Sick Jawfish :(

Ok so i noticed yesterday that my jawfish was not coming out, not even to eat. He ALWAYS hovers outside his burrow and moves around quite frequently. And today I woke up and he has just his head sticking out and breathing heavily. Should I try to remove him and put him in the q tank? Or will this kill him for sure? Any advice would be good...i love my little jawfish.

all parameters are normal, all 0 and pH is 8.1, except nitrates are at or less than 20 ppm (but they have been like this for about a month now):-/

 

well i dont really think i should wait to treat him, i think he will most certainly perish anyway. I guess i will go ahead and prepare my q tank and put him in.

 

what type of jawfish, and whats your sandbed?

 

its a yellow headed jawfish, my sandbed is about 3 inches, i think the the first layer is a fine substrate (it was black) and the second is ocean sand (mix of shells, fine sand, and small pieces of dead coral).

I've had him for about 4 months with no issues

 

im wondering if maybe they are wild caught fish then they might not be able to adapt to a home aquarium....just a guess though

 

well, not from the ocean, live sand i bought at the store..i think it was called reef sand

 

yea, i dont think so but its a thought. Hes been fine and I know they do well in captivity (and are not bred). Hes been burrowing and active, voracious eater. And then all of a sudden not well.