Good substrate for DSB and Jawfish?

[thejuggernaut]

It seems to me the sand needed for a successful DSB and the sand needed to keep jawfish contradict each other. For a DSB most people say to use a fine grain sand, while when wanting to keep jawfish, a heterogenous mixture of medium to large size would do well. My question for everyone out there is what kind do you use. I am in the process of building a 120 gallon and would love to leave a big open space in the middle for a jawfish, I think they are very interesting fish and would be a interesting focal point for friends and family. However, I don't want a 4-5" inch bed of sand that is nothing but a nitrate factory. If I could get a fine grain sand and mix in about 20 lbs of larger grain sand that would allow the jawfish to build a tunnel would be great. This is very confusing to me and I was just wondering what any of you have done that brought successful results.
Thanks

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Make the overall bed the desired grain size and depth, and have one end of the tank, under some rocks, the Jawfish preferred grain size and depth

 

[thejuggernaut]

If i make one side deeper with larger pieces how do I ensure that he uses that corner and doesnt just swim around the tank freaking out cause he doesnt have the correct substrate somewhere else.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Jawfish are pretty bright and seem to make do with whatever they find. It will find it's own favorite spot and be happy as a maxima

 

[MikeS]

There have been plenty of debates over the proper grain size sand to use for a DSB. Most will suggest an oolitic (fine) grain size is the only one to use but many disagree, claiming that a more coarse grain will work just as well. I tend to agree, I think that a coarse grain sand will work fine, as it will allow more diffusion of water by natural means in and out of the bed. The anoxic and anaerobic zones will still exist, and the use of a more coarse grain sand may actually help keep these areas where they belong in the bed instead of migrating shallower over time. While I know the purpose of your thread isn't to debate sandbed dynamics, I thought I'd throw that out there, because I believe a coarse grain sandbed will work as well if not better in some cases than a fine grain one.

How coarse of a grain do Jawfish require? Caribsea makes a sand that has a 2-4mm average gradient...would this work for jawfish? If I were to do a DSB or plenum system again, this is likely the sand I would use...

MikeS

 

[kevinpo]

Jawfish prefer small pea size rocks that are much too large for a sand bed but not to worry We give out a small bag of reef rubble with each Jawfish. Just place 10-15 rocks in a pile where you want the fish to build its burrow then add a few rocks (4-5) every 3 days or so. They are a wonderful reef fish that will quickly become very tame. They should be kept with peaceful tank mates.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[DonW]

Jawfish prefer small pea size rocks that are much too large for a sand bed but not to worry We give out a small bag of reef rubble with each Jawfish. Just place 10-15 rocks in a pile where you want the fish to build its burrow then add a few rocks (4-5) every 3 days or so. They are a wonderful reef fish that will quickly become very tame. They should be kept with peaceful tank mates.

Regards,
Kevin

Kevin,

Does that work with BB tanks also?

Don

 

[kevinpo]

Hi Don,
No, you will need the fine substrate for them to dig in. They will stack the rocks then get mouthfulls of sand and cover them with it. I will post some pictures tonight.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[DonW]

Hi Don,
No, you will need the fine substrate for them to dig in. They will stack the rocks then get mouthfulls of sand and cover them with it. I will post some pictures tonight.

Regards,
Kevin

I get it thanks

Don

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Jawfish are my favorite fish but I currently have none due to stupidity of putting a tough damsel in my tank when cash tight and desirous of some color. Stupid stupid stupid. Will be setting up my 180 in a few days, the damsel goes to the LFS. Beautiful and fat, but tendency to chase smaller fish which would include jawfish. Jawfish are sweet little fish that are active and relatively easy to keep as long as good water and free from any possible predation.

 

[kevinpo]

Here's a picture of one of my jawfish. I haven't been able to get a good one of the Pearly jawfish. This one is a Blackcap or Tiger jawfish.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[aquariumdebacle]

I agree with Kevin. Create your sandbed using the oolitic sized sand and then add the larger pieces for the fish to build it's burrow.

 

[salty joe]

You also might consider supporting every rock with PVC or something to the bottom of your tank. I had a jaw that wreaked havoc digging under and tumbling some pretty big rocks. Ended up losing a BTA. I had a spot with lotsa rubble, but he did not care for that spot. I started putting rubble by his unstable but preferred spot and all was well.

OUTSTANDING LITTLE FISH