How to create sandbed for blue spotted jawfish

[Neptune 555]

I have read a bit about BSJ this week. I am picking mine up on Friday. How do I prepare the substrate for him? I don't understand how egg crate stabilizes your live rock and stops it from falling over? I have 4 inches of aragonite figi pink sand in my tank. I also have 50 pounds of live rock stacked in my tank. Even snails can make it fall over?

How do I make this base safe for my BSJ? Currently my tank is fallow and I will place the BSJ in this tank first after a few weeks QT.

Neptune

[prickles]

the concept behind eggcrate is to make it so when you drop your rocks on the bottom of the tank you don't break the glass. Many people don't like the idea for many reasons. You need to make sure the rock is resting on the bottom of the tank and not on the sand. The BSJ will move the sand and if the rock is on the sand it can fall and scratch if not break your tank.

In my opinion unless you are doing something to stringently keep ich out of your tank, don't even attempt a BSJ. The first ich outbreak will kill it because of its habitat.

I personally QT everything in copper among other things for 6 weeks. If even a hint of ich gets in the tank, I believe your BSJ will die.

BSJ's are also really good jumpers. You need to have EVERY possible exit covered or it will jump out of your tank. Remember they aim for the holes, so keeping most of the tank covered isn't good enough.

[JTJreef]

I haven't kept a BSJ before, but my Jawfish have been very resistant to ich. Had an outbreak a while back. The only fish that didn't get it were my Jawfish and shrimpgoby.
They seem resistant enough that I always add Jawfish straight to the display tank to reduce the stress on them.
I stacked a few big base rocks on the egg crate on the bottom of my tank. Then used those to balance the rest of my rock work. That way they can excavate all they want and not topple everything over. Giving them lots of shells and rubble when they start to build a burrow helps them to settle in also.

[Neptune 555]

Thanks for the feedback!! Yes I am stringently keeping ich out of my DT this set up. I have been fallow for 3 months... and plan to introduce the BSJ first... so he can get comfortable b/4 I enter my other fish.

and for feeding your jawfish do you spot feed w/ turkey baster.. ? and what do you feed?

Neptune

[bobarker68]

I fed mine with a turkey baster, put it righ by his hole he will come get it

[prickles]

I just feed the tank, he comes out and gets it.

[Ambition]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet...

Blue spot jawfish are a colder water species and typically don't fair well at the higher tropical temperatures most keep their reef tanks at. They will fair better at temperatures in the lower 70's. This is one species I'd consider setting up a tank just for the purpose of keeping a pair of them.

[snorvich]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet...

Blue spot jawfish are a colder water species and typically don't fair well at the higher tropical temperatures most keep their reef tanks at. They will fair better at temperatures in the lower 70's. This is one species I'd consider setting up a tank just for the purpose of keeping a pair of them.

Correct. Since they are collected in the Sea of Cortez, lower temperatures are best for longer term.

[gobolts23]

BSJ's dont do well long term regardless of the temperature. They get some strange tail rot disease after a while and perish.