Blue Jaw Trigger, room in my tank?

silentcivilian

New member
I have a 4x2x2 tank with lots of live rock, well established, over a year old, with some of my live rock being over 3 years old.

Live stock is a figi fox face, yellow tang, 2 clowns, 1 cardinall, 1 cleaner wrasse, 1 mandrin, 1 chromis.. think im ok??

Just looking for a reef safe Trigger, cause I love trigger fish and they way they move act and everything.
 
I wondered cause ive read some pretty mixed results in that some people say 150 is the minimum.. some people say 75 is the minimum..
 
I agree with Chris.

Me too.
LA has updated their suggested minimum tank sizes (a great service to the hobby, IMO) they list 125 as a minimum for this fish. I had a pair of them before moving, about 8" each, and can't imagine them in a 4' tank.
 
you'll be fine. Bluethroats are one of the smaller triggers. I had a mated pair in my 150 and they did great. Your tank is pretty modestly stocked too so im sure it could handle the bioload.
 
don't do it. The fish won't thrive.

The fish isn't gonna thrive at the fish store or worse, the wholesellers. If your taking the initiative to post around RC and ask questions, you obviously care about the fish and the hobby. Get the bluethroat and feed it well. If it outgrows your tank, use it as an excuse to upgrade ;D
 
The fish isn't gonna thrive at the fish store or worse, the wholesellers. If your taking the initiative to post around RC and ask questions, you obviously care about the fish and the hobby. Get the bluethroat and feed it well. If it outgrows your tank, use it as an excuse to upgrade ;D

Get a small one, and then upgrade in the future or sell it.

The OP isn't asking for advice on what to do when the fish outgrows his tank. He is asking if it is suitable for his current tank. The best answer is "no", and I am not sure why someone would be advised to purchase a fish they can't keep long-term.
 
I am personally responsible for the husbandry of over a dozen bluethroats and redtails. Nearly all the tanks I service have one, a pair, or a harem. This one tank I work on is a 50t and has had a gorgeous bali caught one for over a year. Bluethroats are mellow and very slow growing for a trigger (never seen one grow than an inch a year). Just be careful, they are notorious jumpers. The only issue I see is the yellow tang, they can be punks when adding a new fish. I recommend a 12-24 hour blackout when adding the fish for acclimation.
 
I've kept a blue throat in a 4x2x1 for over a year now and he's thriving. Eats like a horse, and swims around the tank all day.

He's now in a 40B temporarily while my new display gets here, and he's doing great in there as well. My trigger is about 4 inches long.
 
i had a pair in my 65 (with plans to upgrade to 240) but they were fine, swam and ate great.. but recently lost them due to an out break in my tank. Very wonderful fish to watch. plan on getting another pair as soon... should be fine for a few years anyways! Just get them as small as you can. mine were about 3"
 
I mean you can and you cant.. if you plan on having a upgrade.. you can.. but ill be honest, fish are very adaptive. Ive seen french angels while diving.. and ill say, even in the million litre tank in Berlin they dont get as big as the ocean born ones, same with lion fish. The proof, my lfs has had a Yellow Tang and a Hippo tang in a Bio 14 for a year now, both were baby fish in bad bad shape when they came in, and are both very healthy now, and he is almost ready to put them up for sale, but he had two tangs do a full recovery in a 14G and it perhaps stunted their growth? But they are healthy fish.
 
I mean you can and you cant.. if you plan on having a upgrade.. you can..

The only problem with that is that most upgrades, IME, never happen. I do think that people truly intend to upgrade when they take this approach, but life interferes, and if it does happen, it's often years later than intended. With a fish like this, that's not hard to find, there's no reason one can't wait until the upgrade is up and going to get it.
 
The OP isn't asking for advice on what to do when the fish outgrows his tank. He is asking if it is suitable for his current tank. The best answer is "no", and I am not sure why someone would be advised to purchase a fish they can't keep long-term.

Brian, cut out the being logical business...
 
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