Blue Spot Jawfish - Opistognathus rosenblatti

[Woodstock]

I guess I just love a challenge
I've been successful raising many different marine species and now I want to see how challenging raising blue spot jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti) will be.:columbo: I have had a pair of spawning blue spot jawfish in the past but lost the female due to rough handling of the sand bed when moving the tank

I have recently sold all of my clown fish and aquariums and managed to whittle down to only one display aquarium. :bouncer: Of course, I still have a 20 gallon QT that is used for all new additions.

My sole display aquarium has been set up for about 6 weeks and is a tall 65 gallon drilled with a 20 gallon tall sump and will be home to a pair of blue spot jawfish and a pair of clown fish (juveniles that I bred). It has a T5 light fixture (6 bulbs) and the majority of the bulbs are actinic to help simulate deep water and a Euro Reef skimmer that will be installed soon (if it fits in the sump).

Pictures/updates to come as things change. Right now the tank is new and very ugly. LOL

 

[reefer gladness]

Looking forward to this one. What temp range do you plan to run this tank?

 

[Woodstock]

Looking forward to this one. What temp range do you plan to run this tank?

I am struggling with this decision. My choice to keep a few clown fish made the temperature range a tad higher than I would prefer. It is subject to change, but at this time the reference point is 72.0 deg on my controller. I know from experience that clownfish can tolerate this temperature without issues.

 

[Oxylebius]

Following along this one....

 

[Kremlin]

Tagging along

 

[Wrangy]

Definitely tagging along here Any breeding effort is highly rated in my books! Looking forward to seeing how you go with this

 

[Woodstock]

Thanks. I hope this will turn into an interesting thread.

A bit of background on the fish: One of the blue spots I have had for several years, it is a male and is large; the other I recently purchased at Diver's Den (I HOPE it is a female) and is much smaller. Probably because it is younger? The newest blue spot was in QT for several weeks and underwent several formalin dips and a 14 day cupramine treatment. It was added to the display and settled in perfectly. Both are eating homemade mush very well and have built tunnels in the deep sand bed (4-6").

For simplicity sake, the male who lives on the left side will be named "Luey" and the other (hopefully female) on the right side will be named "Ruby".

Luey has been flashing and Ruby has been watching him. This is a very good sign and I hope it means Ruby is a female but I'm not sure. Ruby could just be a juvenile male? We will see.
The breeding pair that I had years ago behaved similarly so I am very hopeful I do indeed have a pair.

Here is a video of my last pair back in 2011 that shows how a breeding pair will behave:

[video=youtube_share;NOC5irk6R78]http://youtu.be/NOC5irk6R78[/video]

 

[reefer gladness]

Very cool, we're all wishing you success. Are they mouth brooders or lay eggs?

 

[Akshay]

So....... did u manage to raise some fry? this is gonna be a sweet thread to follow

 

[Woodstock]

Very cool, we're all wishing you success. Are they mouth brooders or lay eggs?

The male broods the eggs in his mouth.

 

[Woodstock]

So....... did u manage to raise some fry? this is gonna be a sweet thread to follow

No. The old pair began spawning just as we advertised/sold our last house and moved (twice).

 

[StirCrayzy]

Very cool, glad you're back at it!

 

[Mayja]

I've seriously considered setting up a separate tank just for blue spots. I'll be lurking as well!

 

[Oxylebius]

Look at that belly!!! :LOL:

 

[Woodstock]

I tested just for nitrAte, Alk & PH and all are excellent; zero nitrAtes, 12 dkh, and 8.3-8.4 ph.
I need to order a new PH probe for my controller but for now I'll just test manually.
Controller says average temp this week is 75.6 f.

 

[Frankie]

Good luck Doni! Looking forward to hearing the progress. And seeing some pictures!