Preparing Tank For Future Jawfish + Sand Question

[Squishie89]

My 90g tank has been running since late September. I plan to eventually have a blue spot jawfish. I was realizing today I am not 100% certain about my rock being on the glass/bottom, and I plan on having quite a few bottom dwellers so having a rock slide is really not good. My tank is pretty established at this point and has: 2 clown fish, 1 urchin, 1 pom pom crab, 2 peppermint shrimp (1 is MIA though) 1 pistol shrimp, 150+ snails, 25+ hermits and ~100lbs of live rock. I am lucky and my pistol shrimp has already found the perfect rock for him to call home and that rock is very close to the glass, if not on it.
So some thoughts/possible plans I had to deal with this.
1. Set up QT and put the fish, urchin, hermits, shrimp in there for safe keeping. Take the rock out and put into heated saltwater bin. Take out as much sand as I can (possibly draining part of the tank), then re-do the rocks, put back in the sand, let tank settle and put the other inhabitants back in. This plan is the one I like the least. But, has a 100% certainty of getting the rocks on the bottom.
2. Push the rocks down as hard as I can (within limits of course, don't want to break the tank) and hope this pushes them to the bottom.
3. Put in a pipeline of PVC tubing for the jawfish to call home (I can just put an end piece on it until he is introduced so nothing gets in). Dig up sand, put down PVC, re cover with sand. Problem with this one is he may not like it. But I like this one the best.
I have further questions for plan 3. If I were to do the PVC pipe route, how long should I make the tunnel? I was thinking maybe 1.5'. Would there be ways I could entice the jawfish to pick the pvc pipe as his home?
Is there any other easier way to do this, other than not get a jawfish?

I also want to know if my sand bed is okay. I unfortunately do not have any close up pictures right now, but I will take some tomorrow afternoon. My sand bed is not deep, but not shallow. The front is about 2-4 inches deep and is shallower in the back. In the front I see a bunch of different colors down in the sand bed. Reds, greens, grays. Not sure if this is just how a sand bed looks, or mine needs maintenance. Again, I will be posting pictures tomorrow, I apologize.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Hmmm tough options there. I would probably opt for #1 myself.

 

[Squishie89]

Here are pictures of how the sand bed looks.

If I were to do option 1, should I expect a mini cycle due to all the movement? And any tips on how to make this go as smoothly and simply as possible?

 

[Elysium]

With option 1 I would expect a big cycle. The sand is already starting to stratify itself. Taking it out and putting it back in will mix the different zones releasing all sorts of nasties.

As someone that has tried with Blue Spotted Jawfish four times, I can say that the top layer of that sand is too coarse. Mine looked like that and it refused to dig. I had better luck when I went with a 50% oolitic, 35% special reef grade, 10% crushed coral, and about 5% dead coral chunks (about 0.5-1 inch in length). They burrowed in that, but just kicked one day without any signs of stress.

If you introduce one I would bump your sand up to 3-4 inch in the front and 6+ in the back. I would take your old sand and thoroughly rinse in it out and let it soak in a shallow heated tub for about a week. I would then use new dead sand for your new base sand and then add your old sand back on top. It'll still cycle, but it should be less than with option 1 as is. Also try and create some open floor space. While blue spots will burrow under rocks, they prefer to have open views.

I would also introduce the jawfish before adding any of the existing livestock back in. They are very easily stressed and especially when added to a tank with other inhabitants. I would then also add the current inhabitants back one per week starting with the most docile.


Not really ideal in my situation, but this would likely be your best bet for keeping a jawfish. :/

Pearly jaws are awesome as well, and are a little more robust than the blue spots. Even then they can be stressed to death when added to an inhabited tank.

 

[Squishie89]

Well this is turning out worse than I thought. With what you said Elysium I think I will skip putting a jawfish in this tank. Thank you so much for your help.

On the other topic, is my sand okay? Is this normal colorization for sand?

 

[Elysium]

No problem. You're welcome to try it, but it's an expensive try at $90+ a pop if you're lucky in your source. I think you could probably pull off a pearly jawfish.

After tossing away $400 in fish I'm revamping my build tank that was built for the jawfish in mind and am swapping out the DSB and doing some rock modification.

As to your sand, that's perfectly normal. You'll start to see some cool layering as the oxygenated and anoxic zones establish themselves. Once they do that is a sign to do not disturb.

 

[Squishie89]

Would I need to do the huge upheaval for the pearly?

 

[Elysium]

Ideally yes. However the pearly can work in 4 inches of sand.

You could probably get away with moving your current inhabitants to QT, twisting your rocks down into the sand bed as best as you can. You should be able to get reasonably close to the bottom that will prevent burrowing underneath.

Then scrape the top inch or so of the sand off, and mix with some dry fines to soften it up. Then add it back in.

That should minimize your cycle and tank stress.

You should be able to add your other livestock back in and allow the cycle to run.

I've added a pearly to an existing tank before and it did ok. The only inhabitant I would worry about would be the pistol shrimp as it is also a burrowing bottom dweller. I don't have one and haven't researched it too much, so maybe somebody else can chime in with compatability.