Uh oh Kraylen.

Hey MedRed, where did you get the barnacle?? I could get some CW dried ones but that might take a while...


Edit: I saw in the link he drilled holes in the pipe, I can do it easy but is that required?

has anyone successfully kept a jawfish in one of those? jawfish are uneasy fish and likes their den pretty tight with multiple entrance/exits. Will they stay in there?

I got it from my LFS. Most people pick them up on ebay. You just have to make sure the mouth and base are big enough to fit over the hole and allow the Jawfish in and out.



I think several people in the diy thread have had success. My BSJ recognizes me as his biggest threat. I've had my hands in the tank and he ducked in there. Hopefully with spot feeding him there and with me not bothering him when he's in there... he'll learn it's a safe place. My tank doesn't have enough sand for him to burrow anywhere... the rock sits on the glass and the sand is only giving the illusion that there's a real sand bed in there. it's thickest at his house... had to add some rough aragonite there as the vortech was blowing the sugar sand away and exposing the pvc.

I've had my BSJF for 7 months, he immediately moved into his PCV+Barnacle Condo (with a little encouragement from me) and has used it as his home since day one.

He has never borrowed outside of the hole. He's moved sand around, sure, but mostly to bring MORE sand to the area where his home is.

sounds good, my BSJ had to wander around my tank before finally settling into the place that i originally setup for him. he has 3 entrance and exits there and has stayed since.

my BSJ has finally decided to be picture friendly...












Oh and guess my sand bed!............................


































that's right! just about 1 inch! as i have said many times before, you do not need a 3-6inch sand bed to keep one. As long as you setup rocks and such over the sand bed, the fish can move sand around to make the sand bed taller and make his burrow. In the pic my sand bed looks to be about 4inches when it's not. happy jawfish keeping!

Great pics and vids everyone, keep 'em coming! Here's a pic of my "old timer" Digger (yes I named him, LOL)!
He's been with me for over a year and a half. And thanks to StevieTs' fish saver, I've managed to keep him out of the rear chambers! He is definately one of the most entertaining fish I've owned!

That is such a good picture!

oh man that guy looks like he's huge!

Do you think a dusky is capable of eating a cleaner shrimp? ^ very cool picture btw.

Thanks for the comments! Yes he's huge! That pic was taken several months ago, and I'd say he's at least 3" long now. He's the boss in the tank, but really gets along with all of his tank-mates!

wha he's only 3inches? mine is over 3inches! with the shape of the face and body, yours may be around 4inches.

You know? You may be right, I may have to get the tape measure out! I know he sure eats like a pig!

Her's a side shot of him, he sure is one looooong fish!

yeah because as a jawfish ages, their eyes becomes smaller and face gets rounder, not pointy like the young ones... compare the face of yours to mine.....

mine see how mine has big eyes?

[

yours, see how the eyes are smaller?



here is an example with the yellow head jawfish....

young





older








another good comparison with the eye.... compare mine to yors

Good comparison pics! Appreciate it!

BTW, those yellow heads look great!

i stole those pics off google LoL....those are the florida yellow head jawfish varient. only they have the bright yellow heads.....

Question

I am planning on adding a BSJ in about a month. My LFS has one for 100.00 which is a very low price. I have about 2-3 inches of sand with Live Rock on top of the sand. Should I build a Jawfish home out of PVC or let him build his own? What would you do?

I need another yellow head, I had one then he jumped into the verflow and into the sump and when I found him he was all pale and stressed and didn't make it. He was a gourgeous one from the keys, the ones from the bahamas are just so dull.

i'd let him build his own, just for the fact that you won't get dissapointed. It'll dig and make multiple burrows until it finds one it likes, it might not even like the one you built it, so effort goes to waste. If you want to keep him in the front tank in viewing range, just re-arrange the rocks around where you want him to be so that he cannot burrow under them. that'll help.

i may get another yellow head... bluespots are too expensive for me... but when i have a job i may get some bluespots... theres another one on ebay going for $60

If you have a specific area that you want him to stay in... there's no reason not to build him a house and try it. If he doesn't like it he'll bail on it and build elsewhere. worst case scenario is you're out $10

My bsjf gave up on the pvc house, so I took it out. He created a burrow directly the pvc and built it up with empty snail shells that and live rock. The only bad thing is that he was startled once and cut his head on the rock. He is much less shy now and comes out of his burrow more often to catch mysis.

He has a pair of helfrich firefish as tankmates now. I couldn't resist buying a pair for $139.00. An lfs had a 50% sale last week...woohoo. They are all doing great together. My next fish will be mandarin. I am also actively looking for a pair of nice picasso clownfish. The last fish for the 65 gallon will either be a flame hawk or a flame angel.

