Yellowheaded Jawfish - Page 4

jake levi · #76 09/03/2006, 06:06 AM

Hi Martin
just curious, was that snail a murex ? What size is it ? I am just wondering if its related to one of the two murex in the Med. that produced the ancient purple dyes.

I was in a shop in Saginaw the other day, saw he had yellow heads priced at around $20, I was tempted but they looked skinny, he had them in a tank with just enough substrate to cover the glass, yet had pcs of pvc in other tanks,

MMoe · #77 09/03/2006, 09:15 AM

Hi Jake,
On the snails with the purple ink, I don't know. Evidently they are not present now, or at least I haven't seen them and don't know anyone that has. I would assume that they were a murex, but don't know.

Yellowheads are the most amazing little fish. More fun to watch than angelfish or even clowns. They are truely the earthwork engineers of the fish world. They do need substrate and cover, and it need not be deep substrate as long as there is some sort of cavern with an entrance that can be closed. That, and a bit of shaved shrimp, is all they need to be happy. Without that they are severly stressed and don't do well.

Martin

jake levi · #78 09/03/2006, 09:45 AM

well, I'll be looking for some of those 'American murex' , I am curious now, I got a dozen along the shore near Haifa and put them into an 18 gal tank, even with feeding fish they cannibalized down to six, they are a definite carnivorous gastropod. They are the original source of the puple dye for the techilot of the prayer shawls. Now commercial is used but I think we could culture the original. It DOES take a lot of them.

I have always liked the yellow heads, great little gravel movers, I think its worth burrying some of my caves with some interconnecting pvc, that'd make about an 8" sunstrate, but would look okay in a 29. They are well worth 'spoiling' them with some dedicated housing.

My previous ones did like 'pods, I can bury a cave with a pvc to an elbow coming up to a 'surface' cave and the pvc exiting inside the cave. I have a bunch of these just finishing the salt water curing.

Your shaved shrimp: mysis or pennaeus ?

stevemc · #79 09/03/2006, 04:25 PM

Shaved shrimp is just frozen pink(eating type)shrimp from the supermarket. Just take a sharp knife and slice very thin and chop. Also they could use well fed live adult brine shrimp.

jake levi · #80 09/04/2006, 06:09 AM

My last jawfish had 'pods and frozen adult brine shrimp, and live adult BS rarely, my production was pretty sporadic on them, other things I was able to feed was other frozen foods, we have a much wider supply now, and I am a firm believer in nutritional density.

What other diet items have others found accepted? They would taste flake , spit it out and give me a dirty look. Thankfully I had a good culture of 'pods going. Now with selcon etc we can culture beter live foods.

mwp · #81 09/06/2006, 03:02 PM

FWIW, my pair has been in the tank a week now but only one comes out, and then only at feeding time. It has gotten VERY thin but is feeding well, so hopefully it'll start to fatten up. The 2nd one in the pair appears to be staying in the burrow (They excavated out a 2 entrance burrow underneath a med/large piece of live rock). So far the one that is actively, noticeably feeding only takes frozen brine and Arctipods. I'm thinking of trying to some live brine to entice them both out and/or pumping some food down into the cavern...I'm really not sure what's going on with #2.

Any more happenings with your group Martin?

Matt

MMoe · #82 09/07/2006, 10:50 AM

Matt, Good luck with your pair. They seem to be extremely skittish at first. I collected 6 myself a while back, lost one, an old female, but the other 5 are doing very well, getting very big also. I then got 2, a mated pair from a collector friend, and set them up in a separate 30 gal tank, I prepared a deep substrate and a cover rock in one end of the tank, so of course, they set up housekeeping (burrow maintainence?) at the other end under a different rock. I didn't see them for a few days after introduction to the tank. Then they came out and began feeding, but within a day or two, only one came out to feed, usually they are always out and about above the burrow. I got concerned after a 4 or 5 days and serched for the missing jawfish. Couldn't find her/him anywhere, evern serched the floor... I guess she/he died and went the way of all flesh... I hope the same fate has not befallen the lost jawfish in your pair.

The remaining jawfish did well in his/her tank for a couple of weeks, then after the loss of the female in the big tank, I moved him/jher to the big, tank, I think I went over that before, but the newly introduced jawfish immediately disappeared, where it went I have no idea. I gave up on him/her after almost a week, then there he/she was again, but under agression from the others, then I rearranged the tank and he/she was gone again. My "rearrangement" was probably similar to bad storm on the reef, but the old guard 5 were unfazed and came out and fed normally after an hour or so. Then several days later the "newby" came out again and has now extablished a burrow deep in the back corner, next to the smallest of the 5, and is feeding normally. I'm hoping for a spawn soon, I still don't know who's female and who's male. Sometimes I think I've got it figured out, sometimes I think they're all male and sometimes all female... I just hope that they know who's who even if I don't. The blackcaps, three pairs?, are still doing fine, it will take a while before they get into spawning condition, it took Bill Addison's pairs a year before they started spawing, but I'm hoping that temperature control and good feeding will shorten the wait.

