blue throat trigger

[BIG-G]

just got a nice one about 6 inches. can someone tell me about the temperment of these fish this is the first one i have kept. Do they generaly get along with other fish? what about other triggers? i may have made a huge mistake i have a huma huma now and just added the blue throat at first no problems but now that the BT has gotten adjusted he is starting to show some aggression. they are in a 150 gal the huma huma is about 4 inches. will they settle down or am i going to have to remove one of them?

 

[morgan]

good question im sure blahough will chime in he has a nice trigger i think they can be aggressive and eat smaller fish whats a huma huma

 

[Meche]

Generally speaking triggers are not reef-safe and aggressive. I think some triggers will get along, but I'm not sure if its dependent on the species mix or their personalities. Either way, you would think 150gal would be enough to keep them calm. :?:

 

[matts125]

Welcome to reef frontiers!!!!!

I have a blue throat trigger in my reef and he does just fine, the only thing is he ate both of my large cleaner shrimp.
My trigger is much smaller then yours it is only 3''
I dont think that the 2 triggers will get along in your tank though, but you can put in a female blue throat with the male and they are ok together.
I think that if you took the picaso trigger out you will enjoy your bluethroat a lot more with out the thought of them killing eachother..

Matt

 

[balogh03]

Thanks morgan for thinking about me

Okay, i LOVE triggers, mostly because of the way that they swim but also there personality. The only thing i HATE about triggers is that you could get 5 of the same species triggers and they might all act differently. I have a 6-8" pinktail trigger and he just fine in my reef. He lets the cleaner shrimp clean him and has never touched my blood or coral banded shrimp. I also have a niger trigger (about 2") in the same tank that i am taking my chances on. As long as they are not "beating" each other up and just chasing i think you might be okay and it might settle down. But if it does come down to one or the other, i would go with the BT and you should be fine with any other type of fish.

good luck

-augustus

 

[BIG-G]

thanks guys, they seem to be getting along better today just a little tention , a stern look here and there but over all they are ok. I do have a concer though the Blue Throat as yet to really eat anything, i tried krill and shrimp he takes a long look at the food but doesnt bite, maybe he will start soon. Im not worried yet he is very robust (fat) and doesnt seem to be in any danger.

 

[NC2WA]

Blue throat triggers

well, as triggers go, blue throat and pink tail triggers are the closest to reef safe as you will get (but there is no guarantee). My pink tail was like a puppy dog and waited for me at the front of the tank when I came home; it then spit water on me when I fed it.

I was able to get both in a 90 gallon tank and didnt have any problems with them touching corals or inverts.

You might wanna pick up the following book:

http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Fishes-Essential-Know-Pocketexpert/dp/1890087386/sr=1-6/qid=1167870846/ref=sr_1_6/105-5175225-4067642?ie=UTF8&s=books

This will arm you with some good info on different species of fish for when you decide to make your next fish purchase.

Kirk

 

[BIG-G]

Im a little more concerned to day this is day three after adding the Blue Throat and i know that it is still very soon but he has still not eaten anything that i have seen. I have tried krill, shrimp. and squid. I tried attaching a piece of shrimp to a rock and sinking it but still nothing. How long can he go before i should be worried? One more thing, he likes to hang out in front of a power head and ride the current i have seen other fish do this when they have some sort of skin problem or a parisite like ich but he shows no signs or spots he looks healthy and normal. Is their some thing i chould try to tempt him to eat with? I have no way of getting anything living other than a cleaner shrimp and that would be very costly, even if i tried that im sure the other fish would grab it before the Blue Throat had a chance. Any Ideas?

 

[leebca]

You may want to try 'starting over.' Move the fish to a hospital tank where you can put food in that no other fish will bother. If the fish is indeed ill as you suspect, that is another reason to move it to a separate tank.

A quarantine system is very useful for things other than curing and observation of new acquisitions, it is great for training a fish to eat.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Lee's advice is spot on. As a bonus, lowering the salinity in the QT tank seems to improve appitite...

 

[NC2WA]

Big-G,

Have you tried to coat the food with Garlic? This may stimulate its appetite; but I would agree with leebca that you might want to place it in a QT and try different food combos there instead of in the main tank.

 

[BIG-G]

I have some shrimp soaking in garlic now, was going to try this later or maybe tomorrow, as far as the quarantine tank goes i dont have one set up large enough to comfortably hold the trigger. He is really to large for any tank i have and setting up another may just cause a divorce, just kidding (I hope Ha Ha!). I have a 20 gallon but i think at this point if i move him i may be doing more damage. I dont think that he has anything as far as ich is concerned at least i really hope not, I dont see any spot or anything. I know i should be doing that (quarantine i mean). This was a puchase without think things through (something i know better than to do i will admitt i was wrong). I happened to be at my LFS when a shipment of fish came in and when i seen this fish i could not help myself.

 

[balogh03]

I dont think that you should be worried about the swimming in the curent thing, because my big trigger will sit in power heads for long amounts of time. But, you have to remember that most triggers are free roaming fish in the wild so they need all the exercise they can get when locked up. Try a sheet of nori in there, i know that it sounds weird for a trigger but mine likes seaweed sheets more than anything else. It is healthier for them too

good luck

-augustus

 

[BIG-G]

I have some seaweed selects green marine algae i could try that. I dont have any nori. He swims around the tank and digs in the sand but he always retuns to the power head. He is very skitsh, nervous acting. I think he prolly hasent been in an aquarium very long.

 

[BIG-G]

I dont know what was different about today but he is eating everything that hits the water. I started with the shrimp soaked in garlic and now ITS ON! Im glad to,i was begining to get worried. Thanks for all the advice everyone.

 

[jakleen]

i know triggers are not good choice for reef tanks. i have a niger and huma huma. i put them in my thanks when they were 1 1/2 inch each or less. i love them and always had triggers in my reef. they do not bother my coral. if the shrimps are in tank and settled before trigers,some times you have a good chance that they will not bother your shrimps. the only thing that annoys me is than my triggers dig in the sand a lot and then carry sand in their mouth and spit it all over my corals ,so i have to constantly use my kent scraper to move the sand from my corals. they eat everything and they love the green nori ,i put in the tank for my yellow tang. they have never hurt each other and they have never killed or hurt any other fish. when i first introduced them they killed most of my crabs and snails,but now whatever crab and snails i have and that survived they do not bother. they are like puppy dogs. they have their own cute personalities . we just know general rules on fish personalities, but fish are like humans with individual personalities. you can have 2 of the same speices fish,one can be an angel and the other a devil. give your trigger a chance to settle in ,they are good eaters . good luck. jakleen

 

[NC2WA]

In my experience, I have had a blue throat or pink tail triggers digging in the sand nor spitting sand. both of mine were model citizens and well behave.

Kirk