Blue-spot jawfish keepers, please post

Interested to hear updates from those who posted...

I'm particularly interested to hear from those of you who have or had pairs or have more than one of these guys living in their system.:)
 
I had one for approx. 2 months, and from what I have read, and from what I can tell mine died from the same disease?
 
Haven't read through the many years & pages represented in this thread, but gave up my hopes for a BSJF when I read on WWM that they are a sub-tropical fish and don't do well in tropical temps.
 
JeF4y, that possibility was discussed in this thread. There was confusion because they are seen rising up into warmer waters.. But my guess was they need to stay cooler long term. Glad to see an article like that finally appearing - something people can refer to. Thanks for mentioning it and here's the link:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BlueSptJawArt.htm

And thank you Bob Fenner!
 
I have one that has been with me for about 8 months now. It went through a full QT process with prazi and cupramine treatment before it went into my DT. Definitely a fun fish to watch but it has it's challenges. If you have any powerheads or pumps, make sure the inlets are covered. My first one dove into a Mag 3 pump and turned into ground fish meat in the QT tank. It is also suggested that the tank should be covered.

I have mine in a 180 gallon tank with a few tangs and different types of wrasses. It does have its challenge getting it's share of food. I believe planning what kind of tankmates would be fairly important when it comes to this species. I had to spot feed this fish everyday to make sure it gets enough food. It almost never leaves its burrow and I was lucky that its burrow is accessible for spot feeding. It's very shy and even spot feeding it, often it gets out competed by other fish that hangs out by it's burrow.

I would suggest this fish for a smaller tank settings with non aggressive tank mates. In a big tank with lots of fish and lots of actions, this fish will often not getting noticed. It always sticks out his head from his burrow but never really swin out of it. I only see its tail when it swims out from its burrow to get food. (which happens may be 3 to 5 times a day, no more than 2 seconds each time) It is not quite what I was expected but its a fun fish none the less.
 
It's really nice of you to post your experience and congratulations that he is still alive. It's well known that they don't do well in a busy tank and while his behavior is normal for this stuation, it's completely abnormal behavior for a bsj fish.

According to Bob Fenner these fish need cooler waters. He sites sighting locations you can look up yourself on fishbase.org. You can't get any more accurate than that. These fish live in water that ranges from 60*-70*. Fenner says that 72* is the max. It should be noted that they don't live in either end of the range all the time.

Here's a link to a temp map. It changes, but as you can see the Sea of Cortez is yellow to blue (60*-70*) right now in April. The places where most of our fish come from stay orange or deep orange (75*-85*) all year round. http://surfingsports.com/global_sst.asp
 
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Interesting. Thanks guys! I'm looking at a bsj for my nano cube I picked up. Will zoa's and lps do well in temps of lower 70's?
 
I have a BSJ that is doing well for 8 months now. He is in a 90 cube with 2 fairy wrasse a leapord wrasse and three other gobies. I keep the tank at 78-79. I has its borrow right up front and has several areas it frequents. It is out quite a bite leaning on the rocks next to its borrow. It like small NLS pellets best but will eat some mysis. I feed the tank with mysis or rods food 1st and get the fish full then feed some NLS and the BSJ gets what it needs. It will come out to feed when hungry. It is one of the nicest fish I have. I really think it is all about getting a healthy fish. I got mine from Blue Zoo when they had then for $69.
Floyd
 
it's true that collection has improved. That seems to be making a big difference. They have hot temps in the summer and cool temps during the winter. Which they tolerate the best would be good to know. I would still be inclined to err on the side of caution and keep the fish at temps closer to natural.
 
Wow... I just saw this and skimmed over it. I posted in my local forum back in November and never got a solid answer...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1931013

"About a week ago, I noticed my Blue Spotted Jawfish swimming around on the sand, away from his burrow. I thought this was a little strange, but figured maybe he was looking for some new building materials for his home. When it came to feeding time, he didn’t seem to be as aggressive at grabbing food as usual, which I also found to be a bit strange.

I went out of town for business meetings later in the week, and returned on Saturday. On my way home, my wife called to tell me that she had completely forgot feed the tank the last few days I was gone. Since they only went unfed for 2 days, I told her that it should be ok. Well, when I got home, I immediately went to feed and found the Jawfish in his burrow and not coming out for food. It seemed that he didn’t have enough energy to stick his head out of his hole to grab food, and he was breathing hard.

