The Bluespot Club

[Frankie]

Sorry for your loss. Could you tell us what other fish and live stock you keep? Or is there a thread you have it all on?

[bluespotjawfish]

Oh man, I'm really sorry too!

[goldenmean]

Thats awful!
So sorry for your loss.

[bluespotjawfish]

I guess I am done trying to get more information from Live Aquaria technical support. They really would not offer any specific on what to do other than to read me their canned statements. They treat everything at Diver's Den with Copper/Formalin but no specifics on how long, what dose, or what I should do myself. This is all viewed by them as "trade secrets." They also treat with other stuff as relevant to each fish (no specifics here either). In the end, the GENERAL recommendation was to follow their acclimation guide, which says to optionally put it in a QT and observe it.

One comment that was made though that I did think was interesting to note is that the white patches are an indication of stress. Of course this could be from tankmates, poor WQ, parasites, or other illness.

[michael_cb_125]

Hi everyone. Ive been reading the last few pages of the forum. MY Jose is doing very well, and I have tried to figure out what I am doing right. My water temp is usually at 80, but this week with the heat wave it has been at 82.8. For the last month Jose has decided that he does NOT like his burrow. He has founf a new home, my crocea clam. He lays in the clam all day, it is like his little lounge chair. His favorite spot in the whole tank is in the top right hand corner, on top of a Seio pump. He can look out over the whole tank. When I feed everybody, he is the most aggressive eater. He will swim the entire tank to get food. He will blow water at my tang, and bite my wrasse. He is only agressive during feeding. Should I be worried that he like to come out so much? When I walk into the room he follows me around. He will even swim to the other end of the tank to see me. He is certainly not a timid fish. If I hold food in my hand he will swim into my hand to get it, he is NOT scared. He is plump, and does not look shrunken at all. I think my Exquisite wrasse picks at Joses tail, but I guess if it really bothered him he would hide more. I just cant figure out why he is doing so well, From day one he looked good, and he is only getting better. Also I dont have a deep sand bed. I have enough sand for him to build a burrow, and he seems to like the way I have my tank setup. I think that these fish like to see the entire tank.

[Dentoid]

Michael, you are not alone. My BS behaves the exact same way. She is rarely in her burrow, in fact I would say she really only goes in there at night unless she is startled, then she makes a head first bolt into her burrow. She is not afraid of the other fish and commonly lock-jaws at them. She is agressive at feeding time and will also take food from my hand, a stick or a plastic pipette.

I find it interesting that Jose's tail is picked at because Dotty's is too! I have never seen any other fish pick at her, but who knows. She has recently taken to sitting on the LR just below a return line and letting the water massage her back. She has found her own spa! She doesn't seem stressed and also follows me, my cat and anyone in the room around!

Interesting findings indeed! Here's to your continued success!

[soulbabel]

It's so weird, a week ago I never even heard of a blue spotted jawfish. But somehow I ended up reading last Thursday about how rare and expensive they are. It piqued my curiosity and I ended up reading all about them, but eventually decided they were cool, but too expensive and rare for me to invest into. Then Saturday comes around, and my local fish store is having a big pet expo sale, and what do I find, but five blue spotted jawfish on sale for $68.88.

I really thought about buying one, but $70 is still alot, so I read all I could, and eventually came across this thread and learned about the difficulties people have encountered with raising these species. I doubted that I had enough experience as a reefer to take care of this fish adequately, so I had decided it would be a bad idea.

However, I went to that pet store 4 times that weekend, each time observing two particular specimens. They looked healthy, but very scared in the tanks that were housing them, because these tanks were overloaded with hippo tangs and clownfishes, for all those people who came to the expo to purchase their first saltwater tanks, along with 'Nemo and Dory.' However, despite the situation, I quickly started to enjoy their personalities.

I couldn't decide between the two, so I said, 'what the hell', and bought both. This was alot of money to me, but this fish store ran their tanks pretty bad, and I was sure they would just perish anyways. So it was more like me rescuing them.

Before I 'rescued' them, I set up a 10 gallon quarantine tank. I was worried though, because I knew it was too small for two specimens. Anyways, quarantine tanks are supposed to be sterile and bare bottom, but since I knew that burrowing would reduce the stress on them, I decided I would provide them containers with sterile sand to help them out.

So what I did was mix different grades of reef sand (sugar size, reef select, crushed coral), rinsed it real well, then baked it in the oven at 400 degrees F for two hours. I placed this sand in large jars I had cleaned and sterilized in boiling water. I submerged the jars into the quarantine tank, and placed a jawfish into each jar.

That was Sunday afternoon, and I have no idea if I'm on the right track, but they seem to be doing well. They eat the frozen mysis that I provide them through a pipette, and have started to burrow into the sand. The jars have no tops, so they could swim out at anytime, yet they choose to remain in them, and therefore there has been no fighting.

I was worried that the jars may not have enough circulation in them, so this morning I bought a large size plastic container, and drilled a bunch of holes in them. I relocated one jawfish into one, and he has alot more space to move around, and the water is clearly moving better through it.

I'm hoping for the best, but I am taking alot of precautions. And when they are out of quarantine in about a month, my 90 gallon should be done cycling and they will be the first inhabitants.

That's my story so far... oh and if anyone wants to know about that fish store, it's Animal Jungle in Virginia Beach. The fish were introduced into their tanks on August 1st.