On feeding, the way I handle the shrimp, and I started using shrimp many years ago for plankton pickers. My rational was that most of a plankton pickers diet was copepods and copepods being crustaceans, were similar in nutriional characteristics, to shrimp, which are also marine custaceans. So to turn a shrimp (basically pennaid table shrimp) into a copepod like food what I do is to peel the shrimp, freeze them into a ball a bit smaller than a baseball, and then grate the shrimp into cold water. The grater is one of those with the cup like holes not the bend out points. You can easyly control the size of the grated bit by selecting the large, medium, or small grater and also by the pressure of the frozen shrimp on the grater, hard pressure produces larger bits. I grate the shrimp into cold water and then feed some and hold the rest under refridgeration for the next few feedings. I used to use fresh water for this but then did some experimentation. The shrimp bits take up the water as they sit in it and I found that when I used fresh water the bits tended to float and stay near the surface, and when I used salt water they tended to sink more quickly, now either of this may work out fine in a particular situation, but I found in my situation that putting them into a half fresh, half salt solution worked best because then they are about neutral in bouyancy and float about the tank in the mid depths simulating very well a planktonic particle. Works good for me..... Admittedly this may not be nutritionally complete food, so I supplement with myscid shrimp. More on that later if you're interested.

Martin

David M · #83 09/07/2006, 11:15 AM

Hi Martin, I've been using your shrimp balls for years but never peeled them, I must have missed that part. Actually I did think it was odd but that is how I remember you describing it in the dottyback book, time to do some re-reading

Off topic I have some fridmani larvae at just 5 days but so far doing better than my previous efforts

Fingers crossed...

walterb · #84 09/07/2006, 11:21 AM

Seeing yellowheaded jawfish while scuba diving in the Caribbbean and reading these exciting postings on Reef Central I've decided to start a new tank dedicated to these fish.I am hoping that I can get tips on tank set-up that would provide a good environment for them and lead to their breeding. (I'm an experienced fish person, currently with a 30 gal reef tank and a 325 gal planted fresh water community tank featuring discus.)

I have a space on my bathroom sink counter that is calling out for jawfish. The footprint would allow for a comfortable 24 x 13 inch standard sized tank. Hight is an issue. Standard tanks are 18 inches, but if an 8 inch substrate is used, that leaves only 10 inches for socializing and eating and viewing. Would it be really better to get a custom made tank of 24 inches hight and a space squeezing 24 x 15 inch footprint (33 gallons vs 22 gal standard)?

What should the substrate be made of and how deep should it be? Should I include PVC pipe pieces from the get-go?

What filters would work on this deep substrate, what power heads for current and is a protein skimmer a good idea? What about lighting?

Thank you for any help!
Walter

David M · #85 09/07/2006, 01:33 PM

I have noticed that "standard" tanks differ slightly from East Coast to West Coast but here a 25 tall is commonly made and available, it's 24 X 12 but closer to 24H.

mwp · #86 09/07/2006, 10:34 PM

Well, so much for the "Pair"...I'm starting some late night water changes and "razor blading"...I pick up the jawfish rock where both had been living. Only 1 jawfish flees. I then start paying attention to the filtration in the back of the tank where I find the body of a jawfish, partially decayed, resting on top of the prefilter sponge

This is jawfish loss #2 for us...I think jawfish are just NOT gonna happen! Good luck with yours Martin!

Matt

ediaz · #87 09/08/2006, 09:07 AM

the best way to protect jawfish is to use a piece of plexiglass or glass on top of the tank fitted to fit the inside of the frame so there is no holes for them to jump out.

Ed

MMoe · #88 09/09/2006, 02:15 PM

Walter,
Of course with jawfish, higher is better, but 18 inches is sufficient. The substrate need not be 8 inches, 4 inches is OK and 3 inches is adequate. The key is to have a flatish, concave rock that you can put down with the concave side down and sand substrate around the edge of the rock. The jawfish will excavate a cavern under the rock (you can help them by clearing out some substrate from under the rock) and make entrances at one or the other end. A mix of fine and coarse sand, maybe 50 - 50, there is a lot of variation in nature is good. But be sure to include many small rocks and stones, about a half inch in diameter or length, up to an inch. Shell fragments are good as are fragments of small branching coral. Cover the tank, especially with more shallow tanks, 16 to 18 inches high. You can make artificial burrows with pvc tubes, I did that, but the flat concave rock will work just as well, particularly if you clear it our at one point so that they have an initial entry hole.

