Well, I'm new here and I am really, really hankering to ask this. (I saw the other trigger thread, by the way). I have been a fishkeeper for 20 years. Over that time I have done freshwater and salt and had at my "peak" kept 10 different tanks. Right now I just run two tanks. A 30 gallon freshwater community tank and a 55 gallon saltwater tank with a seargent major and a new clown trigger (3" or so). I have a 220 gallon tank that I have decided to set-up and what better to put in there than triggerfish?! I have kept 3 triggers total over the years. 1 Picasso/Huma Huma and 2 clowns. I have never, EVER! had behavior problems from these guys. I kept the picasso in a tank with a maroon clown, a lunar wrasse and a tang (I don't remember the species). I kept my old clown with a Dog faced puffer. Again... NO PROBLEMS! Ever. In fact, from my experience, triggers are well behaved. My experience runs basically contrary to everything I have ever read. In fact I have seen numerous displays with multiple triggers and other fish and they worked well together. The coolest tank I ever saw had a clown trigger, pink tailed trigger, green moray eel, dog faced puffer, and a sailfin tang. In that tank, and I talked to the owner on this, the Clown was at the bottom of the ladder. He got picked on from time to time by the other fish, but they were all fine. Again every single experience I have had with triggers or personally witnessed runs absolutely contrary to the common idea about these things. Here's what really set me off. I read an article this weekend in AFM ( I think that's it) mag about a 600 gallon tank in Japan that houses 10 triggers and has for years. No problems. More fuel to my fire. So what I'm planning on doing is an experiment with the 220. I'm going to go with at least 3 triggers (maybe 4 or 5) and I'm going to do essentially a behavior experiment. I have a degree in Behavioral Science and am very curious about this. The plan is to start out with very small triggers. For sure a Clown and a picasso. Maybe an undulate, although they don't show up in my area regularly (I've only seen one in my whole life in a pet store!), blue jaw and niger. But here's what I'm really really wondering. Has anyone here ever truly experienced these insane wicked triggers I always read about or have you experienced, as I have, relatively peaceful triggers? Most Central American Cichlids I've ever kept have been much more vicious than any triggers I've ever owned. I've got to know!
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- Thread starter Demonfish
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i had a piccasso trigger for a few years and he had a unpredictable temperment - he got along with most tankmates with no problems at all sometimes he would attack a fish now and then - but if i ever added any new fish automatically he would attack them he killed a couple but if the fish survived after the first few days he wouldnt really bother it any more - strange behavior - i always feed my trigger frozen foods, an i was interested one day to see what he would do if i put a gold fish in his tank - the second the fish hit the water he was upon it ripping it apart with his small, but very powerful jaws (even at a small size his bite was pretty painful)
that is why i always think that triggers temper is based on a fish by fish basis - ive seen some reef tanks with clown triggers in them and im in awe how it woeks - i had a friend that had a clown trigger that killed anything and everything it was housed with
it sounds like an interesting tank idea - i love triggers (one of the best aggrssive fish species fresh or salt) i think if you get the species when they are small and raise them together it should work - but then again you never can be certain with triggers - clowns are def my favorite but i have never kept one - someday when i can set up a tank for one i will keep one
that is why i always think that triggers temper is based on a fish by fish basis - ive seen some reef tanks with clown triggers in them and im in awe how it woeks - i had a friend that had a clown trigger that killed anything and everything it was housed with
it sounds like an interesting tank idea - i love triggers (one of the best aggrssive fish species fresh or salt) i think if you get the species when they are small and raise them together it should work - but then again you never can be certain with triggers - clowns are def my favorite but i have never kept one - someday when i can set up a tank for one i will keep one
You for sure can have multiple triggers together in one tank. I've owned tanks this way and have tanks like this in some of my service accounts right now. I have a few suggestions that my help.
First is size, start with little guys, little ones typically are not real mean and they often don't grow up and turn mean. I have a clown trigger in a tank that is pretty laid back, I got him small and have grown him up to about 6" or so. I recently put a 6" wild caught clown in a different service account aquarium, he's a bastard, real mean. I have noticed this on several accounts with many triggers. Wild caught big ones have a bad attitude where as large ones grown up in captivity often are not so bad.
Mix triggers that are very differant, that seems to help compatability. Don't get a huma & a bursa for example. I put a larger huma and a larger O. niger together in a 125 on Monday, so far so good, no fighting. Avoid similar colors or body shapes, like a blue throat and pink tail often don't mix where as a pink tail and a clown most likley will. O. nigers and M. nigers seem to be willing to mix with other triggers willingly but not with each other.
If you get a queen or viridescens, make them smaller than every one elce. I wouldn't get an udulated if your mixing it with other triggers, these things are freekin crazy!!!! It's quite possible the reason you havn't seen them in local shops is because the store owner knows how problematic they are. I can get them in every week if I wanted to, I don't. Be carefull with fuso's too, pretty mean fish.
When you do this, put them all in at the same time. That way they are all new and adjusting to the new aquarium at the same time. THis really works well to keep peace between them.
THis is what I have learned over the years. Wanna see your set up when it's running....
