Jaw Fish help
- Thread starter jepuskar
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jepuskar
Active Member
TLDR: No. JF drama.
Something happened about 2 months ago and the couple split up...she moved off to the corner of the tank and wasnt really eating. We went away for the weekend and had a tank sitter...but the day after we came back i found her on the floor in the fish room waay off to the side. I took the netting off months ago because everyone was settled in with their burrows...but she decided to bolt for whatever reason.
Now the other mated pair are displaced as well because the now single male (dad of the babies), went over and took his spot and the female doesnt even come out anymore...havent seen her eat in over a month, but she is alive, but doesnt leave her hole during the day.
The misplaced male moved to the back with the other guys and he doesnt come out anymore either, but I spot feed him from time to time and I see him eating. Not sure what happened, but the drama is too much.
twentyleagues
2500 Club Member
Oh thats a bummer. Well hopefully in the future things will mellow out.
jepuskar
Active Member
Leak test keeps failing on this new tank. I've tried 4 times to fix it...but can't find it..I know generally where it's at, but it's soo small...decided to take out side panel and re-do it...pretty sure the leak was there...but if it's not, im gonna cry.
jepuskar
Active Member
Very painful process, but ended up having to redo all 3 glass panels to fix the leak and learned a valuable lesson on a plywood build..you would think the 2nd time at doing this would be better than the first, but noo. Anywho...tank is filled with dirty fresh water and recirculating through the sump, no leaks. Will drain it in a day or two, move the tank into position and add the rocks, water, sand etc.
Had to install two new 20 amp outlets to support it, but my basement ceiling is unfinished so made it a couple hour job...moving circuits around in my sub-panel was fun.
10 juvies all doing well, eating and growing..they need more space..getting a little crowded. I know I'm not the first to do this and these aren't that hard to raise, but I still can't believe I did it as a novice.
Had to install two new 20 amp outlets to support it, but my basement ceiling is unfinished so made it a couple hour job...moving circuits around in my sub-panel was fun.
10 juvies all doing well, eating and growing..they need more space..getting a little crowded. I know I'm not the first to do this and these aren't that hard to raise, but I still can't believe I did it as a novice.
jepuskar
Active Member
Down to 9. I noticed one of the juvies a few days ago was swimming downwards all the time, head down and had a hard time staying down...his stomach was a little bloated. I seem to recall a fish air bladder disease or something..didnt bother googling it, but I knew it wasn't good. Found him floating today. 
He was one of the larger juvies too.
He was one of the larger juvies too.
twentyleagues
2500 Club Member
Bummer.Down to 9. I noticed one of the juvies a few days ago was swimming downwards all the time, head down and had a hard time staying down...his stomach was a little bloated. I seem to recall a fish air bladder disease or something..didnt bother googling it, but I knew it wasn't good. Found him floating today.
He was one of the larger juvies too.
jepuskar
Active Member
And we are at 6 for a a month or two now. They are 9 months old and seemingly stable. Eating well.
I'm starting to do water changes on the grow out tank using the water of the tank they are about to move too. The wife and I just finished the cabinetry doors/staining etc, so there is nothing really left, but to add the bacteria and the fish. Little apprehensive about moving them, but I'll do a few more water changes to acclimate. The water temps and salinity are equal between the tanks. I'll post pictures soon.
I'm starting to do water changes on the grow out tank using the water of the tank they are about to move too. The wife and I just finished the cabinetry doors/staining etc, so there is nothing really left, but to add the bacteria and the fish. Little apprehensive about moving them, but I'll do a few more water changes to acclimate. The water temps and salinity are equal between the tanks. I'll post pictures soon.
jepuskar
Active Member
Dec 23rd I moved all 6 to their new tank. I netted them one by one from the grow out and into the new tank they went..wasn't too bad, a little stress for everyone involved, but pretty easy. Kept the lights off all day and by the next day they were already doing their JF things. All 6 started to eat right away. Was very happy to see that.
Right before the new year I started only seeing 5 at feeding time..always had one lazy one, but didn't think much of it, by the 3rd day I went searching..checked the rollermat in the sump, nothing..looked around in the sump, nothing..checked all around the tank on the floor and nothing. So fast forward to today, no sign of number 6, so now I wanted to find a body..checked the sump again and of course there he is, staring at me in the first chamber, jumped out of the roller mat and was chilling. I was soo relieved, showed the wife, grabbed a net and went to work. Out of excitement I didn't really think it through and two attempts at netting him didn't work. Tried the 3rd time and he darted right into my skimmer pump intake...I yelled out a loud F bomb and hurried and unplugged the skimmer. I didn't see no fish parts and I could see his body inside...to make a long story short, I killed him because I didn't stop and think of unlugging that pump.
