Has my fish lost it's tail?

[Got Water?]

I got a blue spotted jawfish about 5 months ago, he was little but not shy. My tank was not very populated at the time so he was very comfortable free swimming. Now that I have added a few more fish and some I had to add at the same time. I noticed that the jawfish became very stressed out over the new situation. He lost some of his color and he became very withdrawn. Some of his color has started to come back, but I happened to notice yesturday and again today when I was feeding, he swam out of his hole and he has no tail fin at all. WHATS WITH THAT?

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

Possibly another fish you added.. saw wiggling and then saw food lol.. regardless if it was bigger or not..

 

[Got Water?]

He's always in his hole (tunnel). I don't have anything in my tank that would be in there with him. Is this common with jawfish if they don't get out of there hole and swim? Is there some kind of illness or parisite that would cause him to loose is tail? And will it regrow?

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

from my understanding it should.. ive personally never heard of a disease like that other than finrot.. which i believe is just freshwater? id let someone else chime in on that... is it possible to post up some pictures?

 

[melosu58]

Yes the tail will grow back. You`ll need to find out why though. Other fish or fin and tail rot.

 

[roka64]

The tail should grow back as long as it's just the fin part and not the "root" of the tail (sorry, I can't think of what that part is called). Regardless, you should keep pristine water conditions.

 

[Got Water?]

Yes, it is just the fin.
My nitrates have been higher than I like since I added the new fish (20 -40). I do 25% PWC every two weeks, cal and mag was low for awhile but it's back up, all the other numbers are great. And I check for EVERYTHING twice a week (my husband thinks I'm over protective of my fish). So I think I'm ok there unless it's the nitrates. I wouldn't think it could be another fish as much as he stays in his hole, or could it?

LAST THING,
What is fin and tail rot?

 

[melosu58]

FAQ: Diseases

 

[Sadielynn]

Above advice is great ! But one thing I would like to add is check at lights out for hitchikers . We had a couple crabs making snacks on my cleaner shrimps at at 30 bucks it was TICKING me off big time he also grabed my fire fish and ripped his tail off ... I found one crab , 2 months later I found I assume his wife ! She was pregnant so I assume I got her out soon enough as I have seen none since .. You could have a crab or any other number of hitchikers in your tank .. with the crab being the most likely .. The other thing is the tail will grow back as others have said but look for the unwanted ones ! Use a flash light with a red lense or red bulb to see them .. It gives you only a couple seconds to get a glimps but it will give you knowledge if you have one , this may take hours, days ,weeks or even months to find it if you have one .. GL HTH