Feelin salty...

[Backfromthedead]

This is a really fascinating critter so far. He is constantly prowling the tank for food and is very personable. It took me a few week to figure out he sleeps in the sand, kept thinking he jumped out until I spotted a fin sticking up the other night.




The other tank is doing great. Myalgae has almost completely disappeared after several large water changes.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Bit of an update. All 3 fish have been in the 200 for a couple months now. I made some improvements to the stand and it's more or less finished now. In the foreground is the 25g that my FOWLR trip sprang from.



Pog is a greedy eater and grows steadily but not necessarily quickly. Probably the coolest fish I've ever kept.

The dragon wrasse is another winner. I was worried it would be slaughtered when he met the trigger and angel, but these 3 get along like old drinking buddies, for the time being at least.


Anywho, I'm in the process of stripping and rebuilding an old red sea 650 which is gonna serve as an interim home for these fish while I strip and rebuild the 200. It's in no danger of failing, but there are some nagging issues I have with the tank that I want to correct, probably install a full top brace and new overflow design that will skim surface better.

Thanks for reading everyone!

 

[Backfromthedead]

Quick vid!

 

[PhishMon84]

Triggers are my favorite saltwater fish. I'd love to house a fusco or golden heart trigger in a large setup smaller setups id definitely have a huma huma or bluethroat pair

 

[tlindsey]

Triggers are my favorite saltwater fish. I'd love to house a fusco or golden heart trigger in a large setup smaller setups id definitely have a huma huma or bluethroat pair

I like Triggerfish but had a bad experience with the Huma Huma that bit a eye out of a Bamboo Shark. I warn people about mixing Triggerfish with benthic Shark species. The Niger and Clown are my favorites.

 

[PhishMon84]

I like Triggerfish but had a bad experience with the Huma Huma that bit a eye out of a Bamboo Shark. I warn people about mixing Triggerfish with benthic Shark species. The Niger and Clown are my favorites.

that would bug me too- i dont think i'd mix triggers with anything slow moving or sedentary.

i did break the cardinal rule and mix lionfish, triggers and toby puffers.. that was no problem at all.... i got outa salt when one of my cats flicked off the powerstrip while i was away for a weekend, i had overfilled the sump to account for my absence and it kinda flooded out, temps dropped and i lost all but the huma

 

[Backfromthedead]

that would bug me too- i dont think i'd mix triggers with anything slow moving or sedentary.

i did break the cardinal rule and mix lionfish, triggers and toby puffers.. that was no problem at all.... i got outa salt when one of my cats flicked off the powerstrip while i was away for a weekend, i had overfilled the sump to account for my absence and it kinda flooded out, temps dropped and i lost all but the huma

Gah...my feline had a penchant for unplugging my pumps until I catproofed them. I'm pretty sure I would wring his neck if he ever took out my tank completely.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Triggers are my favorite saltwater fish. I'd love to house a fusco or golden heart trigger in a large setup smaller setups id definitely have a huma huma or bluethroat pair

This is my first, and oddly, I have no interest in other species of trigger except perhaps a titan, but the tank required to keep one would have to be monster indeed. A big golden heart is a very impressive fish too though.

 

[Backfromthedead]

I also forgot to add that the goby, several emerald crabs, and all hermit crabs seem to have been eradicated at this point, presumably KIA by the trigger.

I'm not optimistic enough to believe that the current stocking will work out in the 200 long term, heard too many CT owners testify that they become killing machines with maturity. But hopefully I have another somewhat roomy tank built and running by the time that happens.

/update

 

[Backfromthedead]

Well, thats the end of that, cleaning out the tank.


Long story short, came home from a 3 day shift at work to dead fish. It appears that the trigger went berserk, ate the last large emerald crab and most of the angel, foundering himself in the process. I thought he had gotten the wrasse as well, but the little guy turned up a couple days later in rough shape, must've successfully hidden during the slaughter. He struggled with an infection for almost a month, thought he was going to make it at one point, but eventually kicked it. Last living pic:



I checked water after the debacle, nitrates a bit high at 20-30ppm but nothing else apparent. I believe i had just been keeping the tank too warm. The heaters were set to 79F but my water was around 86-87F at the time of the incident. Its my theory that my previous powerfeeding in conjunction with the high temperatures and my 3 day absence put the trigger into a frenzied state.

Very discouraging, things were going so well by my estimation. People had warned me about CTs going psycho like this, but i thought a 3.5-4" fish was not yet a threat. How silly of me. This is the second time ive wiped out this very tank in as many years.

Anyways, i am no longer "feelin salty". I am sans fish atm, taking some time to build a few more tanks and repair/refit my equipment. If anything, i'm "feelin fresh" moreso looking to the future, learning from mistakes, hopefully put together something lasting in the future.

Thanks for reading.