Yellow headed jawfish

[elegance coral]

I want to keep a group of these fish in my 200gl reef. I have some concerns though.

Can I keep multiple individuals together?

How far do they venture away from their burrow? I have anemones that would love to eat little fish like this.

I want to cover PVC pipe with sand, to form burrows. Is 1/2" large enough, or do I need 3/4"?

 

[philter4]

You can keep them together if you have enough space for them to make burrows 2-3 inches apart minimum, 4 or more would be better but I have had them set up burrows right next to each other.

They will swim quite a distance from the burrow, especially at night. They move around in the wild and they will do the same in your aquarium, in the ocean colonies move from the shallows in the spring and fall to deep water in the summers and winters. I think it has to do with temperatures, deeper water is much more stable and in the winter the surface temps get pretty cool, I have dove when it was in the high 60's to low 70's, while in the summer it can be mid to upper 80's for months at a time (hurricanes need water temps above 80 to build strength). In your aquarium they move around and try to start new burrows frequently, when this happens there is nothing you can do to stop them but the drive to move is so strong they will jump out of the tank so keep it tightly covered.

I doubt they will accept a burrow made of PVC, in the ocean they find a buried stone or coral piece and use it as the roof of the burrow making the entrance out of sand and rubble. They are diggers by nature and will push coral and sand around for hours on end keeping the burrow in good repair. I have never seen one accept a substitute but that does not mean others have not had different experiences.

 

[elegance coral]

So basically what you're saying is that these fish would be a poor choice for this tank??????
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[bLac2]

Absolutely beautiful aquarium. Stunning!

 

[nonimmigrant]

I'd be a bit concerned about the anenome but not overly so unless it is a large one vis a vis the tank size. Philter4 is correct that these fish will run around the tank especially in the beginning as they figure out a safe place to burrow. They are prone to jumping as well. I have found that jaws do better in a tank where there is a sand plain if you will - an open area of sand with no rock where they can see what's coming at them. My male pearly, which is just north of 5", has been in such a spot for four years now in the SPS. He will not move even after I rescaped the tank a year ago. The female has a spot around the corner where there are no corals around but she's good line of site all the way around. On the PVC side, I've read of one guy having initial success with a BS but I'm not sure if this was a long-term story.

 

[elegance coral]

Thanks guys.

The tank is a 200gl DD tank. Foot print of 3'x4'.
The green anemone on the right is ~16", and the purple one in the top left is over 20". The purple one is capable of capturing and eating fish, but typically they need to be weakened, or just dive right into the anemone to get eaten. The green one is a specialist at capturing fish. The fish needs to be a really strong swimmer to escape if they bump into it.
I'm still nervous about adding them?????????

 

[nonimmigrant]

Thanks guys.

The tank is a 200gl DD tank. Foot print of 3'x4'.
The green anemone on the right is ~16", and the purple one in the top left is over 20". The purple one is capable of capturing and eating fish, but typically they need to be weakened, or just dive right into the anemone to get eaten. The green one is a specialist at capturing fish. The fish needs to be a really strong swimmer to escape if they bump into it.
I'm still nervous about adding them?????????

If you've one big one down low, I'd not do it. Jaws will run around if they cannot find a suitable plot of land and I can just see a tail sticking out of the anenome's mouth in the a.m. If you were to get rid of the lower anenome, then I might say go for it; especially if your purple anenome is not a wanderer.