What makes BSJ want to jump???

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TheLegend

New Member
I just got my very first BSJ...And I have to say, he looks really good health-wise...I have a canopy, but its not completely covered 100%. There's is a opening on the backside, so I would say it's about 75% covered, so technically there is a chance he could jump out. My question is what makes the BSJ want to jump out the tank? Is it Stress? Bad water quality? Being picked on by other fish? The thinking is that the better I understand their nature, the better I can prevent this from happening. I have made it a point to keep non-aggressive fish with my BSJ. I've also read that its not good to surround a BSJ with fast moving/swimming fish, it makes them nervous. So as of now, in my 90 gal. I have two very small clown fish, and two firefish.

Just looking for understanding, thanks in advance.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I think it's a Fright/Flight thing. They (as well as Firefish) as easily spooked and somewhow they ALWAYS find that open spot. I have my tank covered all but about a 1/2" strip 5" around a filter. The firefish got THROUGH that spot in less than a week. I wonder how MANY times it had darted before hand but regardless its the LAST one that counts.

I say get a better cover ASAP. Maybe you can use some of this information in this link to help you "close the gap" before you lose any fish.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/nano-reefs/28949-new-nano-4.html#post474405
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Yep, for stuff like jawfish or firefish, all species, you got to have a cover that covers 100% of the tank. They will find the smallest hole.
 
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TheLegend

New Member
ok, I will cover up whats not covered.

I can live with the firefish jumping, but the blue spot was $80...I can't handle that..lol.....And I will admit, I am uneasy just by reading about the jumping stories throughout the web. I was at work today and I thought about it at least 5 times today. I just don't like the feeling of knowing my newly purchased $80 fish may be on the carpet. When I first got home I went straight to the tank, and he was under a rock building his home. I stopped by the LFS and picked up some crush live rock rubble for him. Hopefully it goes well but I'm uneasy right now...Got to get it covered...
 
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TheLegend

New Member
Well, I've decided I'm not going to close off that back area of the Canopy. I'm beginning to feel like this BSJ is not worth the trouble for me. Last night I watched the fish from a distance and I noticed he kept looking straight up towards the top of the tank, he even raised up from his hole a few time like he was looking for an opening. I've decided that I'm NOT about to stress myself out, if he jumps, he jumps. The Lesson learned: DON'T BUY ANOTHER ONE...lol...Now he's not eating, and I just don't got time. Also, I'm not about to put tons of food in the tank and mess up my clear water quality. I'll continue to put the minimum food in the tank, if he doesn't go for it, so be it. Starve to death, or go head and jump and get it over with.

There are to many other fish that eat willingly and don't try to commit suicide 20x's a day. I like the fish a lot, but when a fish seems to need so much special attention, then it becomes annoying. He's built several burrows around the tank, I guess he can't make up his mind where he want to go. These fish are super scary by nature and this may not be the fish for me.

I've had the fish a few days, and maybe I'm jumping the gun. Any advice is welcomed, but I WILL NOT cover up the back of the canopy area. I just won't. This may not be the right attitude but if a $80-$100 fish is to stupid to stay in the water, and wants to commit suicide then I can't condone having this fish.
 
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offshore357

Member
Well, that was an interesting response.

Mine has provided some of the same challenges. I guess I won't waste my time with what worked for me. I agree, polluting your tank isn't the answer.

Some animals require specialized care. BSJF is one of them. Maybe you were just venting. But if you have given up. Maybe instead of killing him you could contact your local reef club and get him to a better home. Lots of peeps would love a fish like that.

Hope it works out!
 
jcgardner

jcgardner

Member
If you really feel that way about him, offer him up for sale. Many people would gladly take him from you. Very sad to hear things like that said. :(
 
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TheLegend

New Member
Offshore I am not going to kill the fish. Lol but at the same time, not about to build on to my tank to close off the partially opened back end for a fish that apparently jumps for no reason. I have bought live brine shrimp and mysist shrimp,o still not eating. He just peeks up out his hole and does that head movement he does and just "looks". Oh well, doesn't want to eat, fine. Wants to jump, that's fine to. But whatever he does, I just hope he gets it over with.

I admit that I must take blame because I read about these things and still made the purchase so I take the blame as well. I now realize I could've bought a way lesser scooter fish for $20 and he wouldve had sense to eat and stay in water. So my bad, live and learn.
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Any fish is a potential jumper, but some are more likely than others.
If you are anywhere near Central Florida send me a PM. We can work something out. They can be difficult to get to eat, but once they start they are very good eaters. Try giving him more building material. Mine quit eating one time when he ran out of building material.
 
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TheLegend

New Member
lcstorc, thanks for the advice. I will do just that. I will go buy more rubble and we Will see what happens. I am no where near FL, lol. I live 15 miles from Chicago.
 
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lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
I honestly didn't try to figure it out. Somebody made the suggestion to me and it worked. Also, they will manage much larger rubble than you would think. The shell of a Turbo snail can easily be used as building material.
 
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kaiya

New Member
my bsjf jumped out of a tank that was completely covered about 6 mo. ago. I left the glass top pushed back after feeding in the morning, so there was about 2 in.. free for him to get out....and he did. I had company in from out of town, and 4-5 people walking back and forth from room to room, and I'm sure he wasn't used to all of the human traffic.

