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03/27/2016, 02:28 AM | #1 |
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Blue Spot Jawfish - 3rd time the charm?
I gave it another shot with Blue Spot Jawfish (LA had a killer 42% off deal on them)
My first 2 attempts failed: First two from LFS: male died of BSJD, female jumped into the quarter sized opening of a EHEIM surface skimmer while in antibiotics treatment. Second two from LiveAquaria: both died hours after I got them. Third two from LiveAquaria: Looking good so far. They arrived without any visible symptoms of disease. Also, from the looks of it, it seems LA (QM actually) got it right with picking a male and a female by my instructions. So far no aggression. Despite enough space in the QT and initially taking shelter in another prebuild burrow, the smaller one (female) decided to move and build her burrow underneath the (small) rock where the large one (male) made his burrow and seemingly he didn't mind it. Now it's to hope that they don't get sick ... or would it be better to dose the tank with CP prophylactically?
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
03/27/2016, 04:08 AM | #2 |
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It has been my experience that:
+if they make it a month, you should be good going forward +cooler temps are preferred +passive tank mates are important
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03/27/2016, 06:49 AM | #3 |
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Can you treat with CP with sand and rock in the tank? Do you plan on TT these guys? I saw the sale too and it got me wondering how to quarantine jaw fish when it seems like rock/sand is essential to even their short term comfort.
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If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles |
03/27/2016, 07:09 AM | #4 |
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Personally I'd just observe them instead of going ahead and treating for something they might not have.
Beautiful pair! Good luck with them.
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Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300 |
03/27/2016, 07:16 AM | #5 | ||
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Quote:
BSJ are definitely not true cold water fish like Catalina gobies or Garibaldis. I haven't really decided where to put them later. I have a new pair of blue stipe pipefish that might be perfect tank mates. They would probably also get along well with marine bettas. Quote:
Sand and rock can be sterilized after use - I do it by boiling with no ill effects. CP shouldn't affect the bacteria too negatively, if at all. Many used it in DTs and I didn't find any complaints about bacteria die offs - not that using CP in a DT is a good idea. As for these two: after the lights went out the female tried to cozy up with the male in his burrow. That went then too far for him: he dragged her out and I had to direct her to her old burrow to keep her from doing more stupid things during the night. Let's see how things are in the morning. BTW, has anybody ever got some of the BSJ from Panama? They are classified as a different species (Opistognathus panamaensis), yet look almost identical to Opistognathus rosenblatti. The Panama variety should definitely like tropical reef temperatures from 24°C to 27°C.
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
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03/27/2016, 09:42 AM | #6 |
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How can u sex them?
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03/27/2016, 03:23 PM | #8 |
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I hope it works out for the both of us! Mine seems to be doing better, we will see.
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03/27/2016, 08:17 PM | #9 | |||
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Males have larger heads and longer jaws in relation to the total body length. Also, males are overall larger than females.
Here is an article about breeding them, but unfortunately the main article is only in Spanish: Comportamiento reproductivo del pez Opistognathus rosenblatti en cautiverio (Reproductive behavior of Opistognathus rosenblatti in captivity) (Full PDF article in Spanish) Quote:
This article is more specific on the differences between males and females, but for other Jawfish species of the region: Four new species of eastern tropical Pacific jawfishes (Opistognathus: Opistognathidae) (Full article) Quote:
Quote:
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
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03/28/2016, 03:17 AM | #10 | |
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Quote:
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
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03/28/2016, 05:37 AM | #11 |
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Since they are now importing more juvenile BSJF than adults as in the past the survival record is much better. One thing I have learned in the past, when it comes to Jawfish it is better to have there own tank. My office tanks contains one BSJF and a pair of golden angels. The BSJF gets what food that floats by, and the Goldens get what goes into the rocks. The only way I could tell male from female was when the male was flashing, and females don't fight normally. Good luck to everyone, they are fun fish to watch. In closing I like to keep my tank below 76.
