Jaw fish in Bare Bottom

[ezhoops]

I've thought about attempting to keep a Jaw fish in a BB tank.
my plan is to construct a burrow out of PVC built right into my rock work.

do you think this will work?

[Kent E]

maybe you could throw a bone of a little sand to work with?

[anabolic_1]

NO,
These guys need a 6 inch sand bed, they are constantly burrowing, your fish will not be happy in BB tank. The most interesting thing about these fish is that they burrow, why deny the fish of this. I have wanted a jawfish ever since my tank went up but I wont do that to the fish, I have a shallow sand bed, about 2 inches.
GL.
Mike.

[tom obrecht]

WHY? Thats like apple pie w/o ice cream, hot dogs w/o ketchup and mustard, mashed potatoes w/o gravy. It just shouldn't be done.

[ezhoops]

Alright, I figured I would get hammered on this one, OK no jaw fish

[CrazyLionfish]

I think someone should conduct a research on all the benefits of having a jawfish with a 6" sandbed. "They'll be happier" is not specific nor is there any way to truly prove their happiness level. I would also like to know how they would be in a BB tank. If someone did a properly conducted experiment on this, it would be very intresting.

[G_cuvier]

Several years ago I wrote an article for TFH regarding the appropriate captive environment, (April 2001 issue). Having spent a lot of time diving the Keys at that time I had spent a lot of time observing the yellow-headed jawfish in it's natural environment. Place these fish in a BB tank? Absolutely not.....

[bginop]

actually there are exceptions and my jawfish is one of them. Honestly i do have a deep sand bed, but my jaw fish found a cave inside a piece of liverock. So, its possible but he wont be happy unless he has a burrow.

[G_cuvier]

My observations, (verified by a friend at the Mote Marine Lab in the Keys), was that the substrate was very important to the fish. A simple deep sand bed is not appropriate for burrowing since it will collapse in on the fish. I found that when they burrow they lined the burrows with small pieces of coral rubble or shell, usually between a dime and quarter size. Upon completion they encircled the entrance with larger pieces, (quarter sized), presumably to prevent the sand immediately around the entrance from being washed in by the wave action.

Burrow construction was certainly more complex than it originally might appear and it is entirely dependent upon the substrate. I would sugggest that your jawfish was too smart to begin a self-burial exercise and decided that alternative digs would be a better bet....

[CrazyLionfish]

So is there any benefits of the DSB with a jawfish in a captive tank besides it being "their protection". I respect your opinion, but still no ACTUAL proof of the benefits to the fish. And the "he wont be happy" once again is unmeasureable. Someone please do a valid experiment to put this argument to rest.

[G_cuvier]

LOL.... You say "he won't be happy" followed by "someone do a valid experiment". At the end of the experiment do we just ask him/her "how do you feel?" - Sorry, not laughing at you.... I found it funny.

IMO, the best way to benefit a species is to try to reproduce it's natural environment as exactly as possible. The "errors" I noted when observing this fish in the wild and comparing it to the conventional wisdom being spouted back then were as follows:-

1. Jawfish tend to live away from the reef structure on open areas of sand so they can see threats approaching yet we place then in a 12-24" deep tank with half the bottom area covered by rock thus placing them up against the reef structure. Un-natural.

2. Jawfish tend to pair off - for life I believe - yet most aquarists purchase them singly. Un-Natural.

3. Pairs create their burrows between 2' and 3' apart and maintain a "territory" that is a racetrack shape that extends around the burrows about 18" from the burrows yet we keep them in smaller tanks because they are small fish - technically they require a 5-7' tank length to accomodate the racetrack's length alone - we already dealt with the depth. Un-natural.

4. Jawfish create burrows in an undeterminately deep sand bed yet we were advising that the sand be needs to be deeper than the fish is long, which is great till the fish grows and has to cram himself into his new shoebox of a house. Un-natural.

5. The areas in which Jawfish live tend to be between reef structures which classically are regions where there is significant wave movement - not breakers but surge yet we were advising a gentle linear current. Un-natural.

6. Jawfish require plenty of coral rubble etc. to enable them to construct a burrow yet we were advising fine sand or the poor little fish won't be able to dig in. They move plenty large enough pieces in the wild if they decide to. Un-natural.

7. Jawfish feed from the water column in the wild yet we were advising turning the pumps off to allow the food to reach the substrate. Un-natural and much of the food went uneaten.

Without the appropriate size tank they are unable to form their racetrack territory and are pressed up against a reef structure that creates a "blind spot" for them where a predator could sneak up on them. Without a mate they cannot form the pair that rely upon each other to warn of danger from the other direction of the other burrow, (when danger approaches the fish nearest begins to sink back into it's burrow thus warning the other fish of the potential danger). Without the appropriate substrate burrowing is either difficult or impossible and the burrows may subsequently collapse leaving the fish without their protective burrow until they can reconstruct them. Without proper flow, (backwards and forwards), sand will eventually be washed into the burrow causing it to shrink and have to be reconstructed in time. Allowing the food to reach the substrate rather than keeping it suspended in the water column forces them to learn a new behaviour.

All of the above are stressors on the fish and therefore, without paying attention to at least a few of them, are, naturally, of detriment to the fish. Obviously, this cannot be quantified unless we can find a real life Dr. Doolittle but it is very reasonable to assume that the further we remove any species from it's natural environment the less benificial the environment is for the species - hence the Tang and Mandarin police.....

[CrazyLionfish]

The experiment would be done to see the behavior of the fish in each situation, BB and DSB. Also, just to clerify, I'm not saying, "Jawfish don't need sand, prove it" I'm just curious of the actual behavioral benefits and physical benefits of a DSB vs BB or a small sand bed. I appreciate all your information and found it very intresting. However, although the facts about a mate are intresting, it does not apply to the BB vs DSB situation. It does in nature because they watch out for each other, but in a tank, most aquarists try to get fish very compatible with eachother so this would not be as large of an issue. Thanks for the information though, very intresting.

[G_cuvier]

But in the long run how are you going to determine the benefit or detriment to the fish? It will adapt it's behaviour or die, so other than being able to communicate with it directly you will have great difficulty quantifying your results.

BTW, I'm not being a proponent of species specific tanks... Quite the opposite actually.... But when an environment is so contra-indicated it should be discarded without further thought.... It's similar to trying to keep a saltwater fish in a freshwater tank..... Properly acclimated there are certain species of fish and elamobranchs that would survive... The question is "Is the environment even close to optimal?"... In the situation the OP indicated the environment is clearly detrimental and therefore the thought should be discarded.....

[CrazyLionfish]

I am not promoting keeping a jawfish in a BB tank whatsoever, I was just intrested in the benefits. I think I've learned most of the benefits from your lengthy 7 step response

Thanks for the info

[just dave]

LOL.... You say "he won't be happy" followed by "someone do a valid experiment". At the end of the experiment do we just ask him/her "how do you feel?" - Sorry, not laughing at you.... I found it funny.

Ask him first,save you some time.

[Peter Schmiedel]

G_cuvier

very good 7 step posting! I wish more people would be that thoughtfull and really try to keep fish as close to their needs as possible!

[ezhoops]

Just for the Record I will not be keeping the Jawfish in the BB, as stated in the 4th reply!