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My wife wants me to set up a jawfish tank. I have a 10 gallon currently available that has some live rock in it from when I set up my reef tank. I know the jawfish needs a 4-5 inch sand bed. I wanted to know if the 10 gallon was big enough, and if so, if I could squeeze in a pair of jawfish or just one. I would probably add some additional live rock and perhaps some mushroom corals. The tank would have standard filtration but no protein skimming since the tank is so small. Any opinions on viability as well as set-up ideas would be appreciated...

I"d go for 5-6 inches of sand if you can and some rubble for them to build with. Believe me, they will use it. I'd think a pair would be alright in a ten gallon tank with a good amount of live rock, water movement, and regular water changes. They are a reef safe fish, so shrooms would be fine. Throw some chaetomorpha and other macro algaes for pod growing and nutrient export, I know my jawfish likes to hunt pods and the water quality will benefit as well.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Yeah, I also think it would work. Just be careful about jumping. Since you're using a ten gallon and need a good deal of sand for these fish, water depth will be limited. Employing some kind of screen or lid might be necessary to make sure the jawfish don't end up all crispy on the floor.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I knew I was forgetting something, eggcrate works great, or just a full glass top.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

The DSB is good for them if you get the right kind of substrate. The thing is, for it to work right for them, it needs to be like mud, and packed down. Other wise, when they dig a hole, it will just keep caving in. Now they don't require a DSB, it is just prefered. They will dig tunnels down under and through the rock if the DSB keeps caving in on them, or if there is only a couple inches of sand.

IMO, I would go with about 2 inches of sand in the 10 gal. As a 6 inche DSB would take up half of the tank, and thus be less water in there, making it more like a 5 gal tank for a pair of these guys. This would have a stronger effect on the water quality and could cause some bad problems for the fish. I would definitely use some macro-algae for nutrient and nitrate uptake in that small of a tank. And keep up on the water quality checks and water changes to accomodate them.

As for the pair or not, be sure to start with a pair that are designated as such at the lfs. If you end up with two males, they will fight over territories and a 10gal tank does not offer enough room for two males.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Thanks for all the help guys. After thinking about it some more and reading ACIDRAIN'S comments, I'm going to go with a 20 high tank. That gives me 6 inches more in height and 4 in length. It also gives me some more flexibility in mounting a protein skimmer like I have on my 29 gallon reef. I could always use the 10 gallon for a back-up quarantine, (or a little Lake Tangyanika shelldweller tank)/:'

Good choice! I actually kept my breeding pair in a 20 high. Worked out great. Got the tank actually for a 10 gal wooden stand I took in trade once. And got the breeding pair soon after I got the tank. So I set it up for them especially. I had a 6 inch DSB and a small sump in the stand. I got CF lighting for it, there are several companies that make 10 gal size CF lighting fixtures for a 10 gal size tank. And kept several corals in there as well. They spawned about every 6 months for me. They are mouth brooders, so there is not a whole lot of prep needed. They only spawned 4 times for me, and then quit. But I still enjoyed them all the same. I only used turbo snails in mine so as not to have any crabs or shrimp taking a liking to the new babies when I got them.

Good luck and hope you enjoy them as much as I did mine.

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There is always a bigger fish...