Feeding Yellow-Headed Jawfish

Hello 3Reef Community,

I currently am running a 55g saltwater reef setup with about 35lbs of live rock (adding more this weekend). Recently (about 5 days ago), I added a Yellow-Headed Jawifsh to my reef. Right away, my jawfish (Robert) scurried to the bottom to find shelter, but I later found him hanging out in the middle of the tank just hovering. About two days ago robert finally built his "burrow" under a piece of live rock but I haven't seen him feed and have tried feeding him frozen mysis/omega one flakes via pipette to no avail. My question/concern is whether or not Robert is eating and if not how could I encourage him to (I know jawfish rarely leave their burrows once established and are not good food competetors)? Any knowledgable insight from jawfish owners or experienced aquarists would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks

 

Anyone? The little guy must be hungry...:-/

 

Often times getting new livestock to eat is tricky. The trick I've been taught, that has been very successful is start them off with live food and then later try to change to other foods. I got my jawfish to eat right away with live brine shrimp. I suggest trying that. Live brine shrimp is not very expensive and worth getting that little guy to eat.

 

Thatk you very much Sea Dragon- I will definitely try feeding live Brine. My only concern is that he hides under "his" live rock all day and I can just barely make out his eyes from time to time. Usually jawfish "hover" above their burrows, but Robert seems to only want to lurk in his cave/burrow. What is the best way to "get" those live brine shrimp close enough to Robert so that he can feed (before his tank mates eat them all...those pigs, hahaha)?

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I could feed my jaw without having to worry about competition? I've already tried pipette feeding to no avail.

 

I never had a problem with my jawfish eating. I know they like big chunks of brine shrimp. On the other hand they dont like to venture far from there home so you can try and use a syringe to shoot some food closer to his home. Try and do this without him seeing you if possible. Good Luck

 

Thanks gutierrezre, however I've already tried the syringe/pipette method and had problems because the mysis i was feeding got stuck in the tube and when I was finally able to release the food near Robert's burrow I accidentally blew sand around, messing up his hard work (he fixed it though).

 

Its best to have more than one type of feeding tubes for diff foods. I cut the tips off of one tube, so it can shoot bigger food w/o blasting it at them cause it gets jammed.

 

Give it a little more time and the jaw will probably come around. They can take a while to fully acclimate sometimes but usually come around eventually. Make sure you don't have anything else in there bullying the fish and make sure your tank is covered especially the first few weeks as the fish is getting used to it's new home.

 

Haha, thanks Bob. Currently I'm using a glass pipette attached to a measuring handle (like those used in a lab). What would you suggest for feeding forzen mysis/brine or live brine to him?

Thanks fazool- about how long can these guys go without food...I knew about the "jumping" from the tank thing, but I'm worried he's not eating.

 

Both the blue spots I had were eating prepared frozen food and flake right after introduction, but both of them also ended up surfing the carpet. I wouldn't take the chance of them jumping lightly, they are VERY big jumpers.

Edit: Whoops! You are talking about pearly jawfish! I have a mated pair in my tank and both of them gobble down whatever is offered and are very social. Try adding garlic or feeding live brine first and see how that goes. Both mine also went nuts when feeding tigerpods to the tank.