Jawfish question

[austintyler]

I picked up a jawfish last weekend, and it immediatley disapeared. A few days later i moved rock around to try and find him or his body. He was in there still alive but now i cant see him anymore. Its a 24 gallon tank. I just wanted to know if it was common for this type of fish to disapear for a few days in a new tank or if i should look for his little dead body again before it ruins my water quality???

[Graham]

How much sand do you have? Their natural habitat is creating a burrow in the sand. Unless you have 5-6" of sand in the tank, my advice is to find it a more suitable home. It sounds like he's looking for security....which is why I have a hunch there's not enough sand.

[Caoineag]

Actually, I have plenty of sand and mine disappeared for a week when I got him. In another two or three weeks, he decided he liked the home and spends 50% of his time outside of his hole. They simply take a long time to adapt, even longer if there is other fish present.

[austintyler]

Hey thanks, thats all good to know

[Brent Cone]

I havent seen mine for 3 week's, but i have alot of sand and a lot of rock & im not moving my rock to find him.
Brent.

[whatevva]

It was two weeks before I saw mine. Then all I saw were his eyes peeking at me. Last night, after almost a month in the tank, he came out and I got a good look at him.

[Clownfishman]

It is good to know that they take a while to adapt, mine is behind a rock and has made a hole for himself, but you can see him since he is behind the rock facing the wall..

I don't really think its his home though but I think he feels comfortable there right now. I worry if he gets any food because he doesn't really come out during feeding i try to squirt some near his area but he just stays there. I also put a small pellet that sank near his area so maybe when he gets comfortable he will eat it..

Also I did find him in the sump trickle filter so he is probably still scared from that even, though i believed I fixed that now so that won't happen again..