Pearly Jawfish MIA

[Triggerfish]

recently added a decent size pearly couple days ago. by the end of the day he found a burrow up front that he was digging in. he was there next morning and by midday I notice he's not there. still no sign of him today so I move the rock over the burrow and nothing. nothing on floor.

tank is 33" deep and has a high top canopy. only place he could have ended up was if he leaped straight up front landed on top of my light panel and wiggled all the way to the back and slid straight down the back. got a partial cover over overflow but he could slip down the side into overflow. ill check there later..
nothing in filter sock or sump.

do these fish dig multiple burrows so maybe he's in the back somewhere? I'm hoping..

 

[eatbreakfast]

The first few days/weeks changing burrows is pretty common. When added to a tank their first priority is to build a burrow. After a few disturbances or not having a good vantage point to see whats going on around them a jawfish will change burrow location, sometimes a few times before settling in a spot they are happy with.

 

[Triggerfish]

ok.. the first burrow was under the rock that the clowns BTA is on so although it was perfect to see him as it was right up front it may not have been the best spot for him being so close to all that constant movement the clowns do right over him. he was pretty deep in there. hopefully he will come out to eat where ever he may be.

 

[Triggerfish]

I pulled the top canopy out to check the overflow wasn't there but saw him still in the tank near the side. no indication of a burrow in the area. he then took off. who knows. not sure if its eating.

 

[Justin144]

Tagging along. im really worried about mine. I added the other day. he went straight in the same burrow as my pistol shrimp and goby pair and I haven't seen the jaw fish or shrimp goby at all. You think I should lift the rock up? I hate to I have a nice montipora colony on that rock and don't wanna disturb it. But I am getting worried... they have all been MIA for a day now
Thoughts??

 

[eatbreakfast]

Tagging along. im really worried about mine. I added the other day. he went straight in the same burrow as my pistol shrimp and goby pair and I haven't seen the jaw fish or shrimp goby at all. You think I should lift the rock up? I hate to I have a nice montipora colony on that rock and don't wanna disturb it. But I am getting worried... they have all been MIA for a day now
Thoughts??

Dont lift the rock looking for him. If he is still hiding he is still scared, lifting the rock will only worsen that. If he didnt make it lifting the rock wont confirm that either as he could have found somewhere else to burrow anyway.

 

[Neebles]

Just leave him be. I added a juvi pair to mine and didn't see either one for close to a week. They will come out when ready. Mine looked a bit skinny but ate mysis like pigs and now will take pellets as well. Just don't bug it by moving stuff around and sticking your hands in the tank.

 

[pktech]

Dont lift the rock looking for him. If he is still hiding he is still scared, lifting the rock will only worsen that. If he didnt make it lifting the rock wont confirm that either as he could have found somewhere else to burrow anyway.

+1 - If he's alive, he'll certainly come out & eat. Might not be with the lights on though - turn the blue ones on (actinics) & stand back from the tank.

 

[Triggerfish]

was excited to see a new sand pile in the middle today he's been busy digging out. still doesn't come out to feed. maybe once he's settled.

 

[alton]

When I set up my wife,s 40 gallon for a pair of them I did not see them for 3 weeks. Like you every morning I would see something moved in the tank. The tank had a bunch of Mysid shrimp so I am guessing they would build and eat at night when the Mysid would come out, once they ran out of those they then relied on me for food?

 

[Triggerfish]

nice pic alton.. I gather he moved all that small rubble over there.
I broke a small rock up so he could use it for burrow entrance.
not sure if my diamond goby took them all or not though.

I really dig these fish so hopefully he settles in where I can check him out.

 

[Triggerfish]

well.. still no sign of him as of today. its been a week. this is very discouraging as I really didn't foresee having issues with acclimation of this fish. I even took a video of him digging out what I thought would have been its burrow.

 

[Triggerfish]

Well as I pretty much gave up looking for him to my surprise this morning while glancing around at the tank, I noticed him up front in the corner he was working on a burrow. damn was I excited. he still didn't come up for Mysis but did eat pellets that I tossed in the corner.

 

[Nina51]

glad to see he finally decided to come out. i put a yellow coris wrasse in my 75g and in two months, only got a couple of glimpses of him. i had all but given up but he came out a couple of weeks ago and has been out ever since. he doesn't go to bed till well after lights out and he usually pops out of the sand around 10 a.m.

 

[Triggerfish]

fish still hasn't settled in. other night he splashed the top twice and was bopping his head up and out of the water across the top. . not really sure why he feels so stressed still.

 

[mudcat1]

fish still hasn't settled in. other night he splashed the top twice and was bopping his head up and out of the water across the top. . not really sure why he feels so stressed still.

I recently added a pearly jawfish to my 120 gal. mixed reef. My jawfish exhibited the same behavior that you are describing. The culprit in my tank was a flame hawkfish. He would chase the jawfish around and nips at its tail and dorsal fin. I also have a midas blenny who would take the jawfish's burrow each evening.
I tried to separate the jawfish by placing it in a floating acclimation container to give it a break and an opportunity to eat, but it got weaker and it died after a few days, probably from stress.

I think the ideal situation would be best to add the jawfish as the first fish. I plan to get another jawfish, this time I am going to leave it in the acclimation container for a few days so the other fish can get used to it and release it at night when the rest of the fish are sleeping to give the jawfish a chance to build it's burrow in peace. I will also put a PVC T fitting in the acclimation container so the jawfish can hide in it to hopefully reduce its stress.

That's the plan, anyway.

 

[alton]

A friend of mine bought three pairs after she set up her 220 gallon. After a few months two of the three pairs did great, but the third pair split up and after a few more months she lost one from third pair. So for a over a year she had two pairs and one single that she enjoyed until she took the tank down. In dismantling the tank after selling all the livestock guess what she found? Yep the sixth jawfish who evidently was nocturnal.

 

[Triggerfish]

yeah so last night I saw his head sticking out of a hole in a large rock. he did eat a pellet I tossed in near him. this morning he was over in the same corner as in the picture again but just sitting out. freakin weird fish. I just got more sand so im going to pile more around a 45 pvc fitting wedge near a rock where he has burrowed before. not sure what else I can do. pretty much peaceful fish in the tank. my yellow watchman stays pretty much in the same burrow toward the rear so don't think that would be much of an issue there.

have had him for 3 weeks now.