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03/28/2016, 06:46 AM | #12 |
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03/28/2016, 06:00 PM | #13 | ||
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Quote:
Also it seems the adults don't necessarily live very long in the wild, largely due to predation of predatory fish that regularly wipe out whole colonies. It seems that in the wild they rarely get larger than 4 inch, but in captivity I have seen specimen of 5 inch or larger. Are these yours? I would love to see a known male in normal coloration. I'm starting to think my smaller one is actually the male and the larger the female. The notion that female won't fight is new to me. From what I've heard even females will fight each other in confined space. The question I still haven't found an answer to is if Jawfish are capable of sex change or if they are male or female from birth. As for Opistognathus panamaensis, it seems this species goes all the way up to coast of Southwest Mexico: First record and range extension of the jawfish, Opistognathus panamaensis (Perciformes: Opistognathidae) from western Mexico Quote:
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
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03/28/2016, 08:51 PM | #14 |
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I added one which turned out to be a female who loved to build homes. Then I added three more, one was a female but the other two including the one pictured where males that got into one heck of a jaw fight. It was so severe that I reached in my tank and picked up the loser. He ended up living so I gave him to my nephew. My first female and the flashing male became a pair with the other female. An then I made the biggest mistake of my aquarium keeping life by moving a blue face angel from QT to my sump because he was not doing well and I lost 90% of my fish. And why every time anyone ask about QT I click yes. Although the ones coming into the us may not be exactly juveniles they are normally around 3" versus the ones I use to see years ago at 5"+
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03/29/2016, 12:34 AM | #15 |
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Feeding time:
Eating good, but I'm no longer sure the big one is the male - it seems to be a bit afraid of the small one who is acting quite a bit strange.
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
03/29/2016, 12:44 AM | #16 |
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Damn i was going to order one but forgot.
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03/29/2016, 03:41 AM | #17 | |
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Quote:
Yeah yours look a lot better than mine. Mine is hiding all the time, I can barely even get a look at its head. |
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03/29/2016, 05:26 AM | #18 | |
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Quote:
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03/29/2016, 05:33 AM | #19 |
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Here is years of testimony from people who have kept BSJF and some who have tried to breed them
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/i...spot-club.147/ |
03/29/2016, 07:45 AM | #20 |
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Here is a picture of my shy dude
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03/29/2016, 06:16 PM | #21 |
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That's how my pair Opistognathus randalli behaved. Most of the time you would just see their noses sticking out. Those guys where huge (in length and diameter) and capable of swallowing feeder shrimps the size of a fully grown skunk cleaner shrimp. I suppose they could eat small fish as well, which is one reason why I'm a bit hesitant to add a pair of these guys to my 100 gallon tank.
I had them with another pair of smaller jawfish (no sure which species, likely O. variabilis), a pair of marine bettas and a pair of anemonefish, either clarkii or sebae. To feed them well I had to drop them frozen shrimps right into their moth via an acrylic tube. I wonder how they would behave on their own... BTW: with Opistognathus randalli (Gold-specs jawfish, aka Tiger jawfish) males and females can easily be distinguished: the females have a black spot in the front portion of their dorsal fin, males don't have this spot: Top: male, bottom: female I wish the Blue Spots were that easy to sex.
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
03/29/2016, 08:01 PM | #22 |
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Looks like the Blue Spot Jawfish are in the Sea of Cortez as far north as Isla Angel de la Guardia:
http://fishid.com/marinelifeblog/pik...sea-of-cortez/
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
03/30/2016, 05:37 PM | #23 | |
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03/31/2016, 01:51 AM | #24 |
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After swapping burrows several times back and forth (with some force involved) it seems tha larger one has settled for now to build its home under the left rock and leave the right for the smaller one.
By now they are busy stealing pebbles from each other with the larger one clearly winning. Though the smaller one is constantly trying to steal some back - it's just hilarious. They are eating like crazy and look like pregnant potbelly pigs. It's also interesting how they dispose of their waste: they make their little rat-poo pellets inside their burrow and then take it into their mouth and blow it out into the water where the flow carries it away. The other one then sees it floating by and has to check if it is something edible, only to blow it further away when he discovers that it's a poo pellet. It's just funny to watch.
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
04/02/2016, 03:43 AM | #25 |
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Still doing good. Seems they have settled in by now.
They also get along fairly well. There are some little squabbles, nothing physical, but rather contests who can make itself look largest. It's either a pair or two females. Since they have slightly different head shapes I still hope for a pair. But from the pictures of males I found I would now say the smaller one's head shape fits that of the known males better than that of the larger one. The larger one is for sure the more busy builder and much better in the "procurement" of pebbles. They eat a lot - I guess I need to check if there is any ammonia buildup or if the old DT water and the live sand get the job done. Here another video of them: BTW: in the background, in the next QT, is my new pair of bluestripe pipefish. (right side)
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Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +... |
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