Jawfish question

[sbonder]

60 gallon reef tank with minimal sand bottom. wondering if there is any practical way to pack enough sand and other substrate into a corner, and keep it there, to keep one of these little guys happy.
your advice appreciated

 

[TampaReefer79]

I'm thinking probably not. You want at least 5" of sand, and have differing grain size all the way up to shell bits.

 

[MikeandNicole]

You can pack stuff into a corner and not have the jawfish even settle there. They can hop around burrows even if he does start out there. Some people have had luck building a home out of PVC and putting it is with the acclimating jawfish and get him to go in there. It is a gamble, and they can be tough to catch.

 

[philter4]

I am not sure how they know what is under the sand, but yellow head (pearly) jawfish almost always have a flat stone, with the opening and burrow tunneling down, ending in a chamber under the stone as the roof. I have collected jawfish for years and I find the hole, put my net over it, dig around until I find the rock under the sand, then dig behind the rock to the burrow, chasing the fish into my net. The reason I tell you this is because if you put 3 inches of sand and rubble in a back corner, about an inch under the pile put a medium sized flat stone, the jawfish will find it and build his burrow there.

Another thing to remember is that jawfish move a lot in the ocean, I've seen them go from the shallows to 80 feet depending on season. The reason I tell you this is jawfish also are jumpers and you have to have a good cover on your tank, even after the jawfish is established and has a burrow that he is in for several months, something in his mind triggers and he will start to move around the tank at night. You will notice areas of the tank dug up as he looks to move his burrow. Usually when he hits a corner he goes up and if the tank isn't covered out onto the floor.

 

[sbonder]

thanks all. to be fair to the fish, i'll forego trying to put on in my tank. doesn't seem right to stick him in a tank not designed for his habitat.