My attempt at a blue spot jawfish in a reef tank

[launchnukes]

I got a call from a friend that he had a blue spot jawfish come in and i should check it out. after a couple youtube videos and watching him at the store for a few minutes i figured i'd give him a try. I have read that they do not have a great success rate so i figured i'd document my journey on this very cool fish. The tank is a 300 gallon marineland deep dimension sps reef, tank temps are between 79-81F. more tank specs and livestock can be found on my build thread here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19487532#post19487532

before adding him to the display, I qted him with prazi for about two weeks.

I have a shallow, fine sand bed which i knew would not be ideal for the bsj so i wanted to make him a home. I also wanted to make sure he would stay front and center (or at least try). I took a piece of 3/4" pvc and a 45" elbow and figured that would work. then i realized that no matter what, the top would always poke out and it would look unnatural.

So i bought some crushed coral and aquamend and tried to make the end that would be poking out look a little more natural.

I buried the pvc and placed some crushed coral and rubble rock around it. now, how to make the bsj find and stay in the home. I decided to use some tupperware, some planning, and after a strategic series of maneuvers i somehow had the bsj trapped right on top of the home i made. within five minutes, he was in the hole renovating his new home.

as soon as the lights went out, i removed the tupperware. and to my suprise, he was still in his home the next morning. and he did quite a bit of work building and renovating the den. I must say it is an absolute blast to watch him work. I'll get a video when he gets settled in.

his home, front and center. (hope he stays).

 

[launchnukes]

day 3

the blue spot jawfish has been a blast to watch. I've been giving him a few pieces of rubble rock each night to make him feel at home. I made a quick video of night number 3 in the tank just after i dropped in a little rubble. He's still timid but getting more comfortable each day.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/n_ZXUza2zho" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[jechew2]

Awesome video! I've always wanted one but have heard that they are difficult to keep alive for more than a year or so. Hopefully yours will do really well and will make me reconsider. Also, really like your PVC home that you made.

 

[mtaswt]

Awesome video! I've always wanted one but have heard that they are difficult to keep alive for more than a year or so. Hopefully yours will do really well and will make me reconsider. Also, really like your PVC home that you made.

X2

That was great to watch and I hope the best for him. He looked really happy! Keep us updated

 

[snorvich]

Lower temperature will improve the likelihood of long term success.

 

[darthparj]

Very cool!

 

[nozleman]

I hope you have a cover for your tank!!!! I have had 3 of these incredible fish all have carpet surfed, they will find the smallest hole and go for it!!! The last one I had for about a year and covered lid, he found a nickel sized hole and flew 2 feet! I think after a certain time period they go looking for a mate, my .02, Good luck!!

 

[C Dog]

Yes beautiful fish. I had one carpet surf with a cover too. Has any one kept them as a pair? Maybe that would decrease the jumping?

 

[snorvich]

Yes beautiful fish. I had one carpet surf with a cover too. Has any one kept them as a pair? Maybe that would decrease the jumping?

No. they will jump, if there is an opening, they will find it.

 

[cricket3764]

Very cool ..I had one make sure you have a topper he like to jump ..

 

[NarnyTheGreat]

Thats a shame about them jumping so much. I wanted to put one in my tank. I keep lids on my tanks but have a return pipe which leaves open space. Oh well... continue to dream.

 

[BartenderSteve]

Nukes, the video is awesome. Love these fish and would love to do what you did. I was just wondering if you could elaborate on the strategic series of maneuvers and planning that you took to get him under the tupperware.
:beer:

 

[Steve175]

Agree with the jumping issue: had one (favorite fish for a year) until he startled and jumped . . . never found him until I later moved the tank ($100 jerky). Tank was 90% covered. . . no sudden movements . . .

 

[Six line]

I'm done with gobies for now...two carpet surfed through a 1x1" hole in the cover I use for feeding when I'm a bit too lazy to move the whole thing off. In hindsight, that hole was probably a bad idea.

Video was definitely nice to watch. Hopefully stays up front in the tank like that.

 

[gpx1200]

cool idea making him a home with the pipe, i'm curious to see how long he stays their though. i love jawfish but they allways dig a bunch of holes and undermine my rock work, also they will steal any coral frags small enuf to cary to camoflage their home these small frags ushualy fall into their hole and get buried other than that they are some of my favorite fish

 

[launchnukes]

thanks guys. yes, my tank is covered i have a few small gaps, hopefully he doesnt find any of them. and @ steve, i'm slowly trying to drop my temp to the high 70s.

anyway, new pics. I took these during feeding time. He's rarely out of his burrow unless it's time to eat and he's fast so it's hard to get a good pic. here's the best i could do.

 

[Mock]

I have been wondering how I could keep one of these fish with my shallow sand bed.. You have answered my questions... Nice fish. I hope to add one to my collection soon.

 

[reppo13]

My favortie fish for sure. Reached 5 years on the 16th this month still going strong! I see you along with most other people took the pipe route. I personally don't believe in it as it's just too unnatural and at the wrong angle. If they aren't vertical they can't see their surrounding (very important IMO) and have to come out to do it. If the fish comes out, it's risking death (obviously in the wild). Check during the night to see if he's still in his burrow at night. If he's not, be ready for possible carpet surfing. This night wandering thing is what I believe as a very stressful time for them. If they wander, they want a new burrow. Jawfish in the wild will cover their burrows at night normally with rubble like yours provided. That is a good sign if he does it. Also if he does end up moving, Its best to have the burrow almost vertical, true jawfish burrows are 75-85* vertical and around 6-7" deep with a small turnaround area at the bottom. If you really want to keep him in that area, focus the food on him obviously. He should be fine with other fish in his space as he can hold his own. Snorvich is right. If there's a hole they'll find it. Temp should be low at first, if your other fish are fine with the temp keep it there. Otherwise I slowly raised the temp back up after 3-5 months and everything is good.

 

[Daniel Reef]

@reppo, it sounds like you are saying that in order to keep a jawfish, the tank should have a 6-7" DSB.

 

[launchnukes]

Thanks for all the info. Well, one good thing is that he does cover his burrow at night so I don't think he's out exploring too much. Im gonna give him some more rubble tonight. Hopefully he likes his new home.

My favortie fish for sure. Reached 5 years on the 16th this month still going strong! I see you along with most other people took the pipe route. I personally don't believe in it as it's just too unnatural and at the wrong angle. If they aren't vertical they can't see their surrounding (very important IMO) and have to come out to do it. If the fish comes out, it's risking death (obviously in the wild). Check during the night to see if he's still in his burrow at night. If he's not, be ready for possible carpet surfing. This night wandering thing is what I believe as a very stressful time for them. If they wander, they want a new burrow. Jawfish in the wild will cover their burrows at night normally with rubble like yours provided. That is a good sign if he does it. Also if he does end up moving, Its best to have the burrow almost vertical, true jawfish burrows are 75-85* vertical and around 6-7" deep with a small turnaround area at the bottom. If you really want to keep him in that area, focus the food on him obviously. He should be fine with other fish in his space as he can hold his own. Snorvich is right. If there's a hole they'll find it. Temp should be low at first, if your other fish are fine with the temp keep it there. Otherwise I slowly raised the temp back up after 3-5 months and everything is good.