On Sunday morning, I checked on him again, and he was laying on his side on the sand and breathing REALLY hard… not looking good. I had to leave the house for the day, and I really expected him to be dead by the time I got home. When I got home he was on his back still gasping for “breaths”. At this point, I considered flushing him because he really looked like he was suffering… fighting for his life, but I decided to give him more time.

This morning he was in the same state… rolling around on his back on the sand and breathing hard. I really can’t believe he is still alive at this point, so I figured I should post to see if there is something I can do. My wife still thinks that she killed him by forgetting to feed, even though I assured her that wasn’t the case. This fish already survived a major tank crash back in July… I’d really hate to see him go this way if there is anything I can do to save him.

Any suggestions or insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance… Dave"
 
dja1980 said:
Wow... I just saw this and skimmed over it. I posted in my local forum back in November and never got a solid answer...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1931013

"About a week ago, I noticed my Blue Spotted Jawfish swimming around on the sand, away from his burrow. I thought this was a little strange, but figured maybe he was looking for some new building materials for his home. When it came to feeding time, he didn't seem to be as aggressive at grabbing food as usual, which I also found to be a bit strange.

I went out of town for business meetings later in the week, and returned on Saturday. On my way home, my wife called to tell me that she had completely forgot feed the tank the last few days I was gone. Since they only went unfed for 2 days, I told her that it should be ok. Well, when I got home, I immediately went to feed and found the Jawfish in his burrow and not coming out for food. It seemed that he didn't have enough energy to stick his head out of his hole to grab food, and he was breathing hard.

On Sunday morning, I checked on him again, and he was laying on his side on the sand and breathing REALLY hard"¦ not looking good. I had to leave the house for the day, and I really expected him to be dead by the time I got home. When I got home he was on his back still gasping for "œbreaths". At this point, I considered flushing him because he really looked like he was suffering"¦ fighting for his life, but I decided to give him more time.

This morning he was in the same state"¦ rolling around on his back on the sand and breathing hard. I really can't believe he is still alive at this point, so I figured I should post to see if there is something I can do. My wife still thinks that she killed him by forgetting to feed, even though I assured her that wasn't the case. This fish already survived a major tank crash back in July"¦ I'd really hate to see him go this way if there is anything I can do to save him.

Any suggestions or insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance"¦ Dave"
Click to expand...
I'm so sorry. It's impossible to say without seeing the fish, but it sounds like he should be put out of his misery. Did you post in the fish disease forum?
 
He passed within a few days of starting that thread. I just wanted to add my experience from November to your thread to help others who might have similar issues with this fish in the future.
 
I've had a BSJ for 11 days now... Up until a day and a half ago he has been doing great. He dug his first burrow the day we got him and continued making several exits within the same burrow. About 2 days ago he made a new one on the other side of my 29g biocube. After he made his new home he stopped eating(was a piggy before)... I've tried sticking the turkey baster in his burrow too- no such luck. He looks interested when I feed the tank (2x a day), but doesn't go after the food anymore.

He has either been looking out between the LR(still tucked between) or curled up in the burrow. He has not left it since he made his new home.

Breathing is labored but still very alert at times and occasionally still digging sand.

I should also note that he has been at LFS for at least a few weeks and looked great when I got him.

I don't know if he is just super stressed or sick- no white spots noticed either.
All other fish(2 clowns and 1 yellow clown goby) are still looking good.

I fear if I do a fresh water dip it will stress him even more.

What does everyone suggest I do for this little guy. I love him so much already and saddened that he is not doing well :sad1:
 
I honestly don't think a fresh water dip will help in this case. Your symptoms sound very similar to how they started with my BSJ. Is your water temperature on the warmer side by chance?
 
dja1980 said:
I honestly don't think a fresh water dip will help in this case. Your symptoms sound very similar to how they started with my BSJ. Is your water temperature on the warmer side by chance?
Click to expand...

I'm between 77 and 78 degrees.
I just don't get how they go from great at LFS, great for a little over a week to all of a sudden crash and burn.

Every time he looks out from in-between the rock it gives me hope...like he is now.

Lets see if he make another night.... ::sigh::

How long did yours survive once you started noticing signs?
 
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