Blue Spot Jawfish Disease??? Oh No!

crownsbroyal · Apr 9, 2018

Hi all, I’ve had my Blue Spot Jawfish for almost 2 months now and it has always seemed to be doing well with a strong appetite. It will eat directly out of a Julian’s thing lrs reef frenzy. Today I noticed a whit spot on its side. I’m now panicking that it might be blue Spot disease. Please help? Is it? Is there anything that can be done to save him. He is still acting normal and eating.
I’ll attach a pic and a video link.
The thing is I don’t have a hospital tank and it will be difficult and super stressful to him to pull him out for dips. Can I medicate him at all while in the tanks. Could I soak his food in medicine? If so which? It is a reef tank with inverts, anemone and clam. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don’t want to lose this guy and hopefully I can save him with the early diagnosis.

At the 1:10 mark of the vid you get a better view of the spot. It’s on his right side.

Video

Caseyoidae · Apr 9, 2018

Maybe he scrapped himself in the barnicle?

Robink · Apr 9, 2018

Very cool fish. Great video. He looks fine to me. I also think he scraped or rubbed himself on the barnacle. I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep an eye on him. As long as he's acting normal that should go away in a day or two. I have several wrasses that occasionally get marks on them, I'm guessing from diving into the rockwork.

Humblefish · Apr 9, 2018

It could just be a scratch from the substrate. But if it starts looking worse and/or turns red, dose Kanaplex + Metroplex in a QT for 10-14 days. I've used that combo many times to clear BSJ Disease.

crownsbroyal · Apr 9, 2018

Humblefish said:
It could just be a scratch from the substrate. But if it starts looking worse and/or turns red, dose Kanaplex + Metroplex in a QT for 10-14 days. I've used that combo many times to clear BSJ Disease.

Thanks all for your advice, I sure hope its a scrape or scratch. Is there anyway to cure it without a hospital or QT? I heard Kanaplex might be somewhat reef safe. Or can I soak his food in the meds and spot feed him with it without hurting my inverts, coral, clam or anemone?

Humblefish · Apr 9, 2018

crownsbroyal said:
Thanks all for your advice, I sure hope its a scrape or scratch. Is there anyway to cure it without a hospital or QT? I heard Kanaplex might be somewhat reef safe. Or can I soak his food in the meds and spot feed him with it without hurting my inverts, coral, clam or anemone?

You will need to QT him and treat in there. Antibiotics are quickly biodegraded in a DT due to biofilm: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/qt-and-biofilm.292878/

crownsbroyal · Apr 9, 2018

Humblefish said:
You will need to QT him and treat in there. Antibiotics are quickly biodegraded in a DT due to biofilm: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/qt-and-biofilm.292878/

What about soaking the food, will the biofilms effect the medications being ingested?

Humblefish · Apr 9, 2018

crownsbroyal said:
What about soaking the food, will the biofilms effect the medications being ingested?

No, but food soaking is unlikely to fix BSJ Disease. The meds need to be in the water so the affected skin area can absorb them.

crownsbroyal · Apr 17, 2018

Update: I need some help, so as recommended I observed my BSJ for the next few days. Seemed to be somewhat stable. However, as my luck would have it, Michigan got hit with an ice storm that caused my power to go out for almost 2 days. I had my MP10 on the vortech battery back up during that time and wrapped the tank in blankets floating some hot water bags for about a day until I was able to get it hooked up to a generator. The lowest the tank went down to was 71 degrees. After everything got back up to temp, I noticed my BSJ breathing very heavy. I also noticed my orange spot sand sifting goby completely lethargic and not really moving much, also breathing heavy. All other fish and coral seemed OK. I did water tests because I was worried about the ammonia maybe due to the return pump not being on for over a day but my parameters were good. I tried feeding yesterday but the BSJ didn't have much interest.
I am at a loss as to what to do. The goby is not looking good at all and I will likely loos him today or over night. I would really like to save these guys anything I can do? I'm worried the stress of the taking the BSJ to a hospital tank might be a hammer in the coffin. Any idea how the power outage and drop in temp would cause this or aggravate the disease I suspected originally?