My blue spot jawfish

[djbetterly]

So I've had a bluespot jawfish for several months now. At times he seems totally content, at other times very nervous - most notably when the the lights start to go down around 6-7pm. What's really concerning me though is I noticed his tail is really messed up. None of the other fish are nipping at him or bugging him, so why would this happen? Is there anything I can do to help it heal? He's eating just fine by the way.

 

[OodleyBoodely]

Do you have crabs in the tank?

 

[djbetterly]

I have a few small hermits, but he usually grabs them by their shells and tosses them.

 

[alton]

As a rule when BSJF get stressed they lose there tail, some times they get it back sometimes they don't. The female I have I received from a local fish club member who told me she lost her tail while being stressed breeding with her male.

 

[rssjsb]

What substrate are you using?

 

[hobbzz]

And how deep is it?

 

[djbetterly]

I believe it's an aragonite substrate, I have to check when I get home. The sand bed is between 4-5 inches deep.

A few I the issues I've noticed, past and present. In the past he (assuming its a he) has always gotten stressed in the evening, not sure why. Presently, I recently added two fire fish and a six line wrasse. The wrasse doesn't bother him nor do the fire fish but I do notice the fire fish are always quite close to him. Could that be stressing him? Also, I'm constantly giving him hand fills of rubble an it always seems to disappear. Not really sure where it all goes.

 

[hobbzz]

Six lines are very aggressive, fyi. I would keep an eye on it. I don't think the firefish would bother him, just because of the fact they're firefish. But, any fish that hangs around his burrow might be enough to stress him. Substrate should be mixed sizes, so you might be ok there. He's probably using the rubble in the burrow. Make sure you get a screen top on your tank ASAP. They jump. It's a matter of when not if.

 

[djbetterly]

I definitely have a tight lid, I had that lined up before i even brought the fish home.

The six line keeps his distance from the blue spot. Nothing really seems to bother or pester him. Its sooooooo frustrating!!!

 

[hobbzz]

Good to hear you have the lid. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

 

[Fishfirst]

is the tail just ripped or is it red and infected? BSJ's often get infections on thier tail due to poor water quality or poor shipping water.

 

[djbetterly]

The tail is just ripped up. I looked at him pretty closely last night and there is no infection. He still eats like a pig and I gave him a bunch more rubble to work with last night.

After reading a lot of posts on reefsanctuary.com's blue spot club, it seems a majority of people have most of their issues within the first six months of getting a blue spot. I'm nearing four months with mine, hopefully I can keep this little guy happy.

 

[hobbzz]

Soak the food in garlic and selcon/vitachem if you're not already doing that. I make up enough food for about 3-4 feeding and let it soak in the fridge. Really helps boost their immune system and heal wounds, prevent infection etc.

 

[djbetterly]

Any recommendations for brands for either?

 

[hobbzz]

I use Kent for the garlic. Not sure of any other brands. It's called garlic extreme. I also use Selcon. I used vite-chem years ago, in addition to selcon, but stopped. Can't remember why honestly. Probably because it's harder to find, no lfs around here carry it.

 

[bnano]

I'm considering ordering one but worried about all of the issues I'm hearing about them. Has his tail gotten any better?