Shocked Jawfish

[laurieo33]

Hello all,
I think I know the answer to this question already but I'm an optimist and figured I'd throw it out there in hopes that someone has had a similar experience.
I have a 30Gal salwater tank, all levels are normal I checked them myself before I went out to pick up my new, been waiting for ever and ever to get, Pearly Jawfish. I brought along a sample as well so that I was guaranteed 7 days for the life of the fish.
Anyhow, I brought my precious little angel home and let it float for awhile introducing my water in a bit at a time for about 45 minutes. I then released it, minus the water and the light off and it made one lap around the tank and laid in the corner and has not moved for at least 4 hours now. It's not panting and is making NO attempt to find a suitable home.
My other fish are being quite nice to it, not bothering it or bullying it, although the Dragon Goby seems a little sad for it because it kind of hangs behind the jawfish wondering why it's just laying on the bottom.
I do have a DSB suitable for a jawfish as they are my favorites, so all I can think of is that I did not acclimate it properly.
Also my water temp usually stays around 76 degrees and my other fishies are: Royal Gramma (hubby's idea, grrr..) Clownfish ( the nemo kind-osciallis?) Dragon Goby, Emerald crab and a chocolate chip starfish. What do you guys think?
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laurieo33
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Update*!**!*
Where my little jawfish decided to lay has now attempted to dig a hole in the corner of the tank to shelter himself/herself. There are plenty of bits and pieces for him, but it's kind of weird that it is not burrowing under one of the many live rocks as my goby has taken up residence on the other side of the tank. There may be hope yet for my jawfish. Any replies are greatly appreciated though. Anyone a jawfish keeper?

A kind soul told me I would have better luck over here. I've cut and copied my previous posts. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, I'm not a jawfish keeper, but it's not uncommon for fish to take weeks if not months to get adjusted to a new environment, especially one already populated by other fish. Your biggest concern aside from health (spots, gasping for breath, etc) should be does he eat? If so, given enough time he should adjust to the new tank and start exhibiting normal behavior

 

[laurieo33]

I am happy to say....I threw some mysis in today and he snatched a couple peices. He then made his way to the front of the tank and proceeded to burrow against the glass. I read somewhere that you should introduce a jawfish to a predug burrow so that's what I tried and it worked. He is digging away feverishly as I type.

 

[littleme1969]

I have a dusky jawfish and they do take a while to settle. Mine was about 2 days before he started looking for a burrow and has moved home twice in the past 6 weeks. As long as hes eating and not been picked on he will do just fine. Mine loves frozen bloodworm but will also take brine mysis and flake food now They are great fun to watch and own.
They love lots of rock rubble to line their burrow with and take great joy in rearranging the chunks on a daily basis

 

[laurieo33]

You know, my little Pearly acclimated quite well considering all the "in your face" my other fishies were giving him. He eventually made his way to the front of the tank and relentlessly dug a hole against the glass. I used my super remembering powers from my research and I dug the darn hole for him close to where he was set up for himself. He bolted towards it and and promptly finished up. He is all hooked up there. I put bits of shells and other debris around his hand made burrow and he barricaded himself in there only coming out for food
But....my question I pose to you all....my Dragon Goby has become quite nasty now, trying to hijack the burrow, although he has his own, and quite nice might I add, on the other side of the tank and pick at him while he is out looking around. Jealousy? Is that possible? The angel usually scares the goby back to his burrow but I'm wondering for long term. Angel might not always be around to send him on his way. Thanks in advance.
Laurie

 

[littleme1969]

Coverting of burrows is quite common..lol
The grass is always green and all that..lol
I have a pest crab that keeps trying to take the burrow of the jawfish but hes one tough cookie and aint giving it up that easy.
Its all about competition for food the burrow with the best feeding spot will always be prime real estate..lol You may find that some burrow swaping does go on as long as the fish are eating and there is no fishy violence then they should be OK Its just natures way. As a last resort you can always remove the offender.

 

[laurieo33]

It's so fascinating to me that my little jawfish which is half the size of the goby and nearly invisible to the Coral beauty (is much larger then all of my fish) stands right up with his mouth open wide scaring them off, lol. Today the jawfish placed old seashells over all of the available holes and the goby is now quite perplexed. (for now)
The goby seems to sneak over when the jawfish is digging and blowing out the sand but not at all intimidated by him, he's only afraid of the Coral Beauty. What an adorable setup I ended up with. My 4 and 5 year old are more interested in watching the fish then sitting in front of the TV watching Spongebob. Now that makes me feel less guilty about the cost of this hobby.