Blue Throated Trigger Tail Issue

[badhangover]

Good Morning Everyone,

1st-time poster long time lurker. I recently purchased a fully quarantined male & female Blue-throated Trigger. They both have been in my DT tank for about 48 hours now. The female is doing good and being very social. The male is currently hiding a lot (amongst the rocks on the backside of my tank) and sometimes chilling up near the water's surface near my HOB overflow, although not near where the water actual get sucked over. I have seen them both eating recently however, I noticed that the Male trigger frequently keeps his tail collapsed and sometimes at a 90-degree angle to the direction he is swimming (even when not turning). I have had a tough time getting pictures of him doing this so the images I'm attaching are the best I have. Should I be concerned and is there anything I can do? I've attached one image of the female as well.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That isn’t normal, but it also isn’t a symptom of any specific problem that I’ve ever seen. I wonder if it could be from residual damage incurred during shipping?

Respiration rate and how well it feeds are the two criteria to watch closely....well, that plus any changes to the skin that could signal an external infection.

Jay

 

[badhangover]

Jay,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. He seems to be eating and breathing, ok. Assuming it's a shipping issue, do you think it will heal on its own, or is there anything that can be done about it?

Thanks again

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. He seems to be eating and breathing, ok. Assuming it's a shipping issue, do you think it will heal on its own, or is there anything that can be done about it?

Thanks again

I don’t see any action that could be taken in this case. Looking back on the photos, any chance that the female is picking on him? Common wisdom would suggest the other way around, but not if there is a size difference.
Jay

 

[SPR1968]

As already mentioned they can sometimes fight and it doesn’t always end well

Ive had a pair of blue throats in my S650 for around 4 years now, and they often try to mate these days Around every 3-4 months they attempt to build a nest in the sand, and there’s actually a video on my build thread of them ‘dancing, guarding etc’

But, before I purchased them, I’d been watching them in the LFS for about 3 months (luckily nobody purchased them) and at one point they had to be seperated into different tanks facing each other because of some serious fighting, including damaged fins

Eventually they calmed down, were put back together, and then a month or so later were with me.

They occasionally chase each other around the tank, and could do serious damage to each other if they wanted to, so could that be the issue here ?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

As already mentioned they can sometimes fight and it doesn’t always end well

Ive had a pair of blue throats in my S650 for around 4 years now, and they often try to mate these days Around every 3-4 months they attempt to build a nest in the sand, and there’s actually a video on my build thread of them ‘dancing, guarding etc’

But, before I purchased them, I’d been watching them in the LFS for about 3 months (luckily nobody purchased them) and at one point they had to be seperated into different tanks facing each other because of some serious fighting, including damaged fins

Eventually they calmed down, were put back together, and then a month or so later were with me.

They occasionally chase each other around the tank, and could do serious damage to each other if they wanted to, so could that be the issue here ?

I'm thinking it could be - not to over-extrapolate, but think of a dog curling its tail in submission....

Jay

 

[badhangover]

I don’t see any action that could be taken in this case. Looking back on the photos, any chance that the female is picking on him? Common wisdom would suggest the other way around, but not if there is a size difference.
Jay

I didn't observe them too much in the QT system but they don't seem to be chasing each other around or attacking each other that I have seen. That being said the male has spent a lot of time behind my rock work while the female is all over my display. This morning I did notice both of them swimming together peacefully. The male had his tail extended.

I'm thinking it could be - not to over-extrapolate, but think of a dog curling its tail in submission....

Jay

Perhaps this could be the case. I have heard these fish are super friendly and can behave like a dog would when people approach the tank (getting excited and noticing who you are).

As already mentioned they can sometimes fight and it doesn’t always end well

Ive had a pair of blue throats in my S650 for around 4 years now, and they often try to mate these days Around every 3-4 months they attempt to build a nest in the sand, and there’s actually a video on my build thread of them ‘dancing, guarding etc’

But, before I purchased them, I’d been watching them in the LFS for about 3 months (luckily nobody purchased them) and at one point they had to be seperated into different tanks facing each other because of some serious fighting, including damaged fins

Eventually they calmed down, were put back together, and then a month or so later were with me.

They occasionally chase each other around the tank, and could do serious damage to each other if they wanted to, so could that be the issue here ?

I need to check out that video.

 

[SPR1968]

.

I need to check out that video.

Here you go

Monster Build - Shaun's 2000 Litre (530 USG) Living Reef & Red Sea Max S 650 LED Design & Build

Lol... Start at about 21 mins. in the video. You might have to soak the tube in vinegar. I'm keeping my Bubble King. :) He doesn't know how to get in it either! Thought I was watching @2una (Red Sea main pump!) when he started with the fast hands lol! Why would soaking the tube in vinager...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[badhangover]

Thats pretty cool. Did anything ever come of it?

 

[SPR1968]

Thats pretty cool. Did anything ever come of it?

No babies as yet and probably unlikely in such an enclosed system with the other fish, crabs etc.

 

[badhangover]

No babies as yet and probably unlikely in such an enclosed system with the other fish, crabs etc.

Well, that's disappointing. I know that people post pictures of clown eggs all the time wasn't sure if there was some way for you to manage to collect the clutch of eggs and propagate them.