Are Blue Throat triggers safe with inverts

[Fishfanatic]

Like the title says can you keep them with inverts I have heard mixed opinions.

[balistidae]

I keep a pair with an arrow crab, cleaner shrimp, pep shrimp, snails etc.... The triggers dont even look twice at any of them.

[Psyire]

Mine was good with 50+ snails, 30+ hermits, & 10 shrimp

[Snowmaker]

what about with giant clams????

Would you leave a friendly pitbull with your unattended child?
The trigger has the tools to to do what you dont want it too, do whatever you want, just be prepared to accept any outcome......

[Delphinus]

But I thought blue throats were supposed to be fairly strict planktivores? In fact I was advised against trying them because I wanted a pair to try to de-crabify my ritteri reef (which is infested with about a dozen hitchhiking crabs and at 30" deep I can't remove them manually, they see me coming, and rearranging the rock is not really an option since it's supporting a 24" anemone that I don't want to move! And an eel doesn't work because it's an open top tank, so that means an octopus is a certain no-no as well, and a mantis is something that .. well once the crabs were gone how do I get the mantis out if I ever want to have fish? You see my dilemma. So I was hoping there was some kind of hope for the bluejaws to go after crabs, because I quite like them, but pretty much everyone I asked was skeptical that they'd do anything to the crabs because of the strict-planktivore thing).

[bsyoun]

I don't know if this helps, but this article seems to suggest that blue-throat triggers may be reef safe. The article is mainly about crosshatch triggerfish, but the last paragraph does mention blue-throat triggers and that...

"They should not pose a problem with corals in an aquarium and tend to have a more placid disposition than many of their triggerfish brethren"

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/Fish.htm

[danny zubot]

But I thought blue throats were supposed to be fairly strict planktivores? In fact I was advised against trying them because I wanted a pair to try to de-crabify my ritteri reef (which is infested with about a dozen hitchhiking crabs and at 30" deep I can't remove them manually, they see me coming, and rearranging the rock is not really an option since it's supporting a 24" anemone that I don't want to move! And an eel doesn't work because it's an open top tank, so that means an octopus is a certain no-no as well, and a mantis is something that .. well once the crabs were gone how do I get the mantis out if I ever want to have fish? You see my dilemma. So I was hoping there was some kind of hope for the bluejaws to go after crabs, because I quite like them, but pretty much everyone I asked was skeptical that they'd do anything to the crabs because of the strict-planktivore thing).

Tony, have you tried a crab trap? I'm thinking it's the same concept as a mantis trap? You know, the whole pop bottle dealy.

[Delphinus]

Yeah, but all I seem to catch is my cleaner shrimp. I guess I should just move them temporarily to the sump or something.

[revgeoff]

My Blue has been in the tank since December (he is about 5 1/2" now...grows fast) and has not touched any of my shrimp, the few corals that I now have or my 6" squamosa. Although he is the largest fish, he is by far the least aggressive. I am adding a pair of Crosshatch (if they come in on this order...please please please) next week so hopefully they will be as docile.
From what I understand, the Blue feeds from the water column and not off the reef. This is the basis for them being "reef safe". I have added snails and a sand sifting star in the last month and he isn't even interested.