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Follow my Oceanic 144g half circle reef tanks progress.
Rating: 3 votes, 5.00 average.

Jumpin' Jawfish Batman!

Posted 03/01/2012 at 06:54 PM by Aaarrrggg

Well it seems I might have spoken too soon about my "happy" Jawfish. A few hours after posting last, I heard a loud "plop" come from the tank. I went over to find Kululu sitting on the sand looking agitated after presumably jumping out and bumping his head on the plastic edging at the top of the tank. Well at least my jawfish defenses seem good enough to prevent carpet surfing!

The next day he was nowhere to be found in the tank. Growing increasingly panicked, I searched the floor... nope, not there either (whew!) Then I took a flashlight and checked the sump... nope. Finally, I shone the flashlight into the top of one of the overflows and there was a tell-tale splash. My procrastination at covering the overflows had finally caught up with me and the little sod had decided to take advantage of it and jump on in.

There's an idiot in there somewhere...
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/bsj-overflow.jpg[/IMG]

He had made his grievances clear. He wasn't happy with the burrows (or lack thereof) he could make in my tank. Be it the fine sand or the swirling flow of the Vortechs... something wasn't working for him and he needed help to build a home.

I found some excellent jawfish condo designs from this [URL="http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=172053"]doughnut one[/URL] to this [URL="http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=36757&title=diy-jawfish-condo"]long one[/URL]. Inspired, I started to plan a crazy complicated burrow network with pipes and holes everywhere! ...But then I realized if the burrow was "complete" then Kululu would probably just sit in it all day and be bored (and boring!) No... he didn't need the whole thing made for him. He was a great digger, he just needed some help stopping the doorway from collapsing in.

I ended up using a 45° 3/4" elbow for the door and inserted it into a slightly larger pipe (I can't recall the width, but it fit inside snugly without glue.)

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/bsj-pipe.jpg[/IMG]

The back of the burrow will be left open so that sand can pour in and will have to be maintained by it's jawfish tenant... thus promoting his natural behavior.

I used some of my left over [URL="http://www.marcorocks.com/bondingmortar.aspx"]E-Marco 400 mortar[/URL] to disguise the tube. I was originally just going to coat the entrance, but I decided to cover the whole thing (minus the inside and base) just in case it happens to get dug up.

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/bsj-pipe2.jpg[/IMG]

Ta da!

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/bsj-pipe3.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/bsj-pipe4-1.jpg[/IMG]

After burying the new faux burrow in the sand, the next step was to liberate Kululu from the overflow.

Husband's weapons of choice for this battle: Tiny nets taped to long pipes...

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/long-nets.jpg[/IMG]

After a lot of swearing, splashing and tripping the GFCI (oops!) ...Kululu was back in the DT!

Now you're probably wondering why I didn't include a picture of the completed jawfish condo buried in the sand earlier. Well the reason is, I didn't get a chance to take one before Kululu claimed it!!

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/bsj-condo-close.jpg[/IMG]

Since moving in, he's opted to completely uncover the other end of the tube, so now he can pop out of either end...

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/bsj-condo1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/bsj-condo2.jpg[/IMG]

I found this behavior curious because I'd expected him to be worried about something sneaking in the unguarded exit. I've provided him plenty of rock rubble so he can cover up either end if he likes, but he usually decides to keep them both open, suggesting he prefers having 2 bolt holes.

Another odd thing is that despite having enough room in the burrow to completely hide, he [I]always[/I] peaks out. Even at night or when I stick my hand in the tank. Such a fascinating fish!!
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Comments

  1. New Comment
    whodeydan76's Avatar
    Very cool pics and an excellent description! I have a new 75 gallon aquarium that has a sand/crushed corral/sand/crushed corral/grunge base with 80+# of live rock in it. I have since added a fluval 404 canister filter as it came free with the aquarium. I will be eventually buying correct lighting and a protien skimmer as soon as financially possible.
    The first thing I added to my tank was 5 green chromies, and a fiddler crab. I have slowly added a sand sifting star, a diamond goby, and 60 turbo snails and 30 red leg hermit crabs.
    I am trying to figure out what kind of fish to go with next... any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I will also be adding corral frags as I get correct lighting.
    Posted 03/02/2012 at 12:28 PM by whodeydan76 whodeydan76 is offline
  2. New Comment
    Aaarrrggg's Avatar
    TBH I'm not sure if I'm the best person to ask as I'm totally stuck on what to get next myself!

    Live Aquaria's marine fish section is a great place to browse and research new fish purchases (even if you end up buying somewhere else.)

    You can't go wrong with a nice pair of clowns! My bangaii cardinals have been fun too, although if you go for some of them make sure you get tank bred ones as the wild ones are endangered.
    Posted 03/05/2012 at 06:22 PM by Aaarrrggg Aaarrrggg is offline
  3. New Comment
    Tiffanyxoxo's Avatar
    GREAT IDEA!
    Posted 03/06/2012 at 10:10 PM by Tiffanyxoxo Tiffanyxoxo is offline
  4. New Comment
    How is the tank getting on?! really interested to see how is developing! love the blogg!!!
    Posted 05/18/2012 at 04:32 AM by T0mm0 T0mm0 is offline
 

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