Yellow-head jawfish question
 

In preparing to stock my tank, I've been doing some pondering of various fish. My wife has also been peeking around and she's got it in her head that she wants to see a yellow-head jawfish in there. I will admit that I think they are pretty cool little guys, but to be honset I don't think I'm equipped for one of these guys. What is the minimum depth substrate for them? I've only got a few inches worth and I don't think it's enough. I would also be concerned about burrowing beneath the LR, as it sits on the sand - would they be prone to disturbing the rockwork in that kind of scenario?

Assuming I'm right, I just have to hope I can convince her that it is too much trouble to add more sand and re-do the rockwork ... :rolleyes:

They don't need too deep a sand bed, 2 inches is enough, more is better, but they will make do with what you give them, having the LR on top of the sand is more troubling, they will dig and use rock as the roof of the burrow and if they get too active they could topple the rock. An easy fix is to manually move some of the sand and get the rock down into the base and that will fix the problem. The other thing they need is some rubble, just some bigger pieces of coral rock crushed up to be in the 1/2 inch range and they will build this up to make an area of deeper substrate to use as a tunnel to the main chamber of the burrow.

A couple of things to know about jawfish, first they are peaceful and easy to keep, they also have such a great personality and habits that they are great additions to your tank. They also move their burrows frequently in the ocean, and in tanks as well, so you must have a very good cover on the tank or they will end up on the floor. In nature they move their burrows seasonally, going from the shallow rubble fields to the deep reefs depending on temps, I have seen colonies move from 15 ft to 80 foot between summer and winter, and for such a small fish that is an impressive move, but how that relates to our tanks is when they feel the need to move they go and as they hit the glass side of your tank they end up going up and over.

All in all, they are great fish and very fascinating to watch.

lots of pea sized rubble for them to build with is key. And a tight fitting lid.

my 1st two jawfish, lesson the hard way.
 

I bought my first two lovely yellow headed jawfish and learned the hard way I loved them they were great to watch and so much personality. I turned the lights off and the next morning went looking for them and both on the floor dehydrated the one little spot I had for the hang on overlfow is where they choose to commit harry cary....

As long as there isnt a hole anywhere they are a beautiful choice and the couple I had seems to love each other they would entangle themselves lying together. good luck

Needless to say I got rid of the 40gal and obtained a 75gal predrilled with overflow.

Things you need to know about yellow-heads:

1. They'll jump through everything. Even egg crate. I got custom screens for my tank.

2. I've now had two yellow heads go blind after ~6 months of captivity. I've read about this happening with others. I feed mysis, Rod's food, blackworms, etc., fortified with selcon, vitachem, and garlic extreme. Not a nutrition issue.

3. If a nice coral frag gets knocked off your rock, you'll never see it again. I've lost hundreds of dollars in frags to their nest building. The last was my ORA Red Planet. Urchin bulldozer + yellowhead burying = instant loss.