Crosshatch Triggr

[djrab52]

I have 500G system with the following fish:
1 Purple Tang, 1 Gold Stripe Maroon Clown, 1 Pyramid Butterfly, 1 Golden Semiv(sp) Butterfly, 1 Lawn Mower Blenny, 1 Male Anthias, 3 Female Anthias, 1 Acanthurus Tang, 1 7" Crosshatch Trigger. Now my problem is that I have not seen my trigger eat since I placed her in my system last week. None of the other fish are over 3", and I have seen the lawn mower blenny take cheap shots at the trigger, which is startling. The trigger hides alot and this is another strange situation. I am just wondering will it need more time to become comfortable or does the trigger just come out at night and eat?

 

[Chibils]

I've read that Xanthichythys triggers hide a lot when first established.

 

[pfish]

Mine did the same thing. Be patient and give a variety of fresh foods . Shrimp , Clam, mysis. He will eventually eat anything offered in large quanities.

 

[myerst2]

completely normal. Try live brine to initiate feeding. Also I find that activity in front of the tank, you, will scare the trigger. Try feeding the tank and then slowly step away from the tank. Also if you have actinics try feeding him under low light at first. Had the same issue when i got my male three weeks ago. He's still skiddish but eats like a pig. Tim

 

[kirkaz]

Agreed, that whole family of Triggers (Bluethroat and Sargassum too) do best if they are one of the 1st fish in, if not they will hide for a while. I'm confident she will be fine in time. Try a lot of different foods for her and use garlic to try and intice her to eat.

 

[ChuckLawson]

I've had my bluejaw for six months, and he's still spooky -- he'll come up to the front of the tank and swim around like he's nuts wanting fed if I'm near the tank, but the minute I open the canopy he dives for cover and stays hidden until about half the food is eaten...

 

[djrab52]

OK, things have turned to the worst for my trigger. Could someone please help me or let me know what is going on NOW with this trigger. Somehow it seems that it is not swimming correctly, it is like it can't swim upright. it seems to be stuck upside and running into things when it does swim. Does anyone know what this is or even if I can do anything about it? It now stays near the top of the tank. Please help.

 

[myerst2]

Seems as if he was not decompressed properly. Not sure if you know this, but crosshatch hatches are found in water 150ft and deeper for the most part. The diver needs to bring them up slowly so they can adjust to pressure change. Sometimes they will right themselves on their own. Was this an issue from the beginning? You can also use a pin and release the air from the swim bladder but i wouldn't recommend this unless you have experience doing so. Where did you get the fish from? Did you see the fish eat before you purchased it? You should ask tell them about the problem. Crosshatches don't suffer as badly as many other deep water fish but unfortunately it can be fatal. I wish you luck and hope your crosshatch makes it. I got mine from someone I knew very well and he decompressed it himself and he quarantined him for 2 weeks and he was eating before he was shipped. Still took him almost 2 weeks to start to feed aggressively. Again i hope your trigger makes it and if you have any more questions feel free to PM me ir post them here. Hopefully others will have some more suggestions for you. Regards, Tim

 

[myerst2]

Hey and by the way I would love to see some pics of your 500. What are the dimensions of that tank. Any info. about your system would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tim

 

[indydog1]

how was the acclimation process? any type of qt? current param's

 

[jmaneyapanda]

when I had crosshatches, I had the same issue with the lawnmowers. They would swim up and take potshots at the sides of the crosshatches. The males would chase him back to his hole, but they always had the kiss marks on their sides. I dont know if the lawnmower thinks that they lookm liker algae or what.

I would suggest removing him from the tank into a QT/treatment tank. Away from all the stress and bustle.

 

[djrab52]

Thanks for everyone's help, but I am sad to say that she passed over night. I found her in the QT tank this morning and I agree with myerst2 in that I think she was not decompressed correctly because she was floating at the top of the tank which is strange for salt water fish. This didn't seem like an issue from the beginning but she did hide alot as I said. I brought the fish from a place in Norristown, PA, which I don't want to mention the name. The guy told me that they had her with a male for about 2 months which I am slowly not believing now. I acclimated her just as I do all my fish, with the drip method for at least an hour. My reef is slowly fading and I think I am going to change the main tank to a FOWLR, and make the tank in the basement a reef. The wife will love this because of the cut back on the electricity bill. Also, since I am doing alot more work I really don't have time for the full fledged large reef. Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

[myerst2]

Sorry for your loss. It's funny as you say reefs take up more time than a FOWLR. I find it to be the complete opposite. It very well could be the fact that I am crazy about keeping fish super fat and healthy. Having this mentality makes me spend much more time than I did with my old reef. If you ever want another Crosshatch I have a great contact for you that catches them himself and I know his fish well conditioned. Sorry again for your loss. regards, Tim

 

[Untamed12]

That is too bad.

It seems that fish with swim bladder problems would usually exhibit this symptom right away.

As yours didn't display this at first, I suspect that something else went wrong...probably due to the challenges that you had getting it to eat. A weak and starving fish will usually die of something.

IME, triggers have voracious appetites. It could also be that something else was wrong that prevented her from eating.

 

[RGBMatt]

It does sound like a swim bladder infection, but if it was related to the decompression process it should have appeared sooner - not after 2 months in the LFS. Although crosshatch triggers usually are caught in very deep water, they do decompress pretty well.