SeaSkull

I forgot to mention that the jawfish is doing quite well despite the cut (a piece of skin seems to be sticking out though). He is very active and his appetite is very strong, as he usually beats the firefish to the mysis. Does anyone have recommendations on helping the abrasion cut faster? Thanks.

SeaSkull

Just got a call from the LFS, they are getting in a new shipment of BSJ tonight. They were kind enough to hold one for me till I can pick him up tomorrow. 89.99 incredible price!!! I was lucky enough to grab the last one form the order.

What are you guys feeding your jawfish and how often?

Mine eats Prime reef flake. 2 times a day.

To those of you with BSJF, how hardy are they? I think I want one but I keep reading about how they mysteriously die. I might just get one of LA DD to get the guarantee. I don't have any agressive fish either, a mandarin, blenny, and a juvi french in a 40brd. Might get a black cap, and some small gobies as other fish.

How do you deliver it to him? it'd be easier for me to do prepared food over frozen i think.

Heres a vid of my BSJ

Great video Rehype! Thanks for sharing it.

On a sad note, I'm sorry to say my BSJF has died. And I'm responsible for his demise and I feel awful about it. I was working on my tank last night and had turned off the pumps. Well apparently I must have forgot to turn them back on. There he was lying on the bottom, I was sick about it. I also lost my yellow assessor as well.

I will be getting another BSJF and already have my LFS on the look-out for one.

I use a turkey baster. I soak it in tanks water squirt some in to distract everyone else and the put a few blast towards him.

I've had him for about a month. For the first 2 weeks he was in a kritter catcher placed by his barnacle home. I removed him and put him in the barnacle. he stayed there for a day and has moved to a new place every day since.

Man basser, that sucks. Hipefully your LFS finds a new one, at least you did loose the clowns.

Thanks basser. Im really sorry to hear about your jawfish.I hope your able to find another one soon.

That's horrible horrible horrible news My jawfish and I shed a tear for your little friend

oh man that's a bummer.... i know how you feel, when i lost my first YHJ after having it for over 1yr, i shead a tear too.... by far my favorite! i still like the YHJ more than the BSJ.

Oh no! . That's so sad

fun thread! JF are one of my favorites. If you look around online you can find Florida based jf (including mated pairs) for $15-40. I'd get a BSJF but they are out of my budget (just like the helfrichi's) even though there is a smoking deal on one here at a lfs for $75. I've had some before, but lost them to jumping and I believe on to my maxijet mods (was in a 40 gal breeder).

im thinking about selliny my BSJ, i have always liked my yellow head more and am thinking about getting a pair of them instead of keeping my BSJ....

Here you go...............

A mated pair of them from the Florida Keys for $25!

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Yellowhead-Jawfish-a...id=p3286.c0.m14

I bought a mated pair from that lady last year and one of them arrived DOA.

My complaint was I bought a mated pair because I wanted a mated pair, not a single. I could have walked down the street and got a single for $15. I paid $30 for the pair and $35 Shipping. So $65 total.

She would only refunded me $15 So I paid $40 for what I could have gotten for $15 down the street.

Ebay couldn't understand the difference between a mated pair and a single.

Was I wrong to be upset?

Any one can have a bad experience, even with an LFS. My LFS will only give a 24 hour guarantee, after that, it's up to you.

While I've never bought fish thru e-bay or dealt with this particular seller, I noticed she does have a 99.7% seller rating.

As the old saying goes caveat emptor!

i like to turn all pump/powerheads off and then leave a pile of mysis in front of their dens.

I'm going to STRANGLE MY JAWFISH! I made a mess moving sand a LR to better integrate the jawfish house into the scape to make the BSJ more comfortable. So where is he now? hanging out right behind the house... he's not even in any type of burrow. He's basically hanging out in an overhang and peeping right over the house. he's going to make me kick his butt.

All your jawfish are belong to Death.

mine will belong to death soon if he doesn't quit taunting me!

Picked up my BSJ today. I decided not to do the jawfish house. He was hanging out in a piece of live rock i have that is hollow on the inside. Perfect place for him, it had two ways in and out; but my porcelain crab bothered him and he is now on the other side of the tank between some rocks. No signs of him making a burrow yet.

i'm actually picking up my pair from sealife inc. since they can guarantee the full yellow head, not just part of it and they dive and collect themselves to guarantee it. but first i want to sell mine... anyone wanna make offers?

aww man sorry about the jawfish basser

my BSJ must have looked over my shoulder while I was typing yesterday and realized his days were numbered. I woke up this morning to see him peeping from his renovated home. He's moved a couple of rubble pieces to close it off more.

Pics! Pics! We need 'em!

Well, I got some good news today. My LFS called me this afternoon to tell me he got 4 bluespots in! So tomorrow I'm going in to try and get the "pick of the litter"!