Pearl Jawfishes

[Lizard333]

I have a 24gallon nanocube dx that I was told that I could put three pearl jawfishes in. The sand bed is 4 inches deep. I am currently going through my cycle but I just wanted to know if this is a bad Idea. I have heard of people doing to of these jawfish in a tank this size, but I have not heard of anyone doing this with three. I don't want to do anything to put the fishes best interest on the back burner. Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[bkiba]

that is a pretty small tank for 3 jawfish. I think they need 2 sqft a piece at least to survive happily. Sounds like if you have any rock in there the most sqft of sanbed you will have is probably about 1-2ft of blank sand. Also you probably want to increase the depth of your sandbed to at least 6" if you want a jawfish specific tank. Also they don't live long 2-3 yrs max, I learned that the hard way as I had one for a while that just croaked. They are awesome fish though.

 

[Jens Kallmeyer]

HI

I have 4 Jawfishes in a 110 gal. They all dig their burrows in the same corner of the tank, about 5 inches between them. Since I got them about a year ago I think they have not seen the other side of the tank, their radius is max. 8 inches around their hole.
The also ignored the area with the really high sand and went for a spot underneath a rock, the sandbed was max 3" deep in that area. Now at least one pair has formed, they were breeding several times now, but the eggs vanish after a few days. The most important thing is to prevent them from jumping out and to keep them with calm tankmates. In my tank they are the biggest fishes, the other tankmates are 8 Chromis, 5 Assessor, 2 Cardinals, one Blenni and one juvenile Scopas tang.
Because they do not move far away from their burrow it is important to make sure they get enough food. If the other ones eat it all before it gets to the Jawfishes, they will eventually starve. I feed tons of food (according to some other people my fishes may be in danger of becoming obese), so this is not an issue in my tank, but keep this in mind.

Best wishes

Jens

 

[Lizard333]

I have heard from others that they are a real treat to watch in your tank. I was curious if any other people have done this. After read your post I think that I am going to go ahead and try it out. If it doesn't work out, my LFS is really cool and they have told me that I could bring them back. At least keep one in my tank. Thanks for the post.
What do you feed your jawfish that keeps them so happy. My jawfish will be the first fish introduce so they can get established, with them being so shy and all at first. I was aslo going to add some gobies in my tank as well. Thanks much again.

 

[bkiba]

The jawfish are a great fish, very intersting to watch. I only really feed cyclopeeze to my tank, the fish i have enjoy it, as did the jawfish. Every once in a while I would feed the jawfish a piece of krill topped with liquid life that he readily ate right from my hand.

Really is a great fish, just makes it harder to see them go. I think that is the reason I could never own an octopus, because they have such an engaging personality coupled with a short lifespan.

To ensure the longest lifespan make sure you get them when they are as small as you can.

Good luck!

 

[Lizard333]

Do you think that I should add the all of the jawfish, I am planning on doing three, at the same time, or should I add them separately???

 

[Jens Kallmeyer]

HI

I would add them all at once. THey will be very shy in the beginning, did not see mine for a week. Now I can have my hands in the tank they don't even bother.
I feed mine Artemia, Krill, Mysis, Plankton, Cyclop Eeze, basically everything that I can get. Their mouth is big, they can gulp down some huge chunks.

Best wishes

Jens

 

[Lizard333]

Cool, I think I will order them through my LFS, they are preety good about taking care of the customers. I just got my cleaning crew today so I want to wait a week before I add anything else. I do not want to start another cycle. The first one was bad enough.