We have all had fish die for various reasons. This one stung a lot though. A lot of time and effort has been put into keeping anything I could alive since they were born in March...to have one die at this point. in this manner sucks and I'm bummed.
Right before the new year I started only seeing 5 at feeding time..always had one lazy one, but didn't think much of it, by the 3rd day I went searching..checked the rollermat in the sump, nothing..looked around in the sump, nothing..checked all around the tank on the floor and nothing. So fast forward to today, no sign of number 6, so now I wanted to find a body..checked the sump again and of course there he is, staring at me in the first chamber, jumped out of the roller mat and was chilling. I was soo relieved, showed the wife, grabbed a net and went to work. Out of excitement I didn't really think it through and two attempts at netting him didn't work. Tried the 3rd time and he darted right into my skimmer pump intake...I yelled out a loud F bomb and hurried and unplugged the skimmer. I didn't see no fish parts and I could see his body inside...to make a long story short, I killed him because I didn't stop and think of unlugging that pump.
We have all had fish die for various reasons. This one stung a lot though. A lot of time and effort has been put into keeping anything I could alive since they were born in March...to have one die at this point. in this manner sucks and I'm bummed.
twentyleagues
2500 Club Member
Oh no! Sorry to hear that. But glad the rest went well.
reneeL
Active Member
How are your Jawfish? I just love to watch them interact with each other. Can you tell me how far apart the burrows are? Did you add them all at once? I have a 180 gallon tank and there are 4. 2 were in there and have grown. We added more but things are moving slowly.
jepuskar
Active Member
The TLDR is, it's complicated.
Hi, after starting with 6 in my 360+ tank and now I'm down to 3 or 4...not sure yet, I will say that the JF don't give a crap about how much room there is in the tank. I thought ok, plenty of space..they'll each setup in a corner and give each other space and yeah...fish aren't that smart.
The female of my JF babies had enough and jumped out of the tank after some man drama, two of the male JF decided they didn't want to eat unless they were spot fed...ultimately leading to one just dying...once that one died it set off more drama and a battle between the two healthy males over the lone female. Both males are battered but alive...the only way to get them to stop fighting was I netted them both out together and got them out of the water and yelled at them (that part is true, btw). Now they are back in different holes and I haven't seen the female...she might be dead, which makes no sense.
I wouldn't recommend doing what I did...there is a dynamic/social arrangment between them that is complicated. I've seen behavior that made no sense...the sickly JF, the one that just died would go hole to hole as needed and shack up with different JFs from time to time and was accepted. It felt like a..ohh this guy needs help, we'll let him eat with us thing.
Good luck...I'm sure every setup is different, just don't expect an established routine to be maintained...my setup was fine for months and then it wasn't.
J
Andreas' Reef
Valuable Member
How are the fry? or former fryThe TLDR is, it's complicated.
Hi, after starting with 6 in my 360+ tank and now I'm down to 3 or 4...not sure yet, I will say that the JF don't give a crap about how much room there is in the tank. I thought ok, plenty of space..they'll each setup in a corner and give each other space and yeah...fish aren't that smart.
The female of my JF babies had enough and jumped out of the tank after some man drama, two of the male JF decided they didn't want to eat unless they were spot fed...ultimately leading to one just dying...once that one died it set off more drama and a battle between the two healthy males over the lone female. Both males are battered but alive...the only way to get them to stop fighting was I netted them both out together and got them out of the water and yelled at them (that part is true, btw). Now they are back in different holes and I haven't seen the female...she might be dead, which makes no sense.
I wouldn't recommend doing what I did...there is a dynamic/social arrangment between them that is complicated. I've seen behavior that made no sense...the sickly JF, the one that just died would go hole to hole as needed and shack up with different JFs from time to time and was accepted. It felt like a..ohh this guy needs help, we'll let him eat with us thing.
Good luck...I'm sure every setup is different, just don't expect an established routine to be maintained...my setup was fine for months and then it wasn't.
