Water changes for jawfish

Question
Hi Jennifer,
I read that you work in a fish keeping store so I thought you would have an answer to this. Is there any "easy" way to do water changes with a Pearly jawfish?  Probably not easy, but is there anything special that you do?  My jawfish has an established burrow and rarely pokes his head out but to eat, but I'm still scared. If he does decide to dive out will that stress kill him?  I normally take the whole top off and turn everything off, but I suppose I could leave the top on and just work my arm around with the tube letting the cover rest on my arm.  If you know, please advise.. Thank you in advance.  Your archives are a joy to read by the way.

Answer
Hi Laurie. I'm not sure what it is you are afraid of? Are you scared that your jawfish will jump out of the tank? I have found that with particular species of fish that are more prone to jump out of the tank when scared that all you simply have to do is work a little slower and avoid the area as much as possible where his burrow is. You don't have to turn everything off nor do you need to be so concerned with the lid. Most of the time when I am doing partial water changes all the fish that are in the tank end up hiding rather than darting around the tank. Any fish can jump out of the tank and it is best to just work around them as carefully as possible. My fish know when it is time for a partial and will hide in the rockwork until I am done. Your jawfish will get accustomed to this routine and should eventually do the same. Try not to disrupt his burrow and work around the area when cleaning. I can honestly say that while cleaning a tank I have never lost a fish yet!(Netting them out to sell is a whole different story) Once the water level is down a few inches the chances of an escape becomes even less. If by chance your fish does jump out there is still hope. Simply scoop him up as quickly as possible give him a good squirt of stress coat and return him to the water. He should be fine! Of course you don't want this to happen and any precautions you feel you need to take would be better. You can also try draping some nylon screening over the tank while you work. It is safe for your tank, very pliable and allot easier to work with resting on your arm than the lid to your tank. You can buy it at most hardware stores and it is relatively cheap. You probably won't have to go that far though. You can also try placing some object over his burrow while he is in there and while you are cleaning. A glass jar turned upside down or a large clam shell should keep him contained unless he has any backdoors then this won't work. Other than that I really don't know what to say. I have never had a problem with fish jumping out while cleaning and I guess I have never really even gave it a second thought before even though I know it is always a possibility!