Don't worry about special filtration for a deeper substrate, just be sure that you have good biological filtration, get it active (run in) before adding the fish, and do regular water exchanges. A protein skimmer is a good idea if possible, if you get or make one that works on a small tank. Lighting need not be intense, unless you want to include photosythentic organisms as well, a small compact fluorscent lamp fixture would do fine.

I found that new jawfish quickly took to the grated shrimp diet. You may have a problem with feeding if you rely on processed fish food.

Good luck,

Martin

Kathy55g · #89 09/10/2006, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MMoe

Admittedly this may not be nutritionally complete food, so I supplement with myscid shrimp. More on that later if you're interested.

Martin

Martin, I will always be interested! Please feel free to enlighten us as your time permits!
Best regards,
Kathy

jake levi · #90 09/11/2006, 06:39 AM

Any and all information that contributes to keeping and successfully breeding these fascinating little beauties I am interested in reading.

I will be using 29s for them, so a deep bed is doable, how many I can put in one to make pairs is a question so will be looking for a very young group although I have never seen juveniles available. Its possible I might use a 55 for a group, I'm going to be setting one up for a pair of tomatoes .

jake levi · #91 09/17/2006, 08:36 AM

Anyone have any reccomendation on our sponsors, or others, to contact on a small group of juvenile yellow heads??

saltwaterfishlover · #92 09/17/2006, 08:52 AM

just for reverence on bluespots... the male is the whitish one. when in spawning mood the male bleaches out. it took almost a year for him to exibit this coloration on a heavy diet of krill and mysis and fresh crushed garlic. he did carry eggs 3 or more times but unfortunately they were murdered by now ex friends the murder was the end of a friendship
andy

aomont · #93 09/17/2006, 02:07 PM

Wow !!!!!

Timbor · #94 09/24/2006, 08:24 PM

Hey, perhaps you jawfish experts can give me some advice.

I just got a trio of jawfish on Friday. It's now Sunday night.

Friday, they were put in during the afternoon (~3pm), and the hid in the rocks for the rest of the day (as I expected).

On Saturday, two of them had taken up residence on either side of the aquarium, and had tunnelled under the rocks there. The smallest one started digging in the sand in the center of the tank. (It's a 36"x12" 35 gal. tank).

Today, I came home to find all 3 of them hiding under the rock on the left hand side of the tank. They are the only things in there, so I know there is nothing scaring them. Any ideas as to why they are all hiding together? I fed them mysis yesterday and today, and they ate it readily.

Thanks,

Tim

jake levi · #95 09/25/2006, 07:37 AM

if they are juveniles they may well just be hanging out together.

I set up a 29 for them last thursday, crushed coral substrate, with a 8" dia cave an inch or two down into the substrate, plus several other rocks , this morning after the salt stabilised I added a bag of 'live sand' adding another inch or two up the sides of the cave and will have several rocks scattered around if they want to burrow under those, next week will be going to Tropicorium for some stuff for other tanks and will get some coraline rocks and a live rock or two for this one. By nov. should be looking for some yellow heads. I added some 'seeded' pod rocks from an established tank today too. Along with some caulerpa. Slowly, slowly.

Timbor · #96 09/25/2006, 09:29 PM

Yeah, these guys are funny... they seem to be doing some burrow swapping... well, mostly, the smallest will start the work, then get booted out by the biggest. Then he goes and starts work somewhere else... funny to watch at least. They are all feeding well, so I am not too worried.

Tim

walterb · #97 09/26/2006, 11:04 AM

Jake,
Good to have others setting up jawfish tanks.
What will be the total depth of the substrate in your jawfish tank and what are you doing for filters?
WalterB

mwp · #98 09/26/2006, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by saltwaterfishlover

just for reverence on bluespots... the male is the whitish one. when in spawning mood the male bleaches out. it took almost a year for him to exibit this coloration on a heavy diet of krill and mysis and fresh crushed garlic. he did carry eggs 3 or more times but unfortunately they were murdered by now ex friends the murder was the end of a friendship
andy

Andy, that's the best picture of a pair of blue dots I've ever seen!

fantastic!

Matt

David M · #99 09/26/2006, 02:50 PM

Agreed, that is a contest winner for sure

If I ever saw that in my tank I'd flip !!!!!

saltwaterfishlover · #**100** 09/26/2006, 03:32 PM

My only regret is that it is under iwasaki's so thats why it looks so yellow

great shot..... I miss my babies