Reef Safe Triggers

[youngguns27]

I know this topic has been done before, but my question is a little different. I am looking at a pair of BlueThroats. My question is it better to buy them in pairs and/or do you buy them as show quality or newbies. The reason I ask is, I was going to purchase a Regal and it was show quality. After reading about them it said difficult to keep and get them small A (I didn't get it btw) week later that Regal I was looking at was dead of starvation, it wouldn't eat. Some fish you can find a lot of info but I couldn't find info on the BlueJaw or if it even matters on size and pair or no pair???

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Check out my post #5 in this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2297589

If you manage to find a pair, it'll be hard to guarantee that they are a real bonded pair or that they'll remain a pair once placed in your tank. I ended up getting my male first, and added the female a little later. They fought like hell for 4 1/2 months, and are inseparable now. They sleep together in the rock and everything...

It's somewhat a roll of the dice...

Best of luck!!!

 

[youngguns27]

Check out my post #5 in this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2297589

If you manage to find a pair, it'll be hard to guarantee that they are a real bonded pair or that they'll remain a pair once placed in your tank. I ended up getting my male first, and added the female a little later. They fought like hell for 4 1/2 months, and are inseparable now. They sleep together in the rock and everything...

It's somewhat a roll of the dice...

Best of luck!!!

Thanks for the info. The pair I was looking at a Local LFS and has been there together for about 3 weeks and they follow each other around. They are show size and direct from Hawaii.

 

[reef80]

I have a pair of smaller blue throats (3-4inch) that I bought togeter. The male (which was slightly smaller) harrasse female for two weeks and now they are inseparatable. They are very comical fishes to watch. I hear that there are more chances of them being "reef safe" at a younger age because they are more easily to acclimate to domestic reef life. Mine has not touch any of my other small fishes, snails, shrimps or anything else. They are very tame and docile and will allow me to pet them in the water. They eat everything my fishs do, even seaweed nori....yet when they get old, who knows, cross my fingers. I had the choice of smaller or larger pair (5-6inch) and I choose smaller so it can grow into my tank and easily to develope reef safe habits. I think that sometimes when you get a show quality then they have already establish natural habits out in the sea/ocean....that may be difficult to break or acclimate in domestic reef life. IMO, I would buy in smaller pair w/ the the male being smaller so the female has chance to bond if the male is aggressive (likely to happen).

Good luck on finding one(pair) but A+++++ on blue troat triggs...

 

[humaguy]

lol, they are possibly the one trig I would recommend against buying...they can be very shy, don't always pair up, males can lose their colors, females can be very be bland looking...so many nicer trigs out there...

 

[jda]

Most of the X triggers look better when they are paired up. I have always had them pair, but then again, I have had 2 male BTs in the same tank with no issues.

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Yeah, the topic of shyness comes up over and over again. It basically comes down to the individual fish. Some people report them as being shy, some not...

I guess I'm lucky. Mine are constantly out and follow me around the tank. I've got to give it to Humaguy. He knows allot about triggers, but at the end of the day, each fish has their own personality. I'm sure that there are cases of some of the more flamboyant triggers being shy, and BT's aren't the only trigger that may or may not pair up. That wasn't really a fair statement. Any fish can be shy and not pair up. Not just BTs..

Also: My male BT colored up allot more when I introduced the female...

Very beautiful and interactive fish IMO...

 

[humaguy]

Yeah, the topic of shyness comes up over and over again. It basically comes down to the individual fish. Some people report them as being shy, some not...

I guess I'm lucky. Mine are constantly out and follow me around the tank. I've got to give it to Humaguy. He knows allot about triggers, but at the end of the day, each fish has their own personality. I'm sure that there are cases of some of the more flamboyant triggers being shy, and BT's aren't the only trigger that may or may not pair up. That wasn't really a fair statement. Any fish can be shy and not pair up. Not just BTs..

Also: My male BT colored up allot more when I introduced the female...

Very beautiful and interactive fish IMO...

Sure it was a fair statement...I agree, that it most most def comes down to the individual specimen though overall and more often than not, bt are known to be shy and sometimes rarely seen fish which is the antithesis of most trigger's behavioral patterns...
it is not a knock on them, just a fact- some fish are just more shy than others...many of us own fish that we sometimes don't see for weeks on end, if not longer, due to their shyness....lol, I haven't seen my venustus in 5 days..though there is about 5 miles of pvc in her tank....
and as I mentioned above, I totally agree it comes down to the individual fish and my current male bt does not hide at all and is always out, about, and visible...lol, though I really wish he wasn't in my tank at all...

 

[humaguy]

sorry, I didn't clarify the "pair up" point...
some fish that are caught and sold as pairs do not remain so in captivity...2 of the same fish in a tank, even if a male and female, does not automatically constitute a bonded pair...
ime, bt triggers have a higher rate of couple dissolution in captivity, especially in smaller systems, than other trigs and fish...
there is also the discussion about what pairing up truly means...just because 2 fish don't show aggression towards each other doesn't mean they have paired up..
imo two fish that are truly paired up will display some sort of mating behavior, even if it is ever so subtle...

 

[youngguns27]

lol, they are possibly the one trig I would recommend against buying...they can be very shy, don't always pair up, males can lose their colors, females can be very be bland looking...so many nicer trigs out there...

Ok I know this sounds counterintuitive, but I have my 45 gallon cube (moving up to a 180) and I am trying to pair up my reef and my current fish. I know triggers are very aggressive but I really like them.

2 ocellaris clowns
1 yellow watchman goby
1 coral beauty
1 tri color wrasse

 

[humaguy]

I would recommend a holding pattern until your 180 is up and running and your present 45has been converted to a qt...

 

[youngguns27]

I would recommend a holding pattern until your 180 is up and running and your present 45has been converted to a qt...

I already have a qt (34 gallon), but I do get what you are saying.

 

[humaguy]

great...with a bigger tank you may be tempted to purchase larger fish or a few fish at a time...would also make the 45 a qt...keep both the 34 and 45 as qt...

 

[youngguns27]

great...with a bigger tank you may be tempted to purchase larger fish or a few fish at a time...would also make the 45 a qt...keep both the 34 and 45 as qt...

The bigger question I have, when I my 180 is running and I look to add a blue throat do I have to worry about the blue throat running off my wrasses??

 

[humaguy]

should be okay...

 

[Triggerfish]

I wouldn't recommend if keeping smaller reef fish..mine created havoc killing a number of fish from chromis to bangaiis.

 

[triggerman71]

Fish are like people they have different personalities, some triggers that are expected to be nasty can be pretty tame. I had a pork puffer that killed 2 of my triggers both twice the porks size.