[michael_cb_125]

Be careful with two jawfish in the same tank. They can be very territorial, and more than one in the same tank can cause allot of stress. IMO the most crucial part of keeping a BSJF is starting off happy. I think that stress is the main problem with these fish. There are allot of people here who are very helpful, so dont hesitate to ask questions.

[Dentoid]

SoulBabel, Welcome to Reef Sanctuary happy to have you aboard. More importantly... Welcome to the Blue Spot Club! The magic of the internet brought you here, that's what this Club is about, sharing experiences, techniques and stories about this fascinating species.

I have to admit, you sure are ambitious using this species as your first inhabitants, good for you! On one hand I have to say thanks for saving them from the LFS and on the other watch out, they have proven to be a most difficult species to keep in captivity. Unfortunately no one really knows why they fail to thrive in captivity. There are way more losses than there are successes! All kinds of theories have been proposed, but no one really knows.

Now that you are a double BS owner, hopefully you can contribute to this Club in a constructive way to help us all understand this species a little better. It seems like you are off to a good start!

Post some pictures of your new BS's in this thread, so that we can see your new fishes!

P.S. I've been to that fish store in VA Beach!

[soulbabel]

Thanks for the welcome. The fish still seem to be doing alright in these containers. They don't seem to thrash about, trying to escape or anything, so I'm wondering if these jars were a good idea. I'm hoping that it is actually reducing their stress while in quarantine, so they can actually rest and recuperate and get healthy after their pet shop and shipping experience.

They seem to be getting used to me, and each other, but its too early to say for sure. They aren't being medicated currently, but I'm wondering if adding Seachem's ParaGuard may be a good idea. Anyone have thoughts on that?

Here are some pictures I was able to take today:

[Dentoid]

This is an interesting method. I would not suggest medicating or altering the water at all while they are in QT, except for water changes to maintain good water quality. Since this is a new tank, there will be a cycle and you are going to have to be diligent about keeping the ammonia and nitrite down. Daily testing and water changes are going to be necessary.

Use this time to observe. If, and only if they show signs of disease, then you can medicate. I would expect them to eventually find their way out of the jars as they become more accustom to their surroundings. Also, I'd put the jars as far apart as possible and possibly, eventually a divider.

If you get them through to your new display, they may do alright if they set up their burrows on opposite sides of the tank. Of course there is no guarantee that they will do this and they may fight. Once they are comfortable in their surroundings, they tend to go all over the tank. I have a 90 gallon with one BS and she's is all over the tank. I wish you the very best of luck. Keep us posted. We're anxious to help you out!

[Dentoid]

BTW, I went back and looked at the pictures. They appear to be healthy from what I can tell. This is their normal behavior, to make a depression in the sand bed, then start their burrow. You may want to put some shells and small rock rubble in their jars. They use these pieces to reinforce the walls of their burrow so that the sand doesn't cave in.

[Dentoid]

One more thing. They are jumpers. Make sure you have a top that will allow for gas exchange but keep them in if and when they decide to jump. Nylon netting or window screen will do. Also, keep a good flow through the QT with turbulence at the surface for gas exchange and oxygen rich water in the tank.

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by Craig Manoukian

Mike,

If the majority are slurp gun collected, and quarantined for a month, how come the mortality rate experienced in this thread is so high? Thanks in advance for your insight.

Sorry, I hadn't been keeping up with this thread like I should have

I definitely do not have an answer to that question.
However, I do not claim what happens once they are at the wholesellers, most wholesellers DO NOT quarantine fish for a month, that is up to the reseller or buyer. Most fish are brought in by the wholesaler and they aim to have the fish out by the end of the week. While in the wholesale tanks the tanks are generally treated with ozone and either copper or formalin from my experience.
Not enough time to kill parasites or be considered QT as fish are constantly moved in and out of systems.
I have not been to LiveAquaria's facilities in a few years so I have no idea how they handle their livestock.

My initial suspicion like most everyone else is an internal parasite combined with shipping/wholesale stress. i do have contacts with some people at NCSU and the North Carolina aquariums that can do fish necropsy's. The aquarium might have issues with bringing outside fish into their facilities however (frozen or not, there are some contamination issues their, but I'm not sure, I'd have to talk to them).
I think Dentoid also mentioned having contacted being in contact with someone on this issue as well. I think that would be the best initial step to figure out the best way to treat these specimens coming in through the wholesale channels. In the meantime it would probably be best to feed the fish while in QT a food that has been mixed with metronidazole, it can be difficult to get fish to eat food that has been soaked in this, apparently it doesn't taste good. It should treat bacterial or protozoan infection in the gut which are generally common in wild caught fish. Unfortunately I have conflicting info on how often in should be fed. Bob Fenner recommends only once, while I was interning for the aquarium we fed it every other day as the only food for 6 days.
If the fish refuses to eat a short term bath in a metronidazole bath may be sufficient (marine fish do have to drink to stay alive). I'll have to look up the dosage info and can post later.

Don't know if this helps or not, but hopefully its a good step?

[bluespotjawfish]

Sorry, just catching up briefly on this discussion. Haven't reviewed it in detail yet, but welcome!

Sorry to be the one to break the news here, but IMHE, two Bluespots in a single uncycled tank is a recipe for disaster.

In the meantime it would probably be best to feed the fish while in QT a food that has been mixed with metronidazole,

My last one would have done better with this treatment.

More later.

BTW, I'm back in the club! Details later.