Fatten up my Bluejaw trigger

eskymick · #1 01/02/2008, 12:32 PM

I have a 6" male Bluejaw trigger which I purchased two months ago. I had him in quarantine for 6 weeks and now in the main display for two weeks. In quarantine I treated for flukes with PraziPro, and I added PraziPro to his food, as well.

My question and/or problem is that he seems to be too skinny. He eats well, but he hasn't put on any weight. In my opinion, he is thin in the forward dorsal area and also in the stomach area.

I do feed Hikari mysis and plankton two or three times a day (fortified with Selcon and VitaChem). I'm trying to overfeed him, actually. He also eats flake food.

Is there something else that perhaps is missing from his diet? Like I said, he eats well, but doesn't put on any weight.

nava405 · #2 01/03/2008, 07:48 AM

150gallon tank for a 6" trigger ?

anyway, it's going to take ALOT mysis to make him fat, i think you should just try krill or just some bigger fronze shrimp. i used to feed my 7" crosshatch 5-10 kirlls everyday, and that made him REALLY fat

tydtran · #3 01/03/2008, 09:52 AM

I second nava405. For a fish this size, you need to give him large meaty food. Krill works well and silversides are a nice addition.

eskymick · #4 01/03/2008, 10:08 AM

It was my assumption (apparently wrong) that Blujaw triggers are plankton feeders and not so much fish or shrimp eaters. If it was a "non-reefsafe" trigger, I would have provided chunks of fish right off.

I have been feeding frozen plankton, which is generally twice the size of the larger sized mysis shrimp. In fact, the plankton is too large for my other fish to eat.

I'll get some larger krill and see how he does with that. Is freeze-dried acceptable?