J
jepuskar
Active Member
Hi, I have 5 left..almost 11 months old. I moved them into their own ~200g tank a few weeks ago. Here is a video of 2 of them from a week or 2 ago. They are eating and very active. Will be interesting to see how they get along as time goes on...soo far no issues.
Andreas' Reef
Valuable Member
Amazing, I'm looking into breeding these fish as a passion project in the future. Was it overall a good experience for you or did you hate it? do you recommend attempting it or should i leave it alone all together?
reneeL
Active Member
Thank you for sharing your experience. To start with ours two made their burrows were just about 8 inches apart and out away from the reef. After the rearrangement because of RS. things are really different. The biggest Jf made his hole around the side of the reef and the smaller made his almost exactly where is had been. Now we have the large one making holes and stealing pebbles for his fort. Unfortunately. he ends up tearing up the JR hole up in the process. Today he seems to have decided to leave JR alone. JR has made his hole just a few inches over. The "biggie" is now throwing sand on the reef rocks and covering mushrooms. He such a problem child, yes we yell at him and give him the evil eye, sometimes it works. I am threatening to catch him and put him in a different tank to get the small JF to not be scared. They are not fighting, that is a plus, I think JR just backs down.The TLDR is, it's complicated.
Hi, after starting with 6 in my 360+ tank and now I'm down to 3 or 4...not sure yet, I will say that the JF don't give a crap about how much room there is in the tank. I thought ok, plenty of space..they'll each setup in a corner and give each other space and yeah...fish aren't that smart.
The female of my JF babies had enough and jumped out of the tank after some man drama, two of the male JF decided they didn't want to eat unless they were spot fed...ultimately leading to one just dying...once that one died it set off more drama and a battle between the two healthy males over the lone female. Both males are battered but alive...the only way to get them to stop fighting was I netted them both out together and got them out of the water and yelled at them (that part is true, btw). Now they are back in different holes and I haven't seen the female...she might be dead, which makes no sense.
I wouldn't recommend doing what I did...there is a dynamic/social arrangment between them that is complicated. I've seen behavior that made no sense...the sickly JF, the one that just died would go hole to hole as needed and shack up with different JFs from time to time and was accepted. It felt like a..ohh this guy needs help, we'll let him eat with us thing.
Good luck...I'm sure every setup is different, just don't expect an established routine to be maintained...my setup was fine for months and then it wasn't.
J
Well I am hoping your aquarium settles. I am hoping my group can settle down to just spitting sand at each other again. I had envisioned several holes with JF having a little neighborhood.
Renee
jepuskar
Active Member
Hi, I never hated it, but you need to be prepared and have some sort of plan. I started with Rotifiers and then had to feed them phyto so they had value for the JF babies...this went on for weeks, and then finally the babies were large enough to eat baby brine, so then it turned into breeding brine shrimp. None of this is very difficult, but is a little of a PIA depending on the space you have and patience. Growing your own phyto and brine shrimp is a necessity otherwise you will spend loads more money.
Literally lost hundreds of fry, probably not enough food...I don't really know, maybe my breeding tank was too small. I would recommend trying it...why not? I never bred fish or attempted anything like this before, I just wanted to do it because I thought it would be rewarding. I still don't know if I'm out of the woods or not, but the five are eating and active and def doing JF things and they are fed like normal fish.
If you have any other questions please ask..would like to help someone else. I'm not an expert, but I may be able to help with some stuff.
J
Andreas' Reef
Valuable Member
How did you get your broodstock?Hi, I never hated it, but you need to be prepared and have some sort of plan. I started with Rotifiers and then had to feed them phyto so they had value for the JF babies...this went on for weeks, and then finally the babies were large enough to eat baby brine, so then it turned into breeding brine shrimp. None of this is very difficult, but is a little of a PIA depending on the space you have and patience. Growing your own phyto and brine shrimp is a necessity otherwise you will spend loads more money.
Literally lost hundreds of fry, probably not enough food...I don't really know, maybe my breeding tank was too small. I would recommend trying it...why not? I never bred fish or attempted anything like this before, I just wanted to do it because I thought it would be rewarding. I still don't know if I'm out of the woods or not, but the five are eating and active and def doing JF things and they are fed like normal fish.
If you have any other questions please ask..would like to help someone else. I'm not an expert, but I may be able to help with some stuff.
J
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