I have an empty 65 I want to set up for just one juvenile trigger. I've had a ton over the years, and lean toward an undulated or a clown, just because I've enjoyed them the most. But there is a red-finned Sargassum on Smith and Foster that looks awesome. I'll bump the specimen up to a 125 or larger when/if the time comes.
Here is my dilemma... I've tried this before. The time never came. I've had 29-55 gallon specimen trigger tanks with small Humus, Nigers, Clowns, Undulateds, a really (too) big queen, and I'm probably forgetting something, and everything eventually died. The longest I ever kept one was about 2 years for a clown, the shortest was about 3 months for a lymph-infected humu. But at some point, they all started fading in color and vigor and went downhill. One had lymph off and on from the day I bought him, but most were good-looking animals at purchase, ate well, had wonderful "personalities" and suddenly died, well after the acclimation period. All water parameters were near perfect, although nitrates rose with some.
I've always fed them Formula 1 & 2, frozen brine shrimp, shrimp, octopus, feeder fish, and sushi grade "seameats" from the local asian food store. They eat with vigor, look great, and behave as expected.
So now I have a brand new 65 gallon, wet dry filter system, tower protein skimmer in the sump, and a lot of hope. If any of you have kept them for many years, please tell me what I might have done wrong in the past. The purchase price doesn't even concern me, I simply hate to purchase an animal extracted from the wild that I'll give a crap about only to have it mysteriously die in a year.
BTW, I've never used UV sterilization or live sand in their tanks. Though I have used very seasoned live rocks, which most stripped bare within days, so I hate to think about pulling specimen-covered rocks out of another tank to see them wiped right out.
Sorry for such a long post for a "n00b", but I can offer some solid advice in other areas that will help y'all, I swear! I've been doing this aquarium thing a long, long time.
I just have to get past this sticking point.
Here is my dilemma... I've tried this before. The time never came. I've had 29-55 gallon specimen trigger tanks with small Humus, Nigers, Clowns, Undulateds, a really (too) big queen, and I'm probably forgetting something, and everything eventually died. The longest I ever kept one was about 2 years for a clown, the shortest was about 3 months for a lymph-infected humu. But at some point, they all started fading in color and vigor and went downhill. One had lymph off and on from the day I bought him, but most were good-looking animals at purchase, ate well, had wonderful "personalities" and suddenly died, well after the acclimation period. All water parameters were near perfect, although nitrates rose with some.
I've always fed them Formula 1 & 2, frozen brine shrimp, shrimp, octopus, feeder fish, and sushi grade "seameats" from the local asian food store. They eat with vigor, look great, and behave as expected.
So now I have a brand new 65 gallon, wet dry filter system, tower protein skimmer in the sump, and a lot of hope. If any of you have kept them for many years, please tell me what I might have done wrong in the past. The purchase price doesn't even concern me, I simply hate to purchase an animal extracted from the wild that I'll give a crap about only to have it mysteriously die in a year.
BTW, I've never used UV sterilization or live sand in their tanks. Though I have used very seasoned live rocks, which most stripped bare within days, so I hate to think about pulling specimen-covered rocks out of another tank to see them wiped right out.
Sorry for such a long post for a "n00b", but I can offer some solid advice in other areas that will help y'all, I swear! I've been doing this aquarium thing a long, long time.
I just have to get past this sticking point.
