The Bluespot Club

[Dentoid]

Thanks Lorraine. Did you order that over the net or pick it up at a local store?

[bluespotjawfish]

I ordered it online. But, this time of year you could probably find it at a home and garden place. They sell lots of seasonal pond stuff this time of year.

[Sudsy]

I am sorry to hear about all of your bluespots, used to have one myself many years ago. He was happy and healthy, eating like a pig one day and the next he looked terrible, and died. After this i began researching the fish on Reef Central and soon discovered about a hundred or so people who had similar expeirences. These fish are extremely fragile despite what some web sites may say. Even the Monterey Bay Aquarium has had serious difficulty keeping these fish long term, the longest they have kept them in a species specific tank was two years. There has been a lot of ideas why these fish have such a high mortality rate, yet nothing has been proven. In talking to a importing friend of mine a couple of years ago he told me that Mexico had stopped the exportation of the fish because of low numbers and that any fish seen in the hobby had been smuggled out, which could offer some ereason for thier high mortatlity rate. Again this was a couple years ago, so i believe the band has been lifted. Others speculate that maybe there is some sort of creature that lives with the fish in the wild which helps it in some way stay clean of parisites. (Many people reported seeing mysterious white spots on there fish,not ick as well as discoloration of the skin, from the pictures i've seen from various people it all looked the same) My LFS once imported 50 BSJF about 2.5 yrs ago, he told me about 10 died in his tanks, and every other one he sold to a customer later died also. For this he said he would no longer import or sell them. The only real solid info that has been found with the help of hundreds of hobbiest and biologist from the Monterey Bay Aquarium is that these fish come from temperatures much lower that almost all hobbiest keep there tanks. The biologist at Monterey bay said he keeps his at 72 to 75 degrees. This has been most succesful for him any higher and the fish begin to die. Maybe the high temperature speeds up the metabolism too much and the fish begins to digest itself to stay alive. If you would like more info try searching over at Reef central for the thread about BSJF, i thinks its about 30or 40 pages long. It has been coined as Blue spotted jawfish Diease. One thing i would absolutely do is lower you tank temp if it higher than 75. This may help your fish. Also i would like to point out that this is all information that i have obtained through other boards and websites, It is not just my opinion. ANd i am in no way trying to critisize any of you. I suggest to all of you to stop buying them until more information has been obtained about the needs of these fish. Not only are they a precious animal with a very small natural range, but they are also extremely expensive as i am sure most of you know. But buying them when they have such a poor survival rate is unfair to you and the fish. You should all try to find out what happened to all of your fish and maybe you could help add some info to this puzzle. Maybe compare tank specs, temps, other inhabitants, and most importantly behavior when healthy, and behavior and apperance if or when the fish became sick, as well as how long the fish lived for.
Oh and please forgive me if these topics and information have been discussed i really wasn't up to reading through all 25 pages.

Best of Luck, Mike

[Woodstock]

Thanks Mike for chiming in! 2 yrs isn't very long I've heard similar things about other types of jawfish; that most were dificult to keep long term.

[lcstorc]

Thanks for the info. How depressing. I do keep my tank a bit cooler than most since I have a seahorse tank as part of my system. Hopefully that will help mine survive longer than 2 years. I would certainly hate to see something happen to my beautiful little guy. We will certainly keep the thread updated with our progress and I will keep an eye out for any white spots as well.

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks Sudsy, this is good information and I appreciate your posting this information for everyone to consider. My personal experience is that mine lived over 2 years (probably 3 or 4). That is longer than any blenny or goby I have tried to keep. During that time my tank was typically kept at about 77-78 degrees (summer temps up to 82 with lights on) and the salinity was typically 1.021 (though my topoff method was poor and resulted in peaks to about 1.023). One other thing that might be worth noting (be it good or bad) is that the entire time I had mine, I used tap water. My tank parameters are now different. The salinity of my tank is now being kept at 1.025-1.026 and the temp is 78-79. Perhaps my situation is unique. Don't know. Anyway, I don't consider myself an expert fish keeper and shy away from hard to keep species. I believe I try and tend to my fishes needs, but have made and continue to make plenty of mistakes along the way. For me, in the past the BS has been a typical fish in my tank. I was amazed when I first mentioned BS's on this forum, that I was the only one who had one. My recent losses are very sad for me, but I believe something is not right with my tank. My Midas also didn't make it. I am very interested in monitoring everyone else's upcoming experiences, which is part of the purpose of this club.

[lcstorc]

Exactly! That is one of the great things about RS! You don't have to make every mistake yourself. You can learn from others experiences. I know I have learned tremendously from others bad times and hopefully others have learned from mine. That way we all can have a better chance of keeping our tank inhabitants healthy and happy.

[Dentoid]

Quick update. I'm happy to report that Dotty is doing great. Sometime during the night she found her burrow. Today she has eaten twice and seems to be back to her normal self. Although, she is not hanging outside of her burrow as much as she did previously. She got a good scare, as did I from her jump last night.

