Feeding Blue Throat Trigger

[mhosts]

Hey Everyone.

I have a Blue Throat Trigger that's been in my Reef for about 6 months now.

Problem is, he is extremely shy. He still runs and hides when I walk really close to the tank, so whenever I feed, he hides and doesn't come out until majority of the food has been eaten by my other fish.

I've also been noticing that he's becoming a little skinny and would like to resolve the problem before it gets worse.

Any ideas?

It's a 120 gallon reef with a pair of pink skunk clownfish, an ocellaris clownfish, clown goby, carpenters wrasse and a mandarin (Which doesn't eat frozen food anyways).

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Maybe try dropping a clam on the half shell in, or some krill on a nori clip.

 

[mhosts]

That's a good idea... I'll see if my fish monger has some fresh clams.

And I'll make some dinner out of it too!

I've never tried krill before though. I'll pick some up from my LFS.

 

[Amoore311]

Mine is shy UNTIL I feed the tank lol.

+1 on the 1/2 shelled clam. That should be a big enough piece of food to where the clowns and wrasses should ignore it, especially if there is more size appropriate food being offered at the same time.

 

[Amoore311]

Don't use krill as a staple diet either. They are seriously lacking in the nutrition dept. Every once in a while is ok, especially if it gets him to eat while he is skinny. I would try the clams first as they are a better food for the trigger from a nutritional standpoint.



Forgot to mention:

My home made food mix has larger chunks of squid, octopus, clam, and scallop. My trigger likes to go after those pieces first, and use his mouth to cut them to size.

 

[mhosts]

I think I will try the clam first then.

I normally feed a combination of mysis, spirulina brine, nls pellets (soaked in selcon) and cyclopeze...

Do you think I should be offering something more meaty on a regular basis for the trigger?

 

[Amoore311]

I would. At least until he picks up the pellets.

The slightly larger pieces should be ignored by the smaller fish as well, so that should give your trigger some time to eat.

 

[gradth]

Does yours eat Nori?

Mine loves it. Have a pair of blue throats and neither are shy, eat out of my hand.(not that I feed them by hand anymore, they tend to nip). But both will eat most anythng. I tend to feed a combo of foods throughtout the week. Mysis and brine a few times a week and pellets and seaweed the rest of the time.

Try soaking your food in garlic also.

 

[mhosts]

I've tried Nori but he just ignores it. As do all of my other fish.

I do have a female Blue Throat in QT right now... I'm hoping the wife will make him more confident but that won't be for another 5-6 weeks!

 

[mhosts]

I would. At least until he picks up the pellets.

The slightly larger pieces should be ignored by the smaller fish as well, so that should give your trigger some time to eat.

He does eat pellets...

He's just not quick enough!

 

[Untamed12]

Go to the nearest Asian grocery and pickup some mixed frozen seafood. Squid, Octopus, Shrimp, Clams....

Thaw some pieces in tank water and chop a few large chunks of various foods.

Using tongs hold the piece of food directly where the trigger is holed up. If necessary drop the piece of food run under his nose.

You need to get food into him or you WILL lose him. I used this technique successfully to save a starving female Blue Throat that I rescued from a LFS. She's over 3 years now and no longer shy in the least.

The are HUGE eaters...so not eating much is exactly opposite of what you want.

 

[DJPB]

That's strange. I had a female bluethroat morph into a male about 4 years ago. He/she would eat just about anything, favorites being mysis and nori. good luck

 

[mhosts]

Go to the nearest Asian grocery and pickup some mixed frozen seafood. Squid, Octopus, Shrimp, Clams....

Thaw some pieces in tank water and chop a few large chunks of various foods.

Using tongs hold the piece of food directly where the trigger is holed up. If necessary drop the piece of food run under his nose.

You need to get food into him or you WILL lose him. I used this technique successfully to save a starving female Blue Throat that I rescued from a LFS. She's over 3 years now and no longer shy in the least.

The are HUGE eaters...so not eating much is exactly opposite of what you want.

Will do... I managed to pickup some frozen baby scallops yesterday at the store.

I put a few meaty chunks in and he was eating them... But it's so funny, my clownfish would come by and try to take some and he would run back to his cave. The clownfish is less than half his size!

I don't get how shy this guy is!

 

[eyebedam]

You can get a box of this at your local Kroger grocery store. If you dont have a Kroger near you Im sure other Chain Grocers sell it. It should be around 6.00 a box. You can cut up larger pieces for the trigger & also put thawed out pieces in a food chopper for the smaller fishes. A little garlic in here will help also. A few days of this will fatten him right up.

 

[mhosts]

That's making me hungry! LOL.

I'll have a look at the local market for sure. I'm sure I can find some whole calamari somewhere around here.

Canada doesn't have Krogers but we have fine Maple Syrup

 

[mhosts]

How big do you suggest the pieces be?

Around a half inch or so?

 

[gildorph]

I have had 2, both of them went crazy for silversides. For the larger one he would eat them whole, the smaller one I would cut into 1/4.

 

[trigger:)]

Try using a turkey baster to feed him where he hides if he gets to skinny!

 

[mhosts]

Thanks for all your help so far everyone!

I fed another scallop today because I haven't been able to get to the market yet. He nips at it but the clownfish still scare him away!

But I've been feeding double the mysis that I normally feed to give him some extra time to come out and get some. That has been working and his belly is quite full right now.

I want to get some fresh clams and try that so the shell weighs it down and my powerheads don't blow it around like they do the scallops.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Yeah I think the key is to offer something large and sinking, like a clam on the half shell, because he will pick at it off the ground and clowns generally wont.