jawfish

[rbja]

i set up a 10gal for my wife because she wanted a yellowhead jawfish.
specs.
7 weeks old
12lbs LR
3in sand bed
nano remora skimmer.

my question is what's the proper way to feed a jaw fish and what? do i need to put the food right to him or just drop it in the tank.

thanks.....

 

[Ruskin]

3" sand bed is a little on the small side for a Jawfish. You'd want a 5"+ bed for him to truly be in his element. As for feeding, you might have to drop food near his burrow, but since he should be the only fish in the tank he will venture out enough to grab food he can see.

 

[rbja]

ok thanks. i was thinking a 3in sand bed would be ok because the yellowhead is on the small side for a jawfish. but i guess i was wrong. what should i feed him?

 

[philter4]

3 inch is fine, more is better but he will build a burrow. Just add some coral rubble for him to build In the ocean what they do is find a flat piece of rock and burrow under it as the roof of their home. if you give him a lg flat rock or shell, bury it about 2 inch under the sand and cover it, then scatter the rubble around. He will use the rock as a roof and make his tunnel out of the rubble and sand that he moves around. It may take him a few burrows to find the flat rock, but he will.

As for food, they will find the food. They feed on plankton floating past them so as long as there is currrent to move the food, they will have no trouble. Start out with frozen foods until he is eating well then start to introduce flake and pellets. I have about 20 jaws in 7 species that I have collected myself and they all switch over to pellets and flake quickly.

One more bit of advice, jawfish jump especially when they are new so cover every bit of the tank to keep it in. I have had jawfish jump even after they were established, in the early 90's I collected 6 bluespotted jaw in the Sea of Cortez and after 2 years the only 2 that had died both jumped.

One of my favorite jawfish is the swallow tail it is native to here in FL but lives deep, Ive never seen one in less then 90 ft and the trio I have came from around 120 ft. The male has a huge sail like dorsal fin that he waves like a flag when he is displaying. I've never seen them for sale, but they are colored like a pacific black head jaw, with blue bands on a pastel yellow body and a black head. Very beautiful.

Good luck, and you may find that the jawfish becomes one of your favorite fish as well as your wifes.

 

[el aguila]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12540961#post12540961 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by philter4
3 inch is fine, more is better but he will build a burrow. Just add some coral rubble for him to build In the ocean what they do is find a flat piece of rock and burrow under it as the roof of their home. if you give him a lg flat rock or shell, bury it about 2 inch under the sand and cover it, then scatter the rubble around. He will use the rock as a roof and make his tunnel out of the rubble and sand that he moves around. It may take him a few burrows to find the flat rock, but he will.

As for food, they will find the food. They feed on plankton floating past them so as long as there is currrent to move the food, they will have no trouble. Start out with frozen foods until he is eating well then start to introduce flake and pellets. I have about 20 jaws in 7 species that I have collected myself and they all switch over to pellets and flake quickly.

One more bit of advice, jawfish jump especially when they are new so cover every bit of the tank to keep it in. I have had jawfish jump even after they were established, in the early 90's I collected 6 bluespotted jaw in the Sea of Cortez and after 2 years the only 2 that had died both jumped.

One of my favorite jawfish is the swallow tail it is native to here in FL but lives deep, Ive never seen one in less then 90 ft and the trio I have came from around 120 ft. The male has a huge sail like dorsal fin that he waves like a flag when he is displaying. I've never seen them for sale, but they are colored like a pacific black head jaw, with blue bands on a pastel yellow body and a black head. Very beautiful.

Good luck, and you may find that the jawfish becomes one of your favorite fish as well as your wifes.

Any pictures? and how big do they grow?

 

[philter4]

I suck at photography, and I don't have a very good camara for macro shots, look at my gallery LOL!!! There is a photo of one (female I think judging by the slender head and lower dorsal fin) on page 167 of scott micheals reef fish volume 2 , the basslet, dottyback, and hawkfishes book.

 

[LisaD]

It doesn't have to be five inches through the whole tank, you can build up one side, let the rest be shallow, so you can keep some water volume.