Missing Jawfish
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Help
Forum Name: EMERGENCY FORUM
Forum Description: If you have an Emergency post here and you should receive a quick reply.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=64787
Printed Date: November 21 2024 at 12:03pm
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Topic: Missing Jawfish
Posted By: Ann_A
Subject: Missing Jawfish
Date Posted: June 05 2013 at 11:03am
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So last night I got a blue spot jawfish which I acclimated by adding 1/2 cup after to his bag every 15 minutes for 1 hour. He seemed fine when I let him free in the tank. He was swimming around and even ate for me. Then I checked on him about and hour later and he was nowhere to be seen. I haven't seem him since. My tank is completely closed (RSM) and I've checked the sump and there's no sign of him. Do they often hide when first introduced and should I be worried? I have no intention of going through my rockwork to find him since that would cause stress to the tank an to him if he's still in there. The only other things in the tank are corals, a snowflake eel, peppermint shrimp, crabs/snails, and a moorish idol. Thanks for the help! ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Replies:
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: June 05 2013 at 12:04pm
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He's hiding ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: AcroNem
Date Posted: June 05 2013 at 12:41pm
| When mine was added (although a different jawfish) it simply dug itself under one of the rocks and hid for about a day. He'll come out. |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: June 05 2013 at 3:47pm
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I agree, he is hiding. On the RSM there is a 1/4-3/8" gap between the hood and the top of the false back that he could use to get into the sump area.
Mike -------------  |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: June 08 2013 at 7:49pm
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I've checked the sump and there's no sign of him. The only possible trace of him is some shifted sand in the back but that very easily could've been the eel. ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: Luv68tiger
Date Posted: June 08 2013 at 9:40pm
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Maybe the eel ate him. Mine ate a lot of things I didn't think he would. ------------- ~Michelle |
Posted By: AcroNem
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 12:07am
| Ah, you didn't mention an eel hahaha. That could definitely be one reason you can't find it. A small fish like a goby/Jawfish that is relatively slow and stays along the bottom could very easily become a snack. Then again I see new sand piles popping up everywhere that are no doubt from my Jawfish. Keep us posted, It's still a new fish it could turn up. |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 10:14am
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The eel is only 18" long, practically completely blind, and is relatively dumb. The Jawfish was able to dart around when he wanted to so I doubt he was eaten, but I guess it's possible. ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 2:36pm
Aloha Ann, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but all Moray's have poor vision. They smell and then ambush their meals, dead or alive.  I wish I had a pic of it, but one day I was walking across a semi-flat large expanse of rock where the waves come across. Out of the corner of my eye, I happened to notice a small head sticking out of a hole. I looked closer and saw several of them in similar holes. They were young Snowflake Morays. By the size of their heads I'd guess they were 6-12" long. I believe the way they catch food is to wait for crustaceans to crawl close and for small fish to come moving by with the waves. Morays can sense the prey when it gets an inch or two away and then they move at lightning speed. Their closeup vision and sense of smell help them aim their tooth filled mouth toward the meal. Mahalo, Mark  808-345-1049 anytime P.S. It doesn't hurt to ask here about reef purchases. You never know when something someone here has to say will save days of grief and/or loads of money. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: AcroNem
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 2:50pm
| That was quite the expensive snack :/ |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 3:10pm
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I was afraid of that....ah well if he somehow turns up then it'll be a nice surprise. Otherwise my eel will be out the door when I upgrade tanks and can actually catch him. ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: DMower
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 3:18pm
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Key here guys is small fish. The jawfish is no where close to small enough for a typical snowflake eel to be able to eat it. My snowflake eel, which Anne has cared for while I was out of town, can barely get 1/4 inch chunks of shrimp in its mouth. It lives happily with cleaner shrimp , fire shrimp, three mandarins , a very small cleaner goby (less than an inch long), small clown fish pair, and a school of chromis (some are also very small). I also have a blue dot jawfish. They are very smart, attentive, fast fish. I find it impossible from personal experience for a snowflake eel to ambush and eat a jawfish of 3-4 inches in length. If the jawfish is not alive, it is dead in its den, from some other cause, in the sand and the clean up crew will take care of the rest. Don't be so quick to blame an eel. There are a multitude of reasons why a newly added fish dies. ------------- 150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues. |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 3:23pm
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Found him!!!! He's been hiding in a burrow behind a rock in the front of my tank. He seems really shy though and doesn't come out except when food drifts right in front of his den. Hopefully he'll learn to come out more. ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: DMower
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 3:27pm
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Typical behavior. Give Him time to adjust. Glad you found his home. ------------- 150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues. |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 4:01pm
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Ann_A wrote:Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: June 09 2013 at 8:38pm
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I'm glad I was wrong.
------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: JohnnyHeavens
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 10:18am
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Great news Ann! When we feed we watch two places to make sure the fish are eating. The cardinals and the jaw fish. While the jaw fish will grab some pellets if it drops in front of him, the cardinals still only eat the mysis or other frozen foods so we make sure they get some. Depending on our blue spots the burrow of the day, we often have to squirt some food right next to him to make sure he gets it. ------------- @Home 300g System 150g-Cube Reef+60g Frag+WaterChange 150g Tall FOWLR RIP @Work RSM 130D w/LEDs txt anytime @ eightO1-seven5five-eighteen99 Scuba! PADI Pro DM/AI/TecDeep NSS/CDS-Full Cave Diver |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 10:25am
....And he's dead.  I was watching the tank last night and my eel crept up on his burrow and the next thing I knew my eel was thrashing around and wrapping his body around something that was wiggling and trying to escape. No sign of the jawfish since. So I guess the eel is capable of eating a jawfish which means he's being evicted from the tank. ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: JohnnyHeavens
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 10:26am
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...and...THAT SUCKS! Sorry Ann! ------------- @Home 300g System 150g-Cube Reef+60g Frag+WaterChange 150g Tall FOWLR RIP @Work RSM 130D w/LEDs txt anytime @ eightO1-seven5five-eighteen99 Scuba! PADI Pro DM/AI/TecDeep NSS/CDS-Full Cave Diver |
Posted By: DMower
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 10:29am
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Well. I guess I was wrong. Sorry to hear. I must have an especially nice snowflake eel. ------------- 150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 11:55am
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OMG That's terrible. Like DMower I was glad to hear it was okay and hoping the Snowflake played nice. I feel like sharing an amazing story about a Tesselata Moray and a Volitan Lionfish.This link should take you to the post. The rest of the thread is interesting and very relevant to this Jawfish tragedy. http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7340&KW=tesselata&PID=76806&title=who-keeps-eels#76806" rel="nofollow - http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7340&KW=tesselata&PID=76806&title=who-keeps-eels#76806 Mark ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Luv68tiger
Date Posted: June 10 2013 at 8:06pm
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My snowflake eel was 18-20 inches and he ate a file fish, a railway goby, a peppermint shirmp, a domino damsel (none of these were very small) and several snails. I still loved him but gave him away. I'm sorry for your loss. ------------- ~Michelle |