post pics: blue throat trigger

Nathan

Premium Member
I am considering buying a "Blue Throat trigger" and I want to see some pics of yours! :)

How big do they get? I have a sparsely populated 180g with cleaner shrimp!

-Nathan
 
Here you go Nathan.......this guy was only a temporary resident in my 90 which is too small for one long term, but would be fine in a 180...
346527748%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D3233%3E26%3A%3E3%3B%3B%3E232426%3A4%3A%3C%3B%3B3ot1lsi
 
Thanks Mike!

I do appreciate the photo... but man I gotta rub my eyes on that one! ;) (just bustin' on ya!)

-Nathan
 
I notice you are from Long Island. I was there last summer and I visited a fish shop there (forgot the name, but it was just off the main highway). I also visited Atlantis Marine World and that t-shirt is my fav to wear when I am barbecuing. Gonna cook up some chicken and beef this weekend (=Saturday!)!

Cheers!

-Nathan
 
Hey Nathan..sorry about the blurry photo, but it never was still long enough to take a good one and no on the pic..... that beauty is a male crosshatch alot more expensive. Yea we have a few good LFS here on the Island and metro NYC area and Atlantis is a must see.....grill a few for me...enjoy!
 
reef safe triggers ussually still feed on small live food so your shrimp may be a meal........sargasum triggers are nice too!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6928256#post6928256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nathan
Is this a blue throat trigger? If so, how do I get one so beautiful as this one?

96647132-3274_IMG.JPG

Hi Nathan,
Got your pm. For some reason I can read my pm but I am unable to send???
Anyway, no, that is not a blue throat. That is a cross-hatch trigger. He is in my 270 gallon tank. I have a male and female. That picture is of my male. They are fascinating to observe and the male "clicks" and "grunts" at the female.

They are fairly hard to come by and you will pay at least $250-$350 for a male. Females are about $150 but in my opinion are beautiful as well, they just have a yellow tail and somewhat duller blue lines on their faces.

I got my male from Atlantisaquarium.net which is a sponsor on this board and located a few hours from me. I would not recommend shipping these fish long distances though. I found my female at a LFS. They are from Hawaii so they may be harder to find out on the East Coast? If liveaquaria.com has them you could try them (although I am unsure of their availability) but I'm not sure how far they are from you? What size tank would you be planning on putting him/her in? IMO, you need at least a ~200 gallon tank a these guys get pretty big ~11" and need plenty of room to swim.

Anyway, good luck. HTH

p.s. I have found mine to be extremely "reef safe", as are my Sargassum and blue throat (in different tanks though!).
 
when you say extreamly does that mean they leave small shrimp alone? i know they will leave corals alone for sure but think they can pose a danger to crustateans?
 
My cross-hatches have NOT paid any mind to my snails, crabs, peppermint, or cleaner shrimp.

These fish are plantonic feeders in the wild and feed in the open water column. They are not inclined to pick on corals, snails, shrimp, etc. My blue throat picks at snails once in a while when he gets hungry...but not my Cross-hatches....
 
Great info everyone (esp. Gisho!).

(Oh, and Gisho, I have a 180g tank with about 70lbs of rock, so there is lots of space to swim.)

I have never owned a trigger.

I am a little cautious of their teeth. Do they bite you when you put your hand in the tank? Also, I assume that you feed them frozen shrimp etc. Do they also eat flake food or nori?

Thanks!

-Nathan
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6930759#post6930759 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nathan
Great info everyone (esp. Gisho!).

(Oh, and Gisho, I have a 180g tank with about 70lbs of rock, so there is lots of space to swim.)

I have never owned a trigger.

I am a little cautious of their teeth. Do they bite you when you put your hand in the tank? Also, I assume that you feed them frozen shrimp etc. Do they also eat flake food or nori?

Thanks!

-Nathan

Yes, you should be ok with a 180g tank since you have less live rock than most (hopefully you have some live rock in your sump?). Try to get a smaller specimen, perhaps 3-5". They are very "frisky", bold (once they overcome their initial shyness) and curious fish, and once the male tried to take a nibble on my hand while I was cleaning the glass and wasn't paying attention.

Of course, I jumped about two feet off the ladder I was standing on :lol: , but he didn't draw blood. I have had other fish draw blood on me. I am further convinced that they are intelligent because since he did that months ago, he has never tried that again. It seems as though he thought my hand may be food, tried a little nibble, figured out that my hand wasn't food, and stays clear of me now when I am cleaning. He may have even communicated this to his girlfriend :lol: because nowadays, I don't even need to watch for them while cleaning as they both stay away.

Now, if you plan to get one, I have to caution you that these fish are big eaters and thus, big waste producers. You do not mention what type of set up you plan on, i.e. FOWLR, mixed reef,
SPS, LPS, softie, etc. but you need to have adequate biological, mechanical, and chemical filtration. On the tank that I have the pair of crosshatches in, I run 2 Euroreef skimmers, polyfilter pads (changed weekly), and 24/7 chemi-pure (changed monthly), and a large refugium of course to help reduce nitrates. I wouldn't suggest putting a crosshatch in a SPS tank for example.

I rotate feeding them frozen mysis, O.N. prime reef, formula 1 and 2, spectrum thera+A large pellets, and between the two of them they eat about 1/2 sheet of the BULK-SIZED O.N. seaweed select sheets (green, red, and brown rotated) daily! Mine love nori for some reason...

Anyway, good luck if you decide to get one. These are a beautiful, intelligent, and personable fish. Just make sure you have 1. adequate space 2. adequate filtration and 3. you can provide them a varied, nutritional diet (i.e. don't feed it freeze-dried krill every day :rolleyes: ).

HTH
 
Back
Top