Blue throat trigger compatibility

[amos]

I'm considering adding a blue throat (jaw) to my 90, and was wondering if anyone had experiences to share on fish compatibility/behavior. I've read through all the general (stereotypical) information on the various sites, but am looking for more anecdotal/actual experiences. Thanks for sharing.

 

Jon

[yagerboy]

IME they are less aggressive than some other triggers. I have successfully had with other triggers, wrasses, tangs, etc as well as smaller gobies. They will eat coraline of the rocks but will usually ignor corals if fed properly.

[epleeds]

i have also had one. they are really easy but tend to grow fast. i had him with 2 porky puffers and they got along great.

[dbartco]

I have one now in a tank with lps and softy 125g. No problems with queen angel, nigracauda tang, declevis butterfly, chromis, sohal tang, and bicolor pseudochromis.

[amos]

Thanks for the insights, everyone. Can anyone share how a blue throat has done with the cleaner crew?

 

Jon

[BrendanG]

they are invert safe, have seen them completely ignore peppermint and cleaner shrimp. Smaller individuals are sometimes easily bullied, and it seems that most individuals are initially shy for a few weeks. Beautiful fish, with ton's of personality. One of my favorites...Your corals will be completely ignored

[amos]

Just wanted to add an update/conclusion to my blue jaw research. Sean at the Aquarium Company secured one for me that I picked up last thursday. This may be owner's partiality, but I think he's an incredible specimen!

 

On day 1 (following acclimation), he accepted a few mysis, and on day 2, was readily eating flakes, daphina and other. As expected, he has been very shy, moving into the rock when we approach. Hasn't showed any aggression to other tank members, and was accepted by the alpha fish (my gold rim tang). So far so good.

 

Thanks for everyone's insights, and thanks to Sean for securing an awesome fish!

 

[reefhunter]

Wow I want one... these are completely reef safe?

[lhcorals]

Beautiful fish. I just added a Pink Tail Trigger last weekend. He is great, get's along with everything. He likes coming to front of tank and showing off his teeth. He was shy for the first day , not anymore. As far as cleaner crew with Pink tail he goes to them they hop on do their job and he leaves.

[amos]

Wow I want one... these are completely reef safe?

 

It depends on your definition of "reef safe". The blue jaw, the pink tail, and the crosshatch will all leave your corals alone, and many are known to never bother the cleaning crew. However there is the risk they'll go after shrimp and such. With such fish, people's experience tend to suggest that keeping them plump and happy diminishes risk that they'll go after "other" food in the tank.

 

Jon

[Smoothtriqueter]

very nice looking fish!

[amos]

Just wanted to provide an update on the Blue Throat. Much as it hurts my reefkeeper pride, its been three days since I've seen the fish, so I think I've lost him. I checked around thoroughly for a "carpet surfing" incident, and didn't find anything. He wasn't in the overflow (as he had done once before). An eye inspection revealed nothing, but I do have a gorilla crab running around (details on my thread).

 

He had no signs of illness (swimming and behaving fine), and was eating voraciously. He did, however, never grow past his timidness and stayed on one side of the tank. He was bullied a bit by my white-cheek tang (and even occasionally by the clown), but only when he ventured towards the middle of the tank (but during feeding time, the white-cheek didn't seem to care). He was about 3". I'm not sure there is any lessons learned for anyone here, except to be mindful on compatibility. I feel bad that I didn't give him a better home.

 

Survival in captivity: 3 months

 

Jon

[dbartco]

how long was he in the tank?

[amos]

how long was he in the tank?

 

I got him back in November.

[FishyTim]

That's too bad Jon. I have been thinking about getting one ever since I saw yours. I'm going to do some more research...

Edited February 27, 2009 by FishyTim

[zygote2k]

There is an excellent article about them in the new CORAL magazine.

I'm trying to order a M/F pair. I'll keep posting about them if I get them.

[Amuze]

Just wanted to provide an update on the Blue Throat. Much as it hurts my reefkeeper pride, its been three days since I've seen the fish, so I think I've lost him. I checked around thoroughly for a "carpet surfing" incident, and didn't find anything. He wasn't in the overflow (as he had done once before). An eye inspection revealed nothing, but I do have a gorilla crab running around (details on my thread).

 

He had no signs of illness (swimming and behaving fine), and was eating voraciously. He did, however, never grow past his timidness and stayed on one side of the tank. He was bullied a bit by my white-cheek tang (and even occasionally by the clown), but only when he ventured towards the middle of the tank (but during feeding time, the white-cheek didn't seem to care). He was about 3". I'm not sure there is any lessons learned for anyone here, except to be mindful on compatibility. I feel bad that I didn't give him a better home.

 

Survival in captivity: 3 months

 

Jon

 

Oh no, that sucks. I've had mine for a few months and he's never been shy, always at the front of the tank when I come in and eats anything I put in. Never went for any shrimp in my tank and even lets the cleaner shrimp tend to him every now and then. Try another one. Make sure there's a hole/cave for him to claim and retreat to. They do need this to acclimate easier. If you're tank is large enough, you might want to consider a pair.

[amos]

Oh no, that sucks. I've had mine for a few months and he's never been shy, always at the front of the tank when I come in and eats anything I put in. Never went for any shrimp in my tank and even lets the cleaner shrimp tend to him every now and then. Try another one. Make sure there's a hole/cave for him to claim and retreat to. They do need this to acclimate easier. If you're tank is large enough, you might want to consider a pair.

 

Mine grew out of his timidness towards me (he ate out of my hand), but never asserted himself with the tang, so he never grew comfortable in the tank (which is why he stayed on his side). I have plenty of caves and he had a few spots he wedged himself in at night. He never bothered my inverts either - so he was a great reef fish.

 

A pair may be a good consideration for this species, all research indicated they were hardy. Maybe the crab got him, I don't really know. It did bother him that the tang was so not accepting of him, though. At this point, I'm going to lay low and not jump into anything else too soon.

 

zygote - I'll have to check out the article. Thanks for mentioning.

 

Jon

[Amuze]

I've recently lost a few beautiful SPS pieces that RTN'd on me. As annoying as that is/was, I'm not getting out. My trigger has become my favorite fish. If it dies, I will get out of this "hobby" for good. Good luck once you decide to get another.

[amos]

Just to put a final ending on this experience... I found my blue-jaw inside of the stand last week. He HAD indeed jumped at one point and fallen into a place that I just hadn't checked. I hadn't read anywhere that this species was a "jumper", but I guess any fish can get spooked. I am in the process of building a canopy to prevent this from happening in the future.

 

Jon

[Amuze]

Just to put a final ending on this experience... I found my blue-jaw inside of the stand last week. He HAD indeed jumped at one point and fallen into a place that I just hadn't checked. I hadn't read anywhere that this species was a "jumper", but I guess any fish can get spooked. I am in the process of building a canopy to prevent this from happening in the future.

 

Jon

 

They usually only jump when they are severly stressed or are trying to get more food. He might have been trying to get food somewhere he should not have been, like from the overflow or somewhere else. Triggers are voracious eaters and will do anything to get food. Once they learn and get food from a certain spot they will continuously seek out food in that location.

 

You may want to check water params as well, but triggers have been known to tolerate poorer conditions than some other fish. Maybe temps? I doubt another fish chased it and caused it to jump. Triggers will defend themselves against just about any other fish and usually win the battle. At least against any reef fish that is. Or it might have just felt like jumping. They can be a strange fish at times which is why I like them so much.

Edited June 30, 2009 by audible