Fish emergency

PocketGoose

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 6, 2022
Messages
296
Reaction score
282
Location
Florida
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I’m not sure if anyone has stated this but thats a pearly jawfish, not a blenny. They’ll create tunnels/burrows to shelter in. I saw somebody mentioned maybe picking something up from petco to serve as a hide out. I used to keep several of these guys and used PVC to accommodate lack of a deep enough sand bed. Rarely would it leave its home. Maybe something to try?

How deep is your sand bed? They defiantly prefer a little extra sand. They’ll often take mouthfuls of sand and repurpose it to build up their home territory.

EDIT:

Looks like a bare bottom tank from the pictures? I would honestly look into adding a patch of sand if you want to keep this fish happy. I remember adding a few extra cups in their corner to accommodate. I also forgot to mention I used a decor sponge with holes that they enjoyed in conjunction with the PVC.

I don’t know that sand is a necessity but it’s preferred. I think once the fish has an established territory with some ample hideout it will recover :) I will try to look for a few photos of my pair
 
Last edited:

Kiboshed

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 15, 2022
Messages
420
Reaction score
361
Location
82637
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The tails on both fish you have posted have been nipped.

The clownfish are going to kill your jawfish and firefish if you don't separate them.
 

Tired

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
4,035
Reaction score
4,117
Location
Central Texas
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
That looks to be a jawfish that's very stressed at both the bullying and the lack of anywhere to build a safe burrow. Not a suitable fish for a small tank, or a bare-bottom one, as they need at least 5" of substrate (ideally more, IIRC) to build a burrow in.

As a temporary measure to stop the clowns from killing it, a breeder box could work, though it's likely to still be stressed in there due to, again, nowhere to burrow. Something in the box it can hide in may help a little.

The firefish also needs to come out. I'd guess maybe your clowns have just hit enough maturity to start getting properly aggressive? Would explain why this has started.
 

When to mix up fish meal: When was the last time you tried a different brand of food for your reef?

  • I regularly change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 24 26.7%
  • I occasionally change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 33 36.7%
  • I rarely change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 26 28.9%
  • I never change the food that I feed to the tank.

    Votes: 6 6.7%
  • Other.

    Votes: 1 1.1%
Back
Top