Jawfish types

[justlooking]

Tommorow am getting a jawfish. Store has 4 types, the blue jeweled blue one which is more then I want to spend and then the pearly, dusky, and black cap types.
I do have some small shrimp in the tank and fish. I hear all 3 are fine with those but wondering any differences in traits or personalities between the 3.

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

I have had the yellow headed jawfish. It jumped. I now have the dusty. He is really cool. He is kind of scary looking which I like. I have seen him devour a huge silver side whole so watch the size of fish you have in your tank. He can really open his mouth a lot wider than I thought. I have shrimp and no problems.

 

[kevin34]

I have never heard of jawfish going after shrimp or showing any signs of agression (except for chasing fish/crabs away from their burrow but they never harm the other fish). But they are JUMPERS! make sure there is no escape for it. I plan on getting a tiger (black cap) jawfish in a couple weeks. I have heard all jawfish have that goofy personality. almost dog like haha

 

[maxsmart]

I just got a pearly jawfish from SWF; (CUTE!

) he was really stressed when I acclimated him and after I put him in - then the second day, I checked on him and about 1/4 of the 72gal tank's bottom was a giant burrow! It has several openings, he was poking his head out of them the first day, like peek-a-boo. Now I can't see him - I hope he's OK! I'm guessing he just decided he didn't like me peeping in and starting hanging around a different hole in the back.

 

[lkgrenegade22]

The blue jeweled/spotted one looks so cool. I had a pearly jawfish and he disappeared. I've love to have another one but I'm assuming my last one jumped and since I don't have a canopy or hood I'm not going to risk it again. I figured if he had lots of LR and LS to hide/burrow in he would be fine, but I guess not.

 

[cowhelmet]

you'll find that the three types are very similar. I've tried them all and didn't notice any distinct changes between the types. Enjoy and have fun with them! Beautiful fish.

 

[justlooking]

Went with the pearly. They called it a yellow head although Im pretty sure its just a pearly even though the guy said there is a difference.

 

[reeferstace]

My pearly (yellow-headed) jawfish is one of my favorites! Good luck with yours. Make sure your tank is covered EVERYWHERE....they will find the one crack left open.

 

[n8ball2013]

we have a redheaded jaw. and have had pearlys and a blue spot also (wife loves jawfish) the red head is awesome. he is actually a little bit larger than the pearlys. He moved around alot though.

 

[maxsmart]

Originally Posted by reeferstace
http:///forum/post/2856769
My pearly (yellow-headed) jawfish is one of my favorites! Good luck with yours. Make sure your tank is covered EVERYWHERE....they will find the one crack left open.
We have a glass cover for our tank - so that can't be what happened. I'm having a hard time believing he would keel over dead after building such a burrow - usually when fish die the first week, they just sit around on the bottom until they die, they don't eat or undergo any major construction projects! I'm keeping my fingers crossed - my biggest concern is feeding him, if he is somewhere in the back of the rocks he might not be able to see the food.

 

[maxsmart]

Originally Posted by MaxSmart
http:///forum/post/2858117
We have a glass cover for our tank - so that can't be what happened. I'm having a hard time believing he would keel over dead after building such a burrow - usually when fish die the first week, they just sit around on the bottom until they die, they don't eat or undergo any major construction projects! I'm keeping my fingers crossed - my biggest concern is feeding him, if he is somewhere in the back of the rocks he might not be able to see the food.

I got home from work today, and my pearly jawfish was above the rockwork! He looked at me, and slowly sunk behind the rocks. He did the same again later this evening! I'm so happy he's alive! What do you guys feed yours? Since I don't see him eat, if he is I don't know which of the foods I've been throwing in there he's eating - brine shrimp, bloodworms, algae flakes, formula-2 pellets...

 

[n8ball2013]

eventually his clock will tell him its dinner time and he will feed just like the others. dart out of his hole and grab food then dash back

 

[maxsmart]

Originally Posted by n8ball2013
http:///forum/post/2864186
eventually his clock will tell him its dinner time and he will feed just like the others. dart out of his hole and grab food then dash back
But what does he prefer to eat? I usually notice what each fish will eat, and what he loves to eat. But with the jawfish, I don't see him - his hole he sticks his head out must be in the back somewhere, he abandoned the 2 holes I could see him at. How can he see when there's food to be eaten, and how can I tell what he prefers to eat?
I tend to give my fish their most prefered food 1/2 the time, and what they will and are supposed to eat according to the books the other days. For example, out LMB loved to gobble up the damsel's generic marine algae flakes (the cheap kind that you can get at the supermarket - they're basically algae and a little krill protein), but according to the websites and books he should prefer nori or terestrial veggie flakes. So, I only fed the generic flakes every other day and put nori or terestrial veggie flakes in there the other days. The bicolor blenny, who's supposed to be an omni like the damsel, LOVED the nori sheets but wouldn't touch the formula-2 (which is a high-protein algae pellet that according to websites bicolor blennies are supposed to love). I think I know what it's like to have kids...

 

[n8ball2013]

we never had a problem getting any of the jawfish we had to eat anything. we usually feed mysis or plankton and mix in some cyclopeeze, clam and squid everyonce ina while . they have always preferred the frozen over anything dry though .

 

[maxsmart]

Originally Posted by n8ball2013
http:///forum/post/2864248
we never had a problem getting any of the jawfish we had to eat anything. we usually feed mysis or plankton and mix in some cyclopeeze, clam and squid everyonce ina while . they have always preferred the frozen over anything dry though .
How often do you feed him?
I put some thawed mysis in there today, he didn't emerge to eat any, he either didn't see it, didn't want it, or waited for it to blow behind the rocks wherever he was hiding.
The damsel couldn't decide if he wanted to pig out on the mysis or be scared of it

 

[culp]

Man do i miss having my Jawfish! so fun to watch.

 

[maxsmart]

Originally Posted by Culp
http:///forum/post/2865217
Man do i miss having my Jawfish! so fun to watch.

Have you tried a LMB? They're kind of similar, but a lot friendlier - once they are familiar with you, they come out of their burrow when you are sitting in front of the aquarium and come to a favorite spot in the front and look right at you. If you are looking past him at something else, he'll "jump" up a few inches, and wiggle his front fins like he's waving at you until you are watching him again. I swear they are begging for attention - or food! Their resemblence to amphibians makes you wonder if they're a few steps up the evolutionary ladder from the other fish...

 

[justlooking]

Whats an LMB?
Lawnmowwer blenny Im guessing. I have one of those, he isnt as friendly as the one I had way back but he is cool fish.

 

[anthropo]

Originally Posted by justlooking
http:///forum/post/2854875
Tommorow am getting a jawfish. Store has 4 types, the blue jeweled blue one which is more then I want to spend and then the pearly, dusky, and black cap types.
I do have some small shrimp in the tank and fish. I hear all 3 are fine with those but wondering any differences in traits or personalities between the 3.
i'm sure all of them have almost the same kind of personalities...they all have a tendancy to jump. it just depends on the individual fish. i have a blue jeweled jawfish and it has amazing colors. i'm glad i spent the money on it.