Bluethroat Trigger

R

rinconmike

Member
I have a 5" Bluethroat trigger in a 55 gallon bare QT (just two 4" PVC and two HOB filters). Bottom is clear and you can see through.

Had him for just over two weeks now.

I see no signs of sickness. No spots, no frayed fins, etc...

He seems to spend most his time lying on his side trying to wedge against one of the 4" pvc fittings. He does eat, but only if i leave some prawns in the tank and I go away.

I tried leaving the lights off, and still does not want to move much.

I read this can be normal behavior for triggers. I did start treating with Prazi Pro yesterday just to rule out flukes.

Should I try covering the underside of the bottom glass in case that is spooking him?

Any other ideas?

thanks,

Mike
 
agree further...sounds like very typical bt behavior...he will become your buddy once he associates you with food....
 
I do have plenty of cured live rock sitting in a tube with heater and power head so that I can do. if I do put the rock in there, say 10 pounds (BRS Pukani) I assume no issue using Quinine Sulfate, Cupramine or any other meds if needed.
 
LR will absorb copper and make exact dosage difficult. I don't know how it will affect QS; not being able to measure QS levels is one of my concerns with the product. There is no reason to use it, IMO & IME. I doubt a fish knows the difference between a piece of rock and plenty of PVC to hide in. just having a few places to hide should be fine. Again, IMO & IME; but I've kept many very skittish and shy fish with nothing but PVC in QT and never thought that was any problem.
 
I don't think he needs to put anything in that QT, but just one piece of rock with a trigger-sized cave would probably help the BT relax a bit. I don't know how well a trigger can adhere to a piece of smooth PVC.

My indian trigger wouldn't gain weight in QT with nothing but smooth surfaces, seemed like it would never go to sleep and the respiration rate remained normal even in the middle of the night. You can barely tell if a fully relaxed and sleeping trigger is alive. Once I added just one rock and made a cave, it locked in and went into that comatose state for 20 hours a day. Started doing a lot better.

But as was mentioned a few times, it's a shy fish that always seems to know when you're looking at it.
 
I always painted the external bottom of my tanks, displays and QT's. If its not painted it acts like a mirror inside. Ive had triggers and groupers relentlessly attack that other fish. Not saying hes doing this but you mentioned about it possibly spooking him.

By the way, good work with the QT.
 
jwm2k3 said:
I always painted the external bottom of my tanks, displays and QT's. If its not painted it acts like a mirror inside. Ive had triggers and groupers relentlessly attack that other fish. Not saying hes doing this but you mentioned about it possibly spooking him.
Click to expand...

Actually, it doesn't. What we see as a mirror effect is related to the internal refraction, and involves us viewing from beyond a critical angle (depending on the type of glass, density of water, etc). The fish don't see that reflection, even when we do. To test it, turn off your pumps and look straight down into the tank. You won't see a significant reflection of yourself.

Since this effect is internal to the glass, painting the exterior won't effect it, but painting the interior would.
 
Waaaay back, i had a fish that I sensed was going nuts with his reflection in my QT. (i never worry about this any more. I went to the artsy-craftsy section at Wal-Mart and got some of those flimsy 12'' square things that look like screen. Cut them to fit and eliminated the reflection (I think) for about a dollar. lots of ways to do this, if you really think its worth it.
 
The trigger is still in QT and still skiddish. He is not eating much and looking thin. If I throw prawns in the tank, sometimes he nips and then leaves them be, next morning, prawns still sitting there.

No visual signs of sickness. Fins look good. I did two back to back treatments of prazipro. After the second, I ran carbon for 3 days and then this week did 6 days of Daily Quinine Sulfate Treatments with 25% water changes between each. Last night would have been the 7th day treating with QS, but I got home late and did not do it. The bottle recommends 10 days. I might do today and continue or maybe enough with the QS, run some carbon and try something else.

Any ideas? Could there be nothing wrong and the meds and QT cause stress that he does not eat and running carbon for a week be better? Or could there be an internal issue that I cannot see and I should treat with something else.

thanks,

Mike
 
I'd cool it on the meds for a little while and try to just keep the water quality high. Sometimes fish don't eat as well while being treated.
 
here are some picts of the trigger just lying down. He spreads himself out. I read they do that with stress.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5728038/IMG-20111016-00182.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5728038/IMG-20111016-00186.jpg

The few times he swims, sometimes he swims like that so makes me wonder if something is wrong.

Last night I tried soaking some food in garlic card, but still not taking it.

water quality in QT is good. Ammonia and Nitrite zero. Salinity maintained around 1.024. Temp maintained around 78.

thanks

Mike
 
the bj trigger in the picture looks too thin - IME it is probably not going to make it past a few more days
 
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