Today, I bought a new one. :) Last night, I spent about 20 min constructing a bsjf lid for my 120. It was very easy, and pretty fun to make. It involved egg crate (cut to size), plastic fine mesh gutter coverings, (its hard, but still flexible), and twisty ties.

On my old tank, i just used the plastic fine mesh gutter covering, but it was a pain to adjust or keep in place. The egg crate provides the stability, the fine mesh keeps the bsjf from jumpin through the egg crate holes (and they will ;) ), and the twisty ties hold them together.

Like I said, it took about 20 min. supplies cost less than 10$, and i thought it was a fun project. Hope that helps.

If anyone is interested in how it looks, let me know, and I'll take a few pic's tomorrow.

kelly
 
Frankie

Frankie

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
To understand why the BSJF tend to jump all you need to do is understand where it comes from in nature.
This is a burrowing fish. It burrows between 4-8" deep in the ocean floor at the base of a slope and spreads out a bit on sandy reef flats on the ocean floor. So a deep sand bed (DSB) is required so the fish can feel secure.
It's eyes are located on top of it's head enabling it to look up for food and predators.
They are found as deep as 20' (feet) and are very fast sprinters. When threatened they will dart to there burrows for cover.
In nature the fish is documented to hover up to 5' (feet) above it's burrow. (so adding one to an aquarium is a bit cruel IMO)
This fish is designed and use to a 360 degree view. Putting them in an aquariums is like putting them in a hole. They will try to escape because they feel trapped in there environment. Not an ideal aquarium fish.
It's not the fish that is stupid, jumping to it's death but the aquarist who is ignorant to this fishes needs.
 
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proenca

proenca

Member
Frankie said:
To understand why the BSJF tend to jump all you need to do is understand where it comes from in nature.
This is a burrowing fish. It burrows between 4-8" deep in the ocean floor at the base of a slope and spreads out a bit on sandy reef flats on the ocean floor. So a deep sand bed (DSB) is required so the fish can feel secure.
It's eyes are located on top of it's head enabling it to look up for food and predators.
They are found as deep as 20' (feet) and are very fast sprinters. When threatened they will dart to there burrows for cover.
In nature the fish is documented to hover up to 5' (feet) above it's burrow. (so adding one to an aquarium is a bit cruel IMO)
This fish is designed and use to a 360 degree view. Putting them in an aquariums is like putting them in a hole. They will try to escape because they feel trapped in there environment. Not an ideal aquarium fish.
It's not the fish that is stupid, jumping to it's death but the aquarist who is ignorant to this fishes needs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for saving me the trouble to write all this.

100% correct.
 
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TheLegend

New Member
*Update*

I did not alter my tank to close it off 100%. I still have about a 4 inch gap on the back of the tank where the over-flow box hangs. And to this date, my SPJF is still alive and doing well. I am somewhat surprised but yet thankful that he is doing well.

About two weeks ago I added a small blue face Angel fish and the Angel just kept going after the tail of the SPJF(maybe cause of the way the jawfish tail moves?). I just knew this would completely stress out the Jawfish and either cause him to finally jump, or get stressed and develop some form of disease. Also, at this time my jawfish wasn't seen to be eating and I just knew it was a matter of time before he was dead. The angel fish also took over the home the jawfish made so I knew that just made matters worst. The jawfish eventually went to the other end of the tank, made a new home under a rock. And now he's even EATING!!! Before he had started looking slim and u could tell he was not eating. But now he is eating, looks fat and healthy, and is doing pretty good. I don't know what triggered the turnaround, especially since I didn't do anything. My guess is the new food I'm using now, but I wasn't expecting the jawfish to like this product because it consist of other ingredients he wasn't eating before, like mysis shrimp.

When I first purchased the jawfish I would come home from work looking nervously to check to see if the Jawfish was still in the tank. And no matter what I did, I never actually seen the jawfish eat. Now, I no longer check to see if the Jawfish is in the tank, and he's even seen eating now.

Also, some of the so called advice on the BSJF didn't help. With things like:

"It's eyes are located on top of it's head enabling it to look up for food and predators. They are found as deep as 20' (feet) and are very fast sprinters. When threatened they will dart to there burrows for cover. "


I think its quite obvious that the eyes are on the top of the head, and the fish is a fast sprinters. Or, when threatened the jawfish will dart for cover. Duh!!! Did u cut & past that info because thats self-explanatory. There's a difference between having real knowledge and pretending....Good luck!!!
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Glad to hear your fish is still alive an appears to be doing well.
Please keep in mind that the people here are simply trying to help. If you do not feel you need their help then feel free to ignore it.
What seems obvious to some people is not obvious to others and we were just trying to give you and others that read this thread some information they may not have thought about.
 
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TheLegend

New Member
LCSTORC,

I honestly have no idea why my BSJF is doing better after he had every reason to get worst. Usually when a fish stops eating, its a really bad sign. But now the BSJF is going after food, and doing well despite of the Blue Angel fish. I didn't expect this Angel Fish to do that since he's only just a little bit over an inch. But all is well.

As in life, sometimes when things look the worst, things have a way of turning around when we least expect it. Its amazing how one can do everything to fix a situation, and get zero results, but then do nothing and get the situation fixed.
 
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