Blue Throat Trigger - orange tail?

[anit77]

I bought a small Male early in the fall of 2016. It was beautifully and fully colored, just small. Maybe 3.5" at the time. Full blue jaw, no hint of red or orange in the fins just bright yellow. In the store it was with a female. Within 4 to 5 months the blue was gone and the yellow fins turned red.
I bought a female at about the 6 month mark to pair up with it and now a further 18 months later its coloring is still not fully returned.

So... what I see in your pic is a Male. I would get a female that is slightly smaller than your fish. Look for a a fish in a tank with a Male with deep red fins.

I'll try to get a pic up of mine before I head off to work.

 

[anit77]

Those two are quite active swimmers. Unless I'm feeding the female is about impossible to get a pic of.

 

[1979fishgeek]

Mines only about 3 inches, at this size are they usually still transitioning?

Ive got a month for ‘it’ in QT, then if all’s well I will put ‘it’ in the main display, it’s 1200l system so with good feeding ‘it’ hopefully will mature and show a definitive sex preference. My gut says male, seeing how much yellow is on the tail, but it could just be a nicely coloured female, I’ve read the Blue Throats from Hawaii are particularly nicely coloured.

It’s eating like a pig and gaining confidence, also does a impressive throat display, locking out the lower spine and bulging out the lower jaw at me, perhaps this is more typical of male behaviour, sign of aggression, fear or aggitation? It be impressive with a blue Throat! Lol

 

[eatbreakfast]

Mines only about 3 inches, at this size are they usually still transitioning?

Ive got a month for ‘it’ in QT, then if all’s well I will put ‘it’ in the main display, it’s 1200l system so with good feeding ‘it’ hopefully will mature and show a definitive sex preference. My gut says male, seeing how much yellow is on the tail, but it could just be a nicely coloured female, I’ve read the Blue Throats from Hawaii are particularly nicely coloured.

It’s eating like a pig and gaining confidence, also does a impressive throat display, locking out the lower spine and bulging out the lower jaw at me, perhaps this is more typical of male behaviour, sign of aggression, fear or aggitation? It be impressive with a blue Throat! Lol

Triggers are gender fixed. So it's not transitioning, but rather maturing.

 

[puffy127]

I just picked up a juvenile male, I'm guessing it's juvenile due to its size (~3 inches), but it is already nicely colored. I was surprised to see this coloration on such a small specimen as I thought they didn't develop these colors until they matured more.

 

[puffy127]

A more recent LA photo does show some orange on the tail for the female...

 

[lion king]

I have seen fully colored males at 3" and I've also seen some not display their Male coloring until over 4 to almost 4.5". If you are trying to bond a pair it is never guaranteed until the perspective female is over 4". Anything under and they just might be an immature male.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a pair and the female is generally bland and the males has all the color. Pic looks like a juvenile/transitioning male. This is the male:

This is the female

 

[eatbreakfast]

A more recent LA photo does show some orange on the tail for the female...

But the orange for a female is only the vertical margin at the end of the caudal fin. In the op's pic the specimen also has color developing on the horizontal portions that go from the peduncle to the vertical margin.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Adorable fish. I lost my male in my tank transfer. My female is holding on so far. Love their personalities. Yours looks like a lot of fun. I would say male maturing too.

My male had a very faint blue jaw. Barely noticeable. Yellow fins though. He was about 4".

 

[Jeff Hall]

So it's settled then...You have a transvestite trigger fish.

 

[Ibn]

How much time before you run into issues with having 2 males in the same tank?

I picked up a "pair" of blue throats from the LFS and the smaller of the two fish looked like a female. It wasn't until after I got home that I noticed that the larger of the two was a male and the smaller one was a developing male. Small - 3.75", larger of the two - 4.5".

Smaller developing male

They've been in the tank for 10 days now and they've been very friendly with each other. The larger of the two was a hider and the smaller one has been the more explorative fish, and that eventually socialize the larger one. Both eat a ton of pellets and I haven't notice any signs of aggression between the two even at feeding time.

 

[1979fishgeek]

So it's settled then...You have a transvestite trigger fish.

Lol, so going to call her Rupaul now! She even looks full female today!

 

[lion king]

How much time before you run into issues with having 2 males in the same tank?

I picked up a "pair" of blue throats from the LFS and the smaller of the two fish looked like a female. It wasn't until after I got home that I noticed that the larger of the two was a male and the smaller one was a developing male. Small - 3.75", larger of the two - 4.5".

Smaller developing male

They've been in the tank for 10 days now and they've been very friendly with each other. The larger of the two was a hider and the smaller one has been the more explorative fish, and that eventually socialize the larger one. Both eat a ton of pellets and I haven't notice any signs of aggression between the two even at feeding time.

As in most circumstances it depends on a few factors. Tank size and individual temperament to name a couple. It's weird as size differences can be beneficial to some individuals, as the dominant may play nice and the submissive knows it's place. While in another tank the larger will quickly dispatch the smaller. It usually ends very badly in most but the largest aquariums, when it will happen no one knows. Sometimes you can witness the escalation and know when to pull the plug, sometimes you just come home and one is fubared. Even though you may hear of some that have been lucky to keep two together for a while, I personally don't think it's wise.

 

[RtomKinMad]

This is my young male. Just getting the blue color in. Unfortunately we lost the female. He is starting to get more outgoing and prettier colors. Still small yet.

 

[1979fishgeek]

He is lovely. Looks very much like mine.

 

[RtomKinMad]

He is lovely. Looks very much like mine.

thank you
He’s a model citizen and very sweet. I wish the other one would have made it too. Both were very small and thin when I got them. It eats like a pig now!