Joel
First is size, start with little guys, little ones typically are not real mean and they often don't grow up and turn mean. I have a clown trigger in a tank that is pretty laid back, I got him small and have grown him up to about 6" or so. I recently put a 6" wild caught clown in a different service account aquarium, he's a bastard, real mean. I have noticed this on several accounts with many triggers. Wild caught big ones have a bad attitude where as large ones grown up in captivity often are not so bad.
Mix triggers that are very differant, that seems to help compatability. Don't get a huma & a bursa for example. I put a larger huma and a larger O. niger together in a 125 on Monday, so far so good, no fighting. Avoid similar colors or body shapes, like a blue throat and pink tail often don't mix where as a pink tail and a clown most likley will. O. nigers and M. nigers seem to be willing to mix with other triggers willingly but not with each other.
If you get a queen or viridescens, make them smaller than every one elce. I wouldn't get an udulated if your mixing it with other triggers, these things are freekin crazy!!!! It's quite possible the reason you havn't seen them in local shops is because the store owner knows how problematic they are. I can get them in every week if I wanted to, I don't. Be carefull with fuso's too, pretty mean fish.
When you do this, put them all in at the same time. That way they are all new and adjusting to the new aquarium at the same time. THis really works well to keep peace between them.
THis is what I have learned over the years. Wanna see your set up when it's running....
Joel
i saw a humu humu trigger bite a rosy red's head off at a petco 1time. other than that, it didnt bother the eel or clownfish that it was housed w/. it even let the eel rub against it.
I have kept triggers nonstop for about 15 years and have regularly mixed them. Some are not aggressive at all like blue throat triggerfish (Xanthichthys auromarginatus). Others are close to satan incarnate like my favorite the undulated trigger. I have seen undulates mixed with other wrasses, tangs and anglefish but they are usually juveniles and still the smallest fish in the tank. I currently own a 10" male undulated in a 120 gal. tank and I can't even put my hand in the tank to wipe the glass. I have owned 6 of these beasts over the years and only one was not eventually over aggresive. I have read certain reports that ones from the red sea are more mello but have never had one from there to personally confirm this. My current undulated is from the indian ocean. I have had more sucess mixing them with moray eels than any other fish. They, for the most part seem to ignore them. Any trigger can be aggresive in my 5 years working at a tropical fish store I have seen clown triggers that are aggresive and some like the one that I have in my 265 gal. that are not aggresive at all(I have mine in with a marine betta, a splendid basslet, queen angel, majestic angel, harlequin tusk and cheveron tang). I have also had blue lined triggerfish Niger triggerfish,titan triggerfish, queen triggerfish and picasso triggerfish. Titans that I have had were all too aggresive( at only 5 inches) to keep with anything. A friend of mine conducted an experiment in a 220 with a queen trigger, niger trigger, picasso trigger, clown and undulated. What I observed was that the undulated was the most territorial, more prone to chase others away from his cave, but the queen was the most dominating in terms of getting the food. In short each will have their own personality(never a shortage of personality with triggerfish) but most even if peacefull become more agressive with size and age.
Hey thanks everyone for the reply! I've done a little more research on these buggers. Would fate have it work out that seemingly every magazine I pick up these days has special articles on triggers?! After doing a little further research and taking advice from you, I have decided to leave the Undulate out of the mix. I did pick up a blue throat a few days ago and he's in a 55 by himself. I'm planning on having the 220 going in January... Hopefully! I'm probably going to shoot for 4 triggers. Clown, blue throat, and 2 others, probably a huma huma/picasso and... Hmm? I don't know about a 4th yet. Anymore suggestions? I'd like to get something that is on the smaller less than 12 inch end of it as opposed to another potential 20 incher like a Niger or Queen. Any suggestions? thanks for responding. I'm glad that I'm not the only person who has seen "well behaved" triggers and not the beasts that all the books seem to talk about. Thanks again.
I think you can do an O. Niger. I have one in a service aquarium that has been there for about 8 years now. Not counting the streamers on it's tail, it's about 10 inches or so. It's been in a 125 the entire time and has been fed real well and it's enviroment has been top notch.n I have owned or had in my care several O. Nigers, they seem to be slow growers.
A couple other canidates I have had good luck with that have a mild temperment are the cresent trigger or somtimes refered to as the "true" bursa (sufaleman bursa), Male Cross hatch triggers are really cool but pricey, Melicthis Niger is decent, Sargasum triggers are cool but it's real similar to a blue throat, I'm sure there are more I am forgetting.
Good idea on nixing the undulatued and the queen, beautiful fish but bad attitude.
Joel
A couple other canidates I have had good luck with that have a mild temperment are the cresent trigger or somtimes refered to as the "true" bursa (sufaleman bursa), Male Cross hatch triggers are really cool but pricey, Melicthis Niger is decent, Sargasum triggers are cool but it's real similar to a blue throat, I'm sure there are more I am forgetting.
Good idea on nixing the undulatued and the queen, beautiful fish but bad attitude.
Joel
The PETCO I work at has the most fish .It is called a PISCIES STORE. In one tank we have 6nigers,3wolf eels,and 2basses. They all get along very well.
it should work . i've seen tanks with 6-7 triggers and 4-5 puffers. I have a tank that houses a niger trigger and a sharpnosed puffer. the trigger gets the majority of the food but he is also twice as big.