Blue Spot Jawfish Behavior

[forestsofkelp]

I have had a blue spot jawfish for about a month. His behavior seems off to me. I have researched them pretty extensively, and he came pre quarantined from a trusted dealer. The tank was made with him in mind; its a 200g tank with a few inches of sand, but there is a 8x6 area with about 5-6 inches of sand and I try to keep the tank at 77/76. He just shares it with 2 clowns.

The Bad: he seems to move burrows daily (he has several). I caught him outside his burrow today, midday, curled up in a corner; AFAIK he has only done this once before, at night. We are having a heatwave and my cooling unit just busted, so the tank is hanging around 81. He seems to avoid the DSB and hanging out in areas with 1-2 inch beds.

The Good: He seems healthy. He doesnt seem shy/scared. He is eating well (almost greedy). He doesnt look stressed (skinny, fast breathing etc). I have a lid, and a variety of rubble for him and large grained sand...not sure how much more variety he needs. He has built several burrows. Its a 200g he shares with 2 clownfish.

I am not sure if this is normal behavior or if he is stressed. Not sure what else I can do for him. I really want him to live, these are my favorite fish, and apart from adding a 1k chiller and doubling my sand (both of which I am not able to do) I am not sure what else I *can* do. Any BSJ pros out there?

 

[blaxsun]

I don't think you need to increase the sand. If you can cool the temperature (maybe at least in that room with a portable unit) that probably wouldn't hurt.

 

[nereefpat]

81 degrees, and even 76, is too hot for that species of jawfish.

 

[forestsofkelp]

81 degrees, and even 76, is too hot for that species of jawfish.

81 is way too high, I know. My understanding was 76/77 is acceptable but true goal is 72.

Its a huge heatwave where I live right now and the tank room has no opening window and busted AC...new window goes in next week and AC gets fixed tomorrow.

Funnily enough I didnt have ANY temp issues until the jawfish came.

 

[FishRN]

Mine will swap burrows occasionally and wander around in the open for a bit but only for a minute or two. I +1 trying to get the temps down I keep my reef setup at 76-74 and every seems to be going good

 

[Critteraholic]

Do you have a fan you could use to blow across the tank?

How about ice? You could put ice in ziplock bags or food safe containers and float them in the tank.

Fingers crossed for you 'cause as a kid I used to live in Long Beach. Hot on a good day.

 

[LuisPerez711]

I've had my blue spotted jawfish for about 5 months now and the temp in my tank is between 78-80 degrees. It doesn't seem to bother the fish. I know/understand that they are pulled from climates that are cooler but I also saw that a lot of aquarists were keeping them in tanks that have tropical temps.

When I first got him he was searching for a home. He initially made a burrow behind all my rocks where I could hardly see him. After a month or so he started exploring and found another home. Eventually he found a spot and I moved sand to that area so he could build his home. Hasn't moved since.

Hes been exploring more and more now. Also, at night, he swims above my rock work for minutes at a time. I read somewhere that both of these actions indicate that they feel safe and are comfortable in their environment.

 

[Thomashtom]

I've had my blue spotted jawfish for about 5 months now and the temp in my tank is between 78-80 degrees. It doesn't seem to bother the fish. I know/understand that they are pulled from climates that are cooler but I also saw that a lot of aquarists were keeping them in tanks that have tropical temps.

When I first got him he was searching for a home. He initially made a burrow behind all my rocks where I could hardly see him. After a month or so he started exploring and found another home. Eventually he found a spot and I moved sand to that area so he could build his home. Hasn't moved since.

Hes been exploring more and more now. Also, at night, he swims above my rock work for minutes at a time. I read somewhere that both of these actions indicate that they feel safe and are comfortable in their environment.

Sometimes animals will survive but they wont thrive in less than ideal conditions for them. At times it shortens their lifespan.