Jawfish In 10 Gallon?

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Gnoflet

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I'm thinking about getting a jawfish and need some info. Here are my questions:
 
-Is a jawfish able to live in a 10 US gallon tank?
 
-How low of a SG can they handle?
 
If they can handle a SG of 1.005-1.010 I can put them in my other tank I'm planning to set up.
 
-What should I feed them?
 
-How deep of substrate do they need?
 
-Do the have any special requirements like extra filtration or something like that?
 
-What kinds are there?
 
-How big do they grow?
 
-Will they eat invertebrates?
 
-How much do they cost approximately?
 
Don't feel like you have to answer all the questions. If you can just answer 1 or 2 please do so. 
 
thanks.gif
  for reading.
 
 
Ok so I'll try to answer most of these let me know if I miss some or you have more questions.
Also I'm not trying to desurage you and I certainly hope you go ahead with this nano project but perhaps in a different way.

For the most part the comman jawfish you will find in most LFS are spotted jawfish or various types of pearly jawfish. These guys tend to get pretty big and probably wouldn't do great in a 10 gallon.
There are some jawfish that do ok in nano tanks but they aren't very comman and usually rather expensive sometimes in 100$ or so range.
Another probelm with jawfish is they require a substrate that is both the right type and depth for them to build a burrow in where they will live. The best substrate for this is 2 parts sand 1 part fine crushed coral gravel mixed well and spread out at a depth of about 4 inches.
No here's where the probelm comes in when using a smaller tank like a 10 gallon with a sand bed that deep it takes up a lot of the tank and then you don't have much water volume which will make it even harder to keep an already small tank stable.
Jawfish tend to be very picky with food and most people have to get them eating on live foods such as brine shrimp and other shrimp then try to wean them on to frozen foods.
Most jawfish are reef safe so they won't pick on crabs or coral so that is good.
Another downside to these fish is they tend to be very skittish and come out of there hole only at night so you don't get to see them often.
They won't handle a lower salinity because they are a full on saltwater fish so they require ocean salt levels rather then brackish levels.

I know a lot of this is negative and I hate to sound that way but there is a lot of special care for these fish and most people don't keep them for that reason. Plus I'd rather tell you all this now then make you find out the hard way.
My honest suggestion is in that 10 gallon get a goby of some type they look a lot like a jawfish but they don't require a deep sand bed most stay small such as neon gobies and clown gobies. They are very easy to feed and most are completely reef safe.
They are also much more forgiving of water standards not to say you shouldn't keep up with regular water changes and top offs of freshwater to keep salinity stable but they are much less fragile then jawfish are. You can also keep shrimp with them which in a 10 gallon a colony of shrimp are awesome to watch and make a great clean up crew.
If you do a google search of gobies that are ok in a nano tank you will find tons and I encourage you to do so if nothing else just to see some of the cool fish there are :)
Anyways hope to see you do this nano tank and whatever you choose to go with good luck!
 
Thanks for the quick reply. Do you know where you could get the smaller ones?
 
The smaller and probably easer and cheaper fish to get is a yellow headed jawfish but even it is pretty big for a 10 gal if you do go with it I'd strongly recommend setting up a 20 gallon long rather then a ten and even that is a bit smaller then is recommended for them.
Unless you are dead set on the Jawfish id really say try something a bit more easy I that 10 gal soemthing more forgiving.
But if you do end up with a jawfish make sure the whole tank is covered with a lid they are serous jumpers and will get out of any crack they can sadly I know several people that have had them die this way.
Live Aquaria sells some jawfish including the yellow heads. Or try asking around at your LFS and see if they can order you one or maybe have one. Other then that not sure where else to look.
 
I would also go with a goby if you stay with a 10g. But what jawfish you got in mind?
 
RRaquariums said:
The smaller and probably easer and cheaper fish to get is a yellow headed jawfish but even it is pretty big for a 10 gal if you do go with it I'd strongly recommend setting up a 20 gallon long rather then a ten and even that is a bit smaller then is recommended for them.
Unless you are dead set on the Jawfish id really say try something a bit more easy I that 10 gal soemthing more forgiving.
Could I put one in a 20 US gallon high? I really like jawfish because they of their digging habits. I would have to wait until I get my mudskipper tank up and get more money so I have plenty of time to research and make room for a bigger tank.
 
 
Dreamer03 said:
I would also go with a goby if you stay with a 10g. But what jawfish you got in mind?
I wasn't sure yet. Probably a yellow-head or another one of the smaller ones?
 
You could put it in a 20 gallon high tank but keep in mind with jawfish it's all about the floor space so the more space on the bottom of the tank the happier he will be. They aren't going to spend much time in any other place but the bottom of the tank.
 
20g should be fine. And yellow heada are cute. But yeah RRaquariums knows more than i do
 
I will probably go with a 20 gallon high if I do anything. I'll have to wait a wile though because I haven't even started on my other tank that I'm setting up first. It will probably be at least 6 months before I start on this one. If I did a 20 gallon high would it be big enough for a small beginners coral or two? If so what would you suggest?  
 

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