Yellowhead jawfish in quarantine

[Guest Amber Nussbaum]

I plan on a yellowhead jawfish being the first addition to my tank. I want to quarantine all my fish at least 4 weeks before putting them in the tank. I have read a lot on jawfish, and know that they are very uncomfortable and unhappy without a suitable burrow. How will I handle keeping a jawfish in a QT tank? I plan on having a barebottom tank with just some PVC pipes for the fish to hide in. Will he do okay with that or is he going to be constantly jumping without a burrow. Has anyone had experience quarantining a jawfish? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[michaelg]

Amber- I would not waiste time or undue stress on this particular fish with a q-period.  Jawfish can be freaky jumpers- make sure the tank is "sealed" from a carpet surf....  They are far less stressed when allowed to settle in and make their burrows.  Be forewarned- they will make a sand mess for a while....

 

WHOW- A jawfish in the home you describe I strongly discourage!  A sailfin Blennie is a much better option (as these guys are real happy with a pipe for a home).  The jawfish in a barebottom tank will either jump or go insane and die of stress.... IMO- but I would not even bother trying it.

[Guest Amber Nussbaum]

So in the case of the jawfish, do you think it would be less stressful to simply acclimate him to the main tank than to put him in QT? I'm just trying to prevent disease at all costs and make the happiest fish possible.

[michaelg]

The big problem I see is lack of substrate.  thus my saying don't do it.  Or does the main tank have a sand bed?  Maybe I missunderstood your post.  If it does- I would throw in some "chunks" in the area, take your time acclimating it, and then just releasing it into the main tank where it can settle down.

 

Michael

[Guest Amber Nussbaum]

Yes the main tank has a sand bed.. about 5 inches in most places, deeper in others.. I plan on throwing in rubble for him to build his home. The barebottom tank would be the QUARANTINE tank only. But the more reading I'm doing, I'm finding that jawfish are nearly invincible to the normal aquarium diseases.. so maybe I won't quarantine him.

[flowerseller]

I too would simply add this fish the the main tank after acclimating it.

Try to add as little or no water from the bag as possible. Take your time acclimating it and keep the lights off for the day.

Also, see if you can get the shrimp that lives with it at the same time. Way cool!

Chip

[Gatortailale]

if you are buying the jaw from a LFS, then put it on hold for a week or two in their system and acclimate to your display tank.  It's your first fish as you posted, so I don't see much of any harm in putting it in the display with the dsb unless you are going to add more fish the same day or w/in a few days of adding him.  Just my opinion.

[Guest Amber Nussbaum]

Thanks guys. I don't plan on adding anymore fish for at least a month or two, to give him adequate time to get adjusted and build his burrow.

[flowerseller]

Him?  His?

Oh, maybe because you said burrow and not nest. :p

BTW, I bet "a really nice frag" you add another before "at least a month or two" is up.

Who else wants in on the bet? :D

Chip

[Guest Amber Nussbaum]

Haha bet all you want. I'm sure every newbie starts out saying they're gonna be patient. Oh well. Just trying to do it right.

 

I can't wait til I'm old school so I can scoff at people. Ha.

[flowerseller]

. :D

 

See if you can find the companion shrimp also.

You'll love it.

[Guest cjm033]

im not sure if pistol shrimp will burrow with jawfish , i read they only burrow with certian gobies. id read up more on the pistols and jawfish,Chris