Jawfish Cave Advice

[BenThereFraggedThat]

Does anyone know what the life span for a bsjf is in captivity??

It'll all depend on how cold your water is. Anything above 77-ish will cause their metabolism and overall lifespan to decrease dramatically. That is why they need a relatively cold setup.

 

[Tchung23]

It'll all depend on how cold your water is. Anything above 77-ish will cause their metabolism and overall lifespan to decrease dramatically. That is why they need a relatively cold setup.

Ok. I’m at 75-76. Maybe I should lower it some.

 

[BenThereFraggedThat]

Ok. I’m at 75-76. Maybe I should lower it some.

Couldn't hurt. I keep mine at 76 with a full mix of coral. He's been alive, fat and happy for about a year in there as of now and there is no sign of him stopping any time soon.

 

[Tchung23]

Couldn't hurt. I keep mine at 76 with a full mix of coral. He's been alive, fat and happy for about a year in there as of now and there is no sign of him stopping any time soon.

My guy is eating. But I keep reading horror stories about them getting sock and dying very quickly. I don’t think I’ll get another if this one goes.

My Jawfish currently only eats pellets. Maybe about 10 each feeding.

 

[BenThereFraggedThat]

My guy is eating. But I keep reading horror stories about them getting sock and dying very quickly. I don’t think I’ll get another if this one goes.

My Jawfish currently only eats pellets. Maybe about 10 each feeding.

That's interesting you mention that yours only eats pellets. Mine will exclusively eat flake food. I've tried frozen, I've tried live, I've tried pellets and it didn't touch any of them. I tossed in flake as a last ditch and sure enough, it ate them willingly. To this day, it is the only food I can get it to eat.

 

[Tchung23]

That's interesting you mention that yours only eats pellets. Mine will exclusively eat flake food. I've tried frozen, I've tried live, I've tried pellets and it didn't touch any of them. I tossed in flake as a last ditch and sure enough, it ate them willingly. To this day, it is the only food I can get it to eat.

My guy will eat frozen mysis but then spit it out :)

 

[ReefED!]

Old thread but this is what comes up when you search for jawfish caves

Anyways, I've tried multiple PVC caves with mixed success. I have a reasonably deep sand bed of about 3-4 inches depending on which part of the tank.

For some reason they often ignore the PVC tube I've placed for them and will just start burrowing against it and the rock, so not only are they not using it, it's also an eyesore.

My suspicion is that this is because it's just not deep enough.

I can also confirm that while special grade sand is too fine for them, most of your crushed corals are too coarse - they love them for building the burrow entrance and final touches, but it can also collapse and trap them and so I'm trying to find something more fine.

I would like to get the burrow situation figured out - I've tried a T-joint before but it seems like it was a little too long.

Also be cautious about the size of PVC - when your jawfish get a little bigger, the nickel diameter PVC will probably be too skinny for them.