Blue Spot Jawfish- Mouth Issue

[robw28]

I added a Blue Spot approximately 4 weeks ago to my reef tank after doing a fresh water/methylene blue dip. About a week ago, I noticed that the outer edge of it's bottom jaw was starting to peel away. I initially thought it was temporary damage from running into a rock etc. I then noticed that skin deterioration / rot was spreading to the frontal part of it's head (between eyes). The strange part is that he or she still eats as best it can. I have read about mouth fungus / cotton mouth disease, but I am not sure that it is what I'm dealing with, and as you can imagine, getting a Jawfish out of a reef tank is next to impossible. All other fish in the tank are doing very well. Any suggestions and / or recommended treatments will be greatly appreciated! See attached photo.

 

[papania]

We are experiencing the same thing with our new blue spot. His entire upper lip seems to be falling off. Like you, his appetite is still great. All other fish are fine. He was doing a lot of jumping the first week or so, and we thought maybe that was the problem. We recently added a PVC pipe home for him to have some added protection, and the jumping has really decreased. But his lip still looks pretty bad. Has yours improved? Any input would be helpful!

 

[robw28]

We are experiencing the same thing with our new blue spot. His entire upper lip seems to be falling off. Like you, his appetite is still great. All other fish are fine. He was doing a lot of jumping the first week or so, and we thought maybe that was the problem. We recently added a PVC pipe home for him to have some added protection, and the jumping has really decreased. But his lip still looks pretty bad. Has yours improved? Any input would be helpful!

Unfortunately, we lost our Jawfish. I even tried using Melafix and Pimafix thinking it was a bacteria or fungal issue. It was very sad because it seemed like he/she had an appetite to the very end even as the skin deterioration spread to the front of it's head.

I can tell you that I have gone through several blue spots over the years and they never seem to have longevity, usually due to, what appears to be, bacteria issues.

How is yours doing?

 

[papania]

Oh no. That's not the happy ending we were hoping for. Ours is still hungry as ever... let's hope he makes it.

 

[DZs]

Please keep us updated. I would like for this fish to be my next and this is the second case of hearing about this. I wish you the best for you and the little blue spot.