Jawfish burried in sand (not burrowed)

[alton]

when I kept jawfish or should I say kept the wife's jawfish, they seem to do better in their own tank.

 

[ironman187]

Aquarium Saltwater Sand - Nature's Ocean®

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CARIBSEA was producing something similar. Just pyle it up in an area where you want them to stay

Ok, that's about the size range I was smashing the rubble up to.

Update, the larger jawfish was seen digging it's origional den and even went after some food that floated very close to it's den.

 

[Dragon52]

That's good news, You'd be surprised at the size of rubble they can move when they want to, easily 1/2-3/4" stuff.

 

[ironman187]

Well, one of the jawfish disappeared again, I suspect it's the bigger one. I'm not really worried about it though. Meanwhile, the other one is busy building it's den right in front of the glass. My understanding is that when they build out in the sand bed like this, they feel safe. It's a great location too! It doesn't seem to care about the other fish either. Don't mind the algae on the glass, I'm waiting until it digs deep enough to hide when I scrape the algae off.

 

[Eva Rose]

As @eatbreakfast said enough rubble is key. They use rubble to build doors, divide openings etc. Being able to build a burrow like they would in the wild, keeps them near the burrow & not swimming along anxiously.
Put empty shells near their burrow. Mine loves to use empty snail shells etc. But his favorite is empty clam shells (from frozen clam on half shell). He uses these as his "doors".
Using shells of varying sizes makes them happy. Do not use what LFS label as "crushed coral " which contains some very sharp pieces that could injure the jawfish.
They can construct multiple burrows over time. This way they feel safe if they explore the tank at night while other fish are asleep. It gives them boltholes to dive into if startled.
Mine has a huge cave with over 6 "doors". It is funny because at night the jawfish & my Regal angel (king of tank) have this tank all to themselves for sleeping. He still loves rearranging, "remodeling" it constantly. He will even take shells from me. At feeding time he pops out of his "front door* to eat LRS blends from a baster.
Once comfortable, jawfish hang near their established burrow and look out from it from various holes. You will see them watching & building all day. At night they slide a shell to "close" their door shut.

 

[ironman187]

As @eatbreakfast said enough rubble is key. They use rubble to build doors, divide openings etc. Being able to build a burrow like they would in the wild, keeps them near the burrow & not swimming along anxiously.
Put empty shells near their burrow. Mine loves to use empty snail shells etc. But his favorite is empty clam shells (from frozen clam on half shell). He uses these as his "doors".
Using shells of varying sizes makes them happy. Do not use what LFS label as "crushed coral " which contains some very sharp pieces that coyld injure the jawfish.
They can construct multiple burrows over time. This way they feel safe if they explore the tank at night while other fish are asleep. It gives them boltholes to dive into if startled.
Mine has a huge cave with over 6 "doors". It is funny because at night the jawfish & my Regal angel (king of tank) have this tank all to themselves for sleeping. He still loves rearranging, "remodeling" it constantly. He will even take shells from me. At feeding time he pops out of his "front door* to eat LRS blends from a baster.
Once comfortable, jawfish hang near their established burrow and look out from it from various holes. You whilee see they watching & building all day. At night they slide a shell to "close" their door shut.

I've been taking larger pieces of rubbel and smashing them up to smaller pieces with a hammer. It sounds like this may not be the best method given your input. Where do you source your rubble? Also, what size clam shells do you use?

 

[Eva Rose]

I've been taking larger pieces of rubbel and smashing them up to smaller pieces with a hammer. It sounds like this may not be the best method given your input. Where do you source your rubble? Also, what size clam shells do you use?

My rubble comes from:
*shells from various sized snails that have died
*half shells of clam (I feed frozen half shell of clam to my angel & CBB).
This gives him varied shapes & sizes but smooth pieces. Avoid jagged pieces that are broken. The clam shells are about 1 inch long.

Hikari Bio-Pure Clam On A Half Shell | Aquarium Supplies at LiveAquaria

 

[Eva Rose]

Here you go. Close up pic shows him at one of his side doors using one small rounded snail shell. Other pic shows how big & intricate their burrows can be. Doesn't show in other pic, but he likes flatter clam shells for his main door.

 

[landlubber]

I often find that if enough hiding places are present and nothing is bothering them some new adds will be reclusive for the first 5 days... right when you want to see them the most!
wrasses can outright hide for up to 20 days :S

 

[ironman187]

Here you go. Close up pic shows him at one of his side doors using one small rounded snail shell. Other pic shows how big & intricate their burrows can be. Doesn't show in other pic, but he likes flatter clam shells for his main door.

That's awesome. Our larger one still hasn't committed to building it's own den, just hollowed out a cave under some live rock. The smaller one continues to build it's den in the spot by the glass. The larger one kicked the smaller one out of it's den for a bit, then they both shared it for a while longer. Both are getting braver by the day.

I often find that if enough hiding places are present and nothing is bothering them some new adds will be reclusive for the first 5 days... right when you want to see them the most!
wrasses can outright hide for up to 20 days :S

New fish hiding isn't a concern for me, it was the cowering in a corner of the tank, burrying itself in the sand, and swimming up at the surface of the water that was alarming as it isn't normal behavior according to my research. However, both are doing great now!

 

[Eva Rose]

Place some empty shells near some live rock locations that might make a good burrow. Avoid cave where kole tang sleeps. When fish are asleep, smaller one might choose one of these spots to build burrow near live rock.

 

[ironman187]

Place some empty shells near some live rock locations that might make a good burrow. Avoid cave where kole tang sleeps. When fish are asleep, smaller one might choose one of these spots to build burrow near live rock.

Oh, so Kole tangs are known for sleeping in caves. I thought mine was just wierd.

Good advice, I put the rubble and a few shells in about a 4" diameter around the areas they both have dens.

This was them yesterday. The larger one is in the smaller one's den.

 

[alton]

Here you go. Close up pic shows him at one of his side doors using one small rounded snail shell. Other pic shows how big & intricate their burrows can be. Doesn't show in other pic, but he likes flatter clam shells for his main door.

Eva I thought when you mentioned a front and back door you were speaking about a BSJF. Only my bluespots had front and back doors to their dens. And a pearly/yellowhead will never get this comfortable. Have fun with the YH's Ironman

 

[Eva Rose]

Eva I thought when you mentioned a front and back door you were speaking about a BSJF. Only my bluespots had front and back doors to their dens. And a pearly/yellowhead will never get this comfortable. Have fun with the YH's Ironman

Ah - that is very interesting! Yes my bluespot is very comfortable. He has 2 ”main‘‘ doors he opens in AM & closes @ night. Then he has 4 ‘doors that he uses more as portholes to sit out & watch all the other fish. I guess those are more like his “porches”, lol. Great pic of your BSJF!!

 

[ironman187]

The latest update. Gotta add more rubble and shells it seems. Unfortunately, she's making more of a pit than a tunnel.

 

[ironman187]

And now the large one has taken over the smaller one's den, so the smaller one is building next door. The larger one keeps spitting mouthfulls of sand into the smaller one's den. We think the large one is the male because he seems to have a larger, more square jaw than the smaller one.