Quoyi parrotfish reef safe?

Yeah. Good points. They go back and forth at each other quite often and neither one backs down. I wonder if this is just a phase that the trigger will go into from time to time or if fish stay in this frisky stage. I could see how the trigger may see the parrot as a somewhat trigger type fish. He doesn't go after any other fish other than the parrot. If this is a permanent thing, I may have to look into re-homing one of them. Darn shame because they are among my favorite fish in the tank. I've noticed some marks on the parrot, but it doesn't back down either.

Conflicted...
 
CedzAquAddictio said:
Yeah. Good points. They go back and forth at each other quite often and neither one backs down. I wonder if this is just a phase that the trigger will go into from time to time or if fish stay in this frisky stage. I could see how the trigger may see the parrot as a somewhat trigger type fish. He doesn't go after any other fish other than the parrot. If this is a permanent thing, I may have to look into re-homing one of them. Darn shame because they are among my favorite fish in the tank. I've noticed some marks on the parrot, but it doesn't back down either.

Conflicted...
Click to expand...

So is the trigger the one instigating the aggression? I've noticed lately my parrot has been snapping at some of my tangs, mostly the yellows. Now and then I see a beak mark on somebody :( No real damage though...
 
Its the trigger for the most part. If he ain't trying to do the mating dance with the female trigger he is charging the parrot. Every now and then if the parrot sees the trigger about to charge, the parrot will charge the trigger first. Presumably to prevent the charge from the trigger.
 
The trigger is about 5 inches, and the quoyi is about 6-7 inches...

I thought this would be kind of early for a mating ritual from the trigger. It's only about 2 years old, but sure enough, he is after the female hard... (that didn't quite come out right. LOL...)
 
Well, the male trigger pursued the female too much, and she went into hiding to avoid his advances where she passed away despite my target feeding and her eating. Things got so rough during the courtship, that most of the fish were scared to come out, and I lost not only the female trigger, but a chromis, sand sifter goby, and bangaii cardinal(part of a mated pair).

On the positive side, with the female trigger gone, the male has stopped trying to mate with her, and him and the parrotfish are no longer fighting, so the other fish are free to move about the tank and feed at their leisure. The fish that survived the courtship are bouncing back quite well.
 
There was clear aggression towards the parrot. Outright charging at the parrot and posturing up at it flaring its fins and trigger while turning a very dark color, and nipping at the fins. Eventually, the parrot stood up to the trigger, and would chase the trigger from time to time.

With the female BJ, there was never a charge, but he did show off his brightly colored jaw and fins while fluttering about like it does when it begs for food when I walk by the tank. At first he would do all of this, and the female would join him in a mating dance so-to-speak. Then, day by day, she would participate less and less, but he continued and she started hiding.

I've seen aggression between these two fish, and this definitely wasn't aggression between the triggers.
 
OK. I just didn't know what the info status was on bluejaw trigger mating, to be so sure, that's all.

Glad the aggression has stopped.
 
No Problem, Peter. It was really quite fascinating to see it happen. They were both into it at first, then the female seemed to have changed her mind. BJ's are underrated in the triggerfish family, but the male was truly a beautiful specimen when coloring up and showing off for the female.

On the other hand, he was a scary looking beast when he was going after the parrotfish. Either way, the parrot and trigger have settled their differences, it seems since the female has passed. This is good because they are the two largest and most active fish in my tank...
 
I've been considering a Quoyi. I read through this thread and seen them in SPS and mixed reefs. Does anyone have them in with clams?
 
Quoyi vs. Surf Parrotfish

Quoyi vs. Surf Parrotfish

Hi there,

I came across this thread while researching parrotfish, trying to ID a couple that I took photos of at the Great Barrier Reef a couple years back. I have a thread going there, but it seems like the Parrot experts are all here, so I thought maybe I'd post a couple photos here and see what you guys think?

The first four photos are from Hardy Reef out of Airlie Beach. The last photo is from Hastings Reef out of Cairns.

I think #1-3 are all surf parrotfish. In #2, he's escorting around a couple ladies from the looks of it. #3 has a friend too, but it's no parrotfish...I have no idea who that is yet.

#4-5 I think are Quoy's Parrotfish. They lack the orange, they have the blue moustache. I was wondering if #4 is juvenile? He doesn't look as striking.

I appreciate any help you can give with this!

Thanks!
 

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Well I've had my quoyi for over a year now. I have to admit he's losing his vibrant color. The pattern is somewhat still there, but he's turning an overall mottled green. It's hard to tell when you see him every day, but I was recently archiving some older pictures, and came across some when I first bought him.
 
SDguy said:
Well I've had my quoyi for over a year now. I have to admit he's losing his vibrant color. The pattern is somewhat still there, but he's turning an overall mottled green. It's hard to tell when you see him every day, but I was recently archiving some older pictures, and came across some when I first bought him.
Click to expand...

I have also had mine a yr and the color isn't quite as bright as I would like. I'm in the process of findings new algae and spirulina pellets in bulk. He loves the nori and spectrum pellets but totally ignores flake of all kinds and krill and silverside chunks. He does eat brine, mysis and jumbo mysis
 
I wonder if it's diet.... parrots and wrasses are all about sex, dominance, etc. I can't imagine they'd spend the biological energy to keep those bright colors if they don't have to.
 
I'm pretty sure mine is as bright now as when I got him (also about a year ago). He gets a really varied diet with nori, pellets, homemade frozen mix, and fresh shellfish. I do feel like he went through a phase of not being as colorful, but it seems to have righted itself... Not sure why. I do still see him do a color display when other fish irritate him.
 
Rea17 said:
I'm pretty sure mine is as bright now as when I got him (also about a year ago). He gets a really varied diet with nori, pellets, homemade frozen mix, and fresh shellfish. I do feel like he went through a phase of not being as colorful, but it seems to have righted itself... Not sure why. I do still see him do a color display when other fish irritate him.
Click to expand...

Varied diet cannot be the issue with mine :)
 
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