Sick Blue Spotted Jawfish

[old_salt]

I have a Blue Spotted Jawfish that appears to be breathing hard and looks like it has a raw patch of skin on both sides near the tail (I couldn't get him to hold still for a better photo) and his tail looks like something has been chewing on it. I have not see any of the other fish in this tank attack him or harass him at all. I know from the photo it is hard to tell, but does this sound like some kind of disease that is common to these fish? This will be the second one of these fish I have lost with what appears to be the same disease and this one is in a different tank than the first. Any ideas or suggestions that might help this little guy? I will try to get a better photo if he ever stops wiggling (must be in a lot of pain because he normally just hides under a rock except to eat).
Water tests are as follows:
Salinity 1.024
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrates 0
PH 8.0
Thanks in advance.

 

[lion_crazz]

Blue spotted jaws are extremely difficult fish to keep.
How long have you had this fish?
What else is in the tank with him?

 

[old_salt]

Just long enough for him to pass QT and move into a community tank. He's been eating fine and seemed to be very alert when I'm around his tank.
He is in a 55g tank with a Huma Huma Trigger, 2 Clarki, 2 Banji Cardinals, an Engineering Goby and a Lawnmower Blenny. I suspected the Trigger, but have since seen the jawfish go over near the trigger like he isn't worried about him. I really don't think it is harassment as the other one I had died from same disease (or similar) and he was in a 29g tank with a single Clarki.
I do know that the LFS where I purchased this fish uses Cupramine in their systems to kill ick (none of their fish have spots or have any developed them during QT). Could copper be causing this?
Here's another photo but still not much clearer than the previous one.

 

[old_salt]

Forgot to mention that I have to leave town on business for a few days but the owner of a LFS is going to take care of my fish while I'm gone. If there is anything I can do to help this little fellow before I leave (other than flushing him) please let me know as I need to hit the road in about 4 hours. Thanks.

 

[soulbabel]

I purchased two from Animal Jungle last Sunday. They are both in quarantine, and seem to be doing alright so far. I'm just wondering, because if you bought them from the same place, I'm wondering if mine may exhibit similar symptoms.

 

[lion_crazz]

I would say that the illness is a result of the copper, along with the fact that blue spotted jaws are so difficult to keep.

 

[beth]

I think harassment.
I never recommend flushing. Is someone going to keep an eye on your tank while you're gone?
What are you using for substrate?

 

[soulbabel]

I'm not sure if it's a disease or parasite though. It kind of looks like an abrasion, with some of their small scales getting scraped off revealing a white area. It's hard to tell, but I'm keeping an eye on mine to see if the area gets larger.

 

[old_salt]

Sorry for the delay in responding to this post but will answer as many replies as possible in this post. This fish (and the previous one) both died from what appears to be the same disease or sickness. I purchased this fish from the store mentioned above and they do use copper to control parasites. These are beautiful (expensive) fish but I will not attempt to keep another one as either my tanks will not support them or they are sick when I purchased them. I have a Dusky Jawfish that I purchased from Fish Safari and he is doing just fine. None of the other fish show any signs of catching whatever this was that killed this fish so I believe it may have been caused by the copper (but not positive). I don't believe it was harassment as this fish stayed under a rock until it got sick. I have live sand in this tank (about 1/2 inch). Hope the ones soulbabel purchased from this store are doing better than mine.
On a sad note, one of my pumps lost prime due to a power outage while I was out of town and I lost some beautiful fish in a 29G. It must have happened shortly after we left town as the fellow that came to feed our fish found them dead the next evening (possibly over 24 hours without oxygen in tank). Any suggestions on how to prevent something like this in the future? This can be a horrible hobby at times.

 

[al mc]

Some people put battery backups (like we all use on computers) on at least one powerhead in their tanks and when they go away put a simple airpump/ aerating stone on the battery back up also. It won't solve every problem, but for short duration outages it could prevent a catastrophe like yours. Sorry for your loss.

 

[soulbabel]

Sorry for your loss.
The white spot on my jawfish has not enlarged, and the two I have seem to be doing alright in their quarantine tank these last 2 1/2 weeks.
As for power outages, I'd recommend a battery backup supply also. If you get the more pricier ones, they will provide more wattage and provide load and battery level meters so you will know how long a power outage you could sustain.