcrowd them. if tankmates are added ensure they are very peaceful fish. feed high quality foods.

sit back, relax, and enjoy your jaws!

HTH

henry

 

[jellyfish4me]

Hi Henry! Thanks for the past help! I just added 2 yellow heads to my 125 gal about 3 hours ago. They darted into the rockwork somewere and I havn't seen them come out yet. I hope they are still in there! I have the tank sealed up pretty tight, my only concern is if they got into the overflow box. I keep checking it though. I am trying to stay away from the tank until they set up camp.

My next question... I havn't added a clean-up crew yet. Here is what I want to add and would like to know if you for-see any problems with the jawfish...

emerald mithrex crabs
blue leg hermits
sand cucumbers
linka starfish
sally lightfoot crabs
nassarius snails (sand-digging)
other snails

Please forgive any spelling errors, I'm guessing that most of these will be ok, but I'm unsure of the sand cucumbers & nassarius snails. I know to stay away from serpant/brittle stars, but would a linka be ok?

THANKS AGAIN!

 

[Sloeber]

My next question... I havn't added a clean-up crew yet. Here is what I want to add and would like to know if you for-see any problems with the jawfish...

i see no direct problems involving the CUC and the jaw.

be aware that linkia starfish can be tricky...and blue hermits will kill nassarius for their shells...and SLF will nibble on coral polyps.

HTH

henry

 

[jellyfish4me]

Thanks again for the help, I guess I am so worried about the jawfish, I didn't think of the other conflicts. I have a new dilema, if you have time...

I can't believe how stupid I was about the overflow! I found one of my jawfish in the bottom of the overflow box, he was alive and "big mouthing" me, so I assumed he was ok. When I think about it now, he might have just been breathing really hard, as he was seriously stressed by the time I got to him. The overflow has bio-balls in it for noise reduction reasons, without them, it sounds like a waterfall. By the time I removed all the bioballs, the jawfish slipped/swam down the tube to the sump/refugium.

He laid their on his side in the refugium. I turned off the return pump and disconnected the overflow, then I completing wrapped the overflow box that remains inside of the tank with saran wrap to seal it, to avoid this from happening again. Afterthought... Why didn't I do that in the 1st place!

I carefully placed him back in the main display tank, which he still just laid there, gasping for air it seemed. He died shortly thereafter.

The other jawfish... Happily building his den, front and center in the display tank. I couldn't have chosen a better spot for him myself. He is already eating.

My dilema... Can I still add another jawfish or 2 later? I remember reading somewere that they should be added at the same time. There are no other fish in the tank, After this and maybe another jawfish get settled in, I should be able to set my overflow back up without any future problems? I understand that it is always possible, but I'm hoping you will tell me it's unlikley once the jaws have their dens constructed.