[bluespotjawfish]

I have had a Bluespot in my tank for about 5 years now. The hardest part is the introduction. Similar to Diamondback Gobies, they will jump very high and very fast. They like to commit suicide, and they are not a cheap fish. As a beginner I went through about 4 of them in the course of about a month's time at $100 bucks each before my avatar settled in. He has been worth $1000 to me, so after the initial shock of losing some, he was money well spent. This time around, because I understand them more, I was able to only have to purchase one of them. So, if you can't bare to lose $100, don't buy this fish.

It is important that you introduce them with this understanding and babysit the tank on the day or so after arrival until they dig their hole. Also watch carefully anytime you are working inside the tank. I would not have one in a open top tank. You could probably have one with egg crate or something covering the tank. They like to have some shells around (or small rubble) to build their home. Mine has built a mine shaft out of shells clear to the bottom of the sand bed, and they like to remodel a lot. When they are happy, they will stay put and if you are lucky (like I seem to be), he will be right out front where you can watch him and be entertained all the time. They will jot out of their spot to grab food, but not much else is more exciting than their spot. You need to make sure that food gets within close proximity to them, especially if you have other aggressive eaters because they will go back into their hole when another bigger fish is nearby.

In the past I have been succesful with my tank ran on tap water, which typically meant high alk, high calc, high nitrates, high phospates. I feed a variety of food to all my stuff and he seems to like meaty stuff best, but takes everything. I typically do 10-15% water changes about every 2 weeks. Now I am using RO and for now my WCs are more frequent, but will settle into the same schedule over time. I lost my Bluespot a few weeks ago (poof - disappeared) and have only had my new Bluespot for about a week. Before the old one disappeared, he had moved around to about 3 different homes. For me that is something that tells me he isn't happy. My tank just finished cycling and the process may have been too much, but I never saw any other signs of any problem.

The one I had forever would grab food right out of my hand. He loved me. My new one loves me too, which I am grateful for. I haven't tried feeding him by hand yet and won't because I want him to be very comfortable where he is at.

Ok, so it looks like I am in this club by myself. I am lonely...

By the way... In the past month I have seen several selling for about $140 at the LFS with very dull colors. I got my new one on sale for $90 and his is brightly colored. Personally I would pass up the dull colored ones. The color may come around if fed the right diet, but I like to start healthy and beautiful.