Pearly Jawfish Colony Requirements

[Castaign]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of cycling a new 35 gallon cube (20 inches on a side). This will be a pearly jawfish dominated tank, though I would like to add a few other calm fish to the mix. My proposed stocking list is as follows:

1-2 Helfrichi Firefish
1 Green Banded Goby
2-3 Pearlies

This will be a mixed reef tank with with soft corals. Substrate is 3.5 to 4 inches of mixed aragonite and crushed coral, with pre-buried rubble piles. I have about 25 pounds of pukani rock with numerous arches, caves and hiding spaces. There is an E-shopps sump and refugium with a PSK-75 skimmer.

My questions are two-fold:

1) Does my stocking list seem compatible?
2) Can a tank this size support a trio of jawfish, or would I be better served sticking with two (or even one)?

Any advice or input is most welcome. I've been in the hobby for five years and have a successful 150 gallon tank (and a very lightly stocked 8 gallon pico), but this will be my first experience with a medium sized tank.

Thanks!

 

[d-man]

Yes,except the fire fish should only be one.

 

[Castaign]

Ah. I see on further research that the Helfrichi are territorial unless bonded. Does this territoriality extend to all members of the Nemateleotris species, or could I have, for example, a Helfrichi Firefish and a Purple Firefish in the same tank?

Many thanks for the quick answer!

 

[m0nkie]

you can only keep 1 total, not different colors.

with a 35 gallon, you pretty much maxed out already with 1 firefish 1 goby and 3 jawfish. you can add some inverts to look at

 

[m0nkie]

I know pearly jawfish are recommended as colony fish everywhere, but has anyone successfully kept a colony?

I can't find much info on keeping these as a colony and the few people that tried 3-4 ends up with a pair

 

[olemiss reb]

Three jawfish are going to fight in that footprint. One per 2' seems to be the standard unless you can acquire a mated pair.

 

[alton]

Contact KP Aquatics for a pair, they will come back in season I think around April?
http://www.kpaquatics.com/product/mated-pair-of-yellowhead-jawfish/

 

[Castaign]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have had success keeping a trio of jawfish in the past for several years, but that was in my 150 gallon and two were a bonded pair.

I'd far rather understock than overstock, so I'll plan on starting out with a pair in this tank (and I'll shoot for a mated pair). If territoriality becomes an issue, I can easily transfer one or more fish to my 150 gallon (which is fairly lightly stocked).

Again, thanks for all the answers and input, it is very much appreciated! I'll post pics when the tank is cycled and I'm ready to add livestock.

 

[m0nkie]

did the 3 jawfish stay in one borrow or different ones?

 

[Castaign]

did the 3 jawfish stay in one borrow or different ones?

If I recall correctly, they all started out in separate burrows. The bonded pair eventually shared a burrow for a while, and then at infrequent intervals (every several months) all three of them would swap out - Fish A would dive into Fish B's burrow while Fish B was feeding. Fish B would then move to Fish C's burrow, who would move to Fish A's now empty burrow.

There was a fair amount of posturing between the three of them, but it only involved "yawning" when one of the other jawfish approached too closely.

 

[ThRoewer]

I would dump the gobies and rather add some Gramma to the jawfish to make it an all Caribbean tank.
I would get 2 or 3 juveniles of each to get pairs. The tank size should be sufficient.

 

[ginpang]

Male jawfish have a real big square head and a more elongated frame and females have a littler stouter body and a compressed head which makes her eyes look bigger.
Also both times I had couples the male had a golden head with almost a silver hue and the female had a yellower head.
If you see many at once you can pick and choose.

I'll try to post a picture if they decide to come out of the same side of the tunnel. As for now one is on the front and the other on the side entrance.

 

[ginpang]

Sorry guys .... Things got more complicated overnight. The pair probably got annoyed that I was trying to take pictures yesterday.

The two entrance duplex they had, became a 4 entrance triplex and oddly enough yasha goby now lives with them and the 4 th exit seems to be guarded by a peppermint shrimp.
I had read horror stories of jawfish picking up shrimp gobies in the mouths and spitting them out elsewhere away from the den.

But apparently they hired mine to watch one of their holes[emoji38]

 

[ginpang]

Pearly Jawfish Colony Requirements

This morning , the skylight gave a sunny patch inside the tank.
I tried to take a picture to illustrate what I was trying to explain on earlier posts since the male jawfish who had been living with the yasha for the last few days was back with the other jawfish.

Unfortunately with the sun the colour on the head looks the same as for usually with the LEDs the big one's head looks lighter.
The one thing we can see on the pictures is how the lower part of the eyes ( close to the mouth ) are closer together on the little one than the big one . Also the black dots under the jaw are more apparent on the male and you can see all his jaw folds under his chin.

....Sorry for the dog shadows and baby sounds in the video...

https://vimeo.com/151410539

It's unfortunate we lose so much quality loading videos.[emoji47]

 

[Castaign]

This morning , the skylight gave a sunny patch inside the tank.
I tried to take a picture to illustrate what I was trying to explain on earlier posts since the male jawfish who had been living with the yasha for the last few days was back with the other jawfish.

Unfortunately with the sun the colour on the head looks the same as for usually with the LEDs the big one's head looks lighter.
The one thing we can see on the pictures is how the lower part of the eyes ( close to the mouth ) are closer together on the little one than the big one . Also the black dots under the jaw are more apparent on the male and you can see all his jaw folds under his chin.

....Sorry for the dog shadows and baby sounds in the video...

https://vimeo.com/151410539

It's unfortunate we lose so much quality loading videos.[emoji47]

Those are some adorable pics and video; thanks for sharing!

My new tank is up and cycling nicely, and I'm pretty happy with the aquascaping.

 

[ginpang]

Yes nice rock work , and perfect size crushed coral. They're going to like it [emoji1360].

I don't see any fish ...you're cycling with food I'm guessing . I never had the patience to do that lol!

 

[Castaign]

Yes nice rock work , and perfect size crushed coral. They're going to like it [emoji1360].

Thank you! I went with dry Pukani this time since I've never been happy with the results when I've started with live rock - it never seems to fit precisely how I want it. For this new tank I invested in a hacksaw and a Dremel so that I could get something that ended up with a lot of arches and caves. It took quite a bit longer to set up (and the initial work with hammer and chisel really shouldn't have been done on my hardwood floor, which is now more than a little scraped up), but I'm happier with the appearance than I have been with any of my other tanks. Also, paying $8/pound at the LFS just seems wasteful.

In addition to the crushed coral, I've got four different buried piles of larger rock chunks and shells, so I'm hoping there's plenty of materials to keep the jawfish happy.

I don't see any fish ...you're cycling with food I'm guessing . I never had the patience to do that lol!

Yep, cycling with a piece of frozen shrimp (which I removed after two or three days). I've never cycled with fish before since the recommended specimens are more aggressive than what I want to end up with. In any case, the Pukani rock (while beautiful and very easy to work with) had quite a bit of organic material on it (dried sponge, dried algae, dried emerald crabs). I suspect that the initial cure would have been too much for even the hardiest damsel, even without adding the raw shrimp.

I don't mind the wait anyway. While I'm not exactly "patient," I do enjoy the delayed gratification of seeing a plan come together as intended (and the times that I've rushed things never seemed to go as well as I expected).