the nervous father awaits his new babies

[random_ryan]

hi everyone. I am getting 2 blue spot jaw fish. my tank size is a 50 gallon. I was going to put them in a 40 cube but still very unsure thats enough room for them. tank inhabitants would include coral. snails, hermits. and frankly thats it. I want to see these guys out as much as possiable. I have waited 3 yrs to get some. I have saved rubble, shells, ect for them. I am going to put a glass top on and mod the glass to get a tunze doc skimmer in. I am using an HOB overflow. I am very nervous , and yet excited. any suggestions would be great.
these guys mean alot to me. and a local fish stor has had one in thier shop for 3 yrs. I go and vist the little guy every chance I get. he has gotten so friendly. my hope is to make them as happy and comfertable as possiable. I find myself comparing these guys to my kids . nosey with additudes. witch will be really great for me. no better time than now.

these guys are kinda replacing one of my kids. she's 18 and going off to college this fall. and I am feeling like I am loosing one of my kids.

yeah I know it rare to find a dad who feels this way.
I got to stay home and raise 3 of my children.
my wife and I choose this.
so back to my new kids. i mean jaw fish. I have read through everything here. yet I still would like more input. such as personality , experiance, ect from owners of these fantasic fish.

[michael_cb_125]

Congradulations on getting your new babies. First off, you need to closely watch them at first. In a tank that small there will most likely be some conflict. Hopefully you can get ahold of a male and female. A fifty gallon tank is pushing it, with regaurds to space.
Since they will be the only fish you will have in there, they should be out and about.
My BSJF never goes into his burrow except at night. He is the king of the tank.
I will be putting my current BSJF in my 240 gallon tank, along with another. Even with so much space, I am still worried about territorial issues.
Just be sure to kkeep the stress low on these fish. Stress is a main culprit with the demise of these fish.
Good-Luck ~Michael

[Woodstock]

Congrats on your new additions and on your daughter's advancement to college

Ditto to Michael~ Keep an eye out for aggression between the two.

[random_ryan]

If I spot agression I can always do some fish arrangements in a few of my other tanks. to place the other one in. I hope they are male and female too. althou I have a friend that has 3 females and a male. so if I end up with 2 males. he's more than willing to trade a female for a male. how do you know these guys genders? would these guys be ok with fire fish?

[Woodstock]

I do not know the answers but you can find more info at the link below....

You and your friend should join the 'blue spot club' here on RS
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/bluespot-club/

[random_ryan]

ok I ordered 2 for the 1st of march but they came in early. some how one vanished before getting to me. I do have one how ever. I have been working on the tank for them. but it was not ready. so in desteration I rotated fish to be able to house dugger. man what a pain. dugger is in a 22 gallon nano right now being housed till his tank is fully up and running. he has a harlikin shirmp and a cleaner shirmp as his tank mate for the time being. I know the tank is not big enough. althou some how I managed to get a little guy. I wanted a baby and got one. so I think he will be ok for now.I had to put my hand in the tank to move something. he came out and looked at my hand like well do you have food. so feeling bad for him I got some brine. and put my hand back in the tank. he swam right over and started eating.he's not digging thou. he just goes and hides behind a rock and waits for me to put my hand in the tank. anyone ever had one do this?

[Dentoid]

Congratulations Ryan! You are going to love this species. They are so much fun to watch, have great personalities and are very expressive. They are timid, thus will do well with Firefish and other docile species. Post some pictures of your new baby!

[random_ryan]

Bad News he didn't make it through the nite. But On the brighter side of things The place were I bought him from is going to get 6 more. They are in agreement that untill I get 2 that live they are going to keep replacing them. I spend alot of money at this establishment. I was very pleased to talk to the owner. and when he told me that he's very sorry and that he will keep on top of my issue untill we have 2 that are strong and healthy. That made me so happy. I guess it pays to buy local. and know your LFS. very sad day thou.

[bluespotjawfish]

Welcome...

Bringing one home that was just shipped to the lfs, and moving it again is double stress. Since they are so willing to work with you, you want them to find two of the six that gett along together. Have them then house the two of them together before your buy them. Have them keep them at the store for a month before you bring them home. Make sure they are fed a high quality food, enriched with vitamins to build their immune systems well. Have them train them to eat from a feeding tube (syringe).

If you house them in your 50, I would try and not have any other fish in the tank with them. This will keep your WQ perfect and prevent other fish from bringing in diseases.

I posted some information a about a month ago on the Bluespot Club Thread on how to try and introduce them to each other. It must be done in a tank that you can rescue one of them (to prevent them fighting to death) if you need to. Males are supposed to have larger mouths, so if they have six to choose from, pick one with the largest mouth and try and pair it with one that has a small mouth.

Hope this helps.

[random_ryan]

I got a juvinile to today. it must be a female becouse it has a small mouth. now I just need to find a male. got her home an acclimated her to my QT tank witch is and has been running for many many months. she has a small pile of rock and some zoa's. she is quite shy but with time I am sure she will get over it. Very very fat. witch is a good sign. now the true test is going to happen. with feeding her. I am going to garlic her food . this will boost her imune system and hopefuly increase her appitite. like I said she is very very shy. so spying on her is hard lol. when they bagged her she was not a happy camper. fighsty as heck. They didn't have anything to darken her bag so I took my shirt off and wrapped it around the bag I acclimated her in the dark. to minamise the stress. I am doing everything I can to keep the stress down on her. I really hope she does well. if she does I am going to fallow what you said and look for one with a bigger mouth than her and try that. I will keep everyone updated on how she is doing.

[Dentoid]

All the best with your new baby!

[random_ryan]

up date: today I got her to eat. she is now relating me to food. so she peaks her head out to see if I have food for her. she's doing very good.

[Dentoid]

Eventually she will be like a puppy dog. Panting and wagging her tail when you approach the tank! Fun, fun, fun!

[bluespotjawfish]

Glad to see she is eating.