Thoughts on the blue throat trigger in a reef tank?

[Carz]

I am considering on adding this trigger to my reef tank. They are suppose to be the safest trigger fish for the reef. Anyone try this ?

 

[Diesel]

Safe with a caution!
What size tank and what will be his friends in your tank?

 

[tdileo]

I’ve never seen a trigger bother coral. Inverts are another story though. Blue throats are less prone to eating them though.

 

[Diesel]

It long ago 3 years but a thread about your future fish.
As I said caution.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/blue-throat-trigger-safe-for-reef.203176/

 

[Maritimer]

"Less prone", while true, does not guarantee the safety of cleaner or blood shrimp. Very cool fish, though!

~Bruce

 

[4FordFamily]

"Less prone", while true, does not guarantee the safety of cleaner or blood shrimp. Very cool fish, though!

~Bruce

Agree. I tend to see that many fish that eat shrimp tend not to eat cleaners. Blood shrimp are touch and go, but also hide a lot.

 

[HB AL]

I have a bluejaw and a Sargassum currently, only thing they eat is the food I feed them. I have a large variety off corals, a couple clams, snails, hermits, cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp, many other fish, in my experience they are 100% reef safe.

 

[Kremis]

I had a blue jaw in my 180, was fine for months didnt touch anything. however for some reason eventually he went blind, started bumping into things and only hanging out in one area of the tank. died not too long after. triggerfish in the category xanthicthys are generally reef safe (crosshatch, blue jaw, red tail, etc

 

[shoelaceike]

I just bought a pair and put them in my QT. A little later I added a firefish. When I came to check on them later, I only had half a firefish left.

 

[Carz]

I am planning on moving some fish out and just keeping the purple and blue tang and maybe one clown fish. Not too many fish. I like the corals which is what scares me a little. I mainly have LPS and my aquascape is pretty much cemented together so I dont see him moving any rock. I just always wanted a trigger fish but not willing to give up the corals to do a fish only tank.

 

[Eva Rose]

I had a male blue jaw for several years. Rehomed him when I moved my tank. Mine never bothered any inverts (blood shrimp, cleaner shrimp,snails etc.) or fish.
He never bothered corals. Had mostly LPS. Once a really loud noise made him bolt & he toppled some frags, but sounds like your aquascape would be fine. He was an absolute pig for food. Always the first to eat , but if another fish challenged him, he would take off. My blue jaw trigger was not at all aggressive, but following to see what others say.

 

[Eastlake]

I've got a male blue throat trigger in my reef and he's a model citizen. Now, as the others have said, your mileage may vary. I've read accounts of the blue throat ravaging all of the inverts in their tank and several, like stated above, that have had nothing but a wonderful experience having one as an inhabitant of their reef.

 

[Maritimer]

Darnit.

You folks are tempting me to try one - or a pair - again.

~Bruce

 

[Swoody]

Darnit.

You folks are tempting me to try one - or a pair - again.

~Bruce

I hear you Bruce! I like the looks of the Sargassum better but a Bluethroat seems like the safest bet. I’m gonna have to search out a Juvi and give it a try!

 

[RtomKinMad]

We have a red tail trigger in the fish only and lov this fish! He lets my husband touch it and will swim into his hand. Can hand feed it. We have blue jaw male in the reef. Also a perfect citizen. Doesn’t bother other fish, inverts or coral. We got ours very small though. You should all get one!

 

[c2l2parker]

Mine doesn’t bother corals or my inverts, including shrimp. However, at feeding time he is a pig and a bully. I sometimes feed larger pieces of krill. If another fish grabs a piece of krill, they generally take a while to eat it. The trigger will go crazy and start chasing them around. I have had most of my smaller fish end up in my overflows.

 

[Syed123]

Bluethroats are arguably the safest trigger you can have in a reef. Safe with most inverts on average but still have trigger characteristics. They eat a lot and defacate quite a bit. Op you need really great filteration if you want to keep them in a reef tank.

Also Sarragassum triggers are another you can try op.

Here are my two male bluethroats.

 

[Carz]

Pretty nice pair

 

[cdnco2004]

Bluethroats are arguably the safest trigger you can have in a reef. Safe with most inverts on average but still have trigger characteristics. They eat a lot and defacate quite a bit. Op you need really great filteration if you want to keep them in a reef tank.

Also Sarragassum triggers are another you can try op.

Here are my two male bluethroats.

Never had issues with two males?