[Sudsy]

The loss of these fish really saddens me. I would agree that most jawfish usually do not do well in captivity for very long periods of time like other fish. I am a huge fan of jawfish and after the loss of my BS, and the discovery of the many problems that these fish i decieded that i would not purchase another BS especially given the price and availability. I have however tried other jawfish, namely the black cap/tiger jawfish, and pearly jawfish. Now i kid you not that i have probably purchased about 4 or 5 pearlys before i was able to keep one alive for more than a month. the one i have now i actually purchased as a pair, one of them died but the remaining one i have has been the best one to date. It has been my personal expierence that jawfish should be fed many small meals a day, similar to anthias. in the past when i kept jawfish i was only feeding my tank about 1 to 2 times a week, and slowly it seemed that my fish would one day just disappear. Another firm belief i have is the tank mates that are kept with jawfish. Large aggresive eaters are certainly not good mates. Their constant swimming and darting keeps the jawfish in his burrow, and small bottom dwelling fish that go near the fish will also bother the fish. as of right now i have been lucky with the jawfish that i have and have even been able to find a mate for him/her to share burrows. Oh one more thing if you don't mind. When your fish seems to have chosen his/her sopt to live, usually under a rock. Start placing various sized rubble and shells out side of its burrow and don't ever stop. But not too big he must be able to pick it up it with its mouth. If the fish stops taking the rock then you can stop putting them there. But always try to keep like one or two around. Jawfish are like the old saying "idle hands do the work of the devil" If a fish is busy maintaining his burrow, they seem to be happy. Just like old people! jk haha
Good luck and thanks for the karma.
Mike

[Woodstock]

Thanks Mike. I should get some rubble for my Chiquita. I think you're right about their appetite. Mine surprises me at how much it can eat. I feed homemade mush a minimum of twice a day. I hope he thrives in my system.

[bluespotjawfish]

Be careful when feeding near their burrow, you can pollute it. I always have empty shells and a bit of rubble that they work with. I have aggressive eaters in my tank, but feed enough for all. I typically feed once a day, but my tank has gone days without food. IME, when mine was happy (could tell by the smile ) he was typically hanging out in or just above his burrow, but didn't hesitate to get in the crowd to eat. The ones I lost lately, moved from burrow to burrow just before they died. Not to worry you guys, because it can take them some time initially to find the spot that is just perfect, and also later if you mess with your tank, they may look around for another then as well. It does make me nervous to see them out and about or moving from burrow to burrow. Something may be bothering them, or there may not be enough flow or too much going through it (sometimes trapping food in it). One more note, I've always made sure I didn't make him travel far to find food, but I have seen mine taking food and spitting it out away from the burrow many times to try and keep it clean.

[Dentoid]

Rubble is important to the BSJF as basic building blocks for the jawfish's burrow. They not only use them to fortify the opening, but as a liner of the burrow to keep the sand from caving into the burrow. I put a handful hear my Dotty and she used every piece. When I shine a flashlight into her burrow I can see them lining the walls. As for some of the previous posts, most if not all of it is anecdotal. I have been doing a review of the literature on the net and have found no research to indicate that this is a hard fish to keep if its basic needs are met. Here are some articles you may want to read that have some credibility:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...hcs3/index.php

Concerning jawfish disease.
www.wetwebmedia.com/jawfishe.htm
www.wetwebmedia.com/jawfishdisfaqs.htm

The only one I found remotely mentioning BSJF disease.
www.nano-reef.com/fish/?fish=10

I also checked the Monterey Aquarium site and could find nothing, although I did find something elsewhere that said several years ago they were doing research on the BSJF. Then some Mexican researchers started doing research and got the Mexican government to ban their export so that they had exclusive rights to study them. To my knowledge the ban is no longer in effect, but I can not find any research.

As for water temperature, that's an interesting theory, but considering that other fish like the Long Nose Hawkfish and other common Hawkfish come from this same region, without water temperture issues, why would the BSJF? The Sea of Cortez (The Gulf of Califorinia) is the body of water flanked by the California Baja Penninsula to the west and the Mexican mainland to the east, which is where the BSJS is reported to originate. The water temperature in the Sea of Cortez ranges anywhere from 61 in the south where the Pacific meets the Gulf to 85 further north and towards the shoreline. Still looking for what, if any, effect water temperture has on this fishes metabolism.

One thing we know for sure is that they are jumpers. My "theory" is that their mysterious bruises, abrasions, and discolorations are from jumping and striking hard surfaces (ie, canopy tops, lights, egg crate etc). Another thing we know is that they are typically found residing on flat stretches of the ocean floor in large colonies and have a 360 degree view of their surroundings. They may feel uncomfortable in our tanks having a wall of rock blocking part of their view.

I will keep scouring the literature and post my findings.

Blue Spot Power!

[saltwaterfarm]

Great info Scott!

[Woodstock]

Thanks for the links Scott

[Frankie]

Great info Scott. I am still debating joining this club until i know more about them. I had a pearly jaw that jumped into the overflow and in my tank thats a no no. He didn't have a chance with the kind of flow I'm running. But i have since put gutter guard along the coast to coast to keep the firefish from that terrible fate and it seems to be working. Keep up on the great info folks! I want into this club.