Neat club. My wife and I recently purchased a blue spotted jawfish for our 90 gallon reef aquarium, which is fully stocked with live rock and also has a 1.5" blue tang and a 3" flame angel. We both love the jawfish, but we are concerned for its well-being, as our flame angel seems to want to challenge and scare the jawfish every time he encounters it. The angel confronts it side-on, then the jawfish opens its mouth to return the threat. What happens next depends on how well fortified the jawfish's particular refuge is. If it is well fortified, the jawfish retreats inward and the angels loses interest. If it is not well-fortified, the jawfish goes berserk and zigzags vertically up and down, eventually ending up in a new location. These confrontations do not occur very often, as there are many places/crevices in the aquarium that the angel ignores, and it doesn't seem to be severely affecting the jawfish, as he appears healthy and eats brine/mysis shrimp like a pig, sometimes swimming out into the open to eat, despite the flame angel threat. But we hate to see him limited to certain spots in the tank. Has anyone ever dealt with this? We are aware that the flame angel should have been added last, we made the decision to purchase it after seeing it interact peacefully in a goby-filled reef set-up at our local fish store, and I suspect that the angel becomes perturbed when the jawfish stands up to it when challenged. Any information is appreciated.
Jared
