Angler ate my clown trigger!!!

[Shobloth]

I know this will seem silly to some of you but I was told at the fish store that the clown trigger was too big for my angler to eat... It was 90% her size. Within 10 mins she was swollen and her stomach was twitching... I have no idea how it got inside her - it seemed physically impossible. She had a more expensive meal than we did last night.

 

[snorvich]

That is what they do. The fish store should have known that (and perhaps did).

 

[Betta132]

Anglers can swallow anything that isn't twice as big as they are. They have a hugely expandable mouth and stomach.
Look up "black swallower" for something even more extreme.

 

[Dmorty217]

That was a expensive learning lesson

 

[Reefer07]

Wait, how big was the angler and how big was the trigger?

 

[DoubleM 10]

Well after looking at your thread creation history....

Hate to say it but, "Told you so"

multiple threads you have created that many folks told you to that they are a species only tank. so we all knew this was gonna happen. Obviously some need to see it happen before they believe the folks who have experience with this.

a costly lesson

 

[geckoejon]

i'm not surprised....

i have a 3" warty angler that was alone for months. i decided to try a 3" fu manchu lionfish.... i fed the warty 3 chromis before adding the fu manchu. 3 days later, the fu manchu was gone and the warty was seriously bloated. luckily the warty survved.

imo, anglers should be species only.

 

[stempy07]

Those things eat more than my teenagers! Really cool fish but yea, not exactly a model citizen in a community tank

 

[xkon]

No video?!?! Lol, sorry for your loss though. I guess now its time to decide if you still want that angler in the tank or get another clown trigger. I'm curious to the size of both as well. I'm guessing they were both juveniles

 

[CODE3EMT]

You say you saw your Anglers stomach twitching....... I'd a cut that angler open with a razor blade and got my live Clown Trigger out! Sorry to hear about your trigger.

 

[Shobloth]

Well after looking at your thread creation history....

Hate to say it but, "Told you so"

multiple threads you have created that many folks told you to that they are a species only tank. so we all knew this was gonna happen. Obviously some need to see it happen before they believe the folks who have experience with this.

a costly lesson

I'm exploring options, I was told it couldn't be done before I bought it. If you want something unique or extraordinary you have to take risks and try new things.
If you want to be a sheep then do what everyone else does. Currently I've found that an equal sized flounder is an excellent tank mate, they leave each other alone and both do some pretty cool things in the tank making it more interesting than we expected.

 

[Shobloth]

No video?!?! Lol, sorry for your loss though. I guess now its time to decide if you still want that angler in the tank or get another clown trigger. I'm curious to the size of both as well. I'm guessing they were both juveniles

I'm going to set up a separate fowlr tank for a trigger and a few other cool fish

 

[PhantomAce]

Keep in mind the following, and look at it from another perspective...

"We" are mammals.
We, continually, find ways/tools to eat OTHER mammals (elk/beef/sheep/deer/pigs/goats/etc...) regardless of size.

Now, we, (land based mammals) have found a way to entrap and eat (process) mammals much larger than our own size. That is what we do. And, the last time I checked, a bull elk was a heck of a lot bigger than the average human.

Why would you think that in nature things would be any different? Your angler has found a way to process large quarry, and it really doesn't give a damn how much you paid for it's lunch/snack.
If it can fit the target in it's mouth, and process it, then it really doesn't give a damn if it was a $1 fish, or a $1,000 fish, it will make it lunch, period, end of story.

If you want to keep the angler, then it's tank mates better be too big to even CONSIDER fitting in it's mouth, or you need to select cheaper tank mates, as they're nothing more than food in his (your angler's) little world.

You have a serious Hoover in your tank, and it WILL suck up anything that it can. Period.

 

[sunfishh]

Ironically had the trigger been too big to eat it may have killed the angler. Triggers will browse on live rock all day long. This is true even if the "live rock" is actually an agler fish. On a positive note don't feel too bad. No one on this board is mistake free.

 

[DoubleM 10]

I'm exploring options, I was told it couldn't be done before I bought it. If you want something unique or extraordinary you have to take risks and try new things.
If you want to be a sheep then do what everyone else does. Currently I've found that an equal sized flounder is an excellent tank mate, they leave each other alone and both do some pretty cool things in the tank making it more interesting than we expected.

I know u are. And I know u were told it couldn't be done before u bought it. I read it and posted in those threads u made previously.

Now u have a flounder in there? I hope not in the 30 u have listed in ur signature......that's extremely small for them since they mostly stay on the sand bed.

 

[DoubleM 10]

I'm exploring options, I was told it couldn't be done before I bought it. If you want something unique or extraordinary you have to take risks and try new things.
If you want to be a sheep then do what everyone else does. Currently I've found that an equal sized flounder is an excellent tank mate, they leave each other alone and both do some pretty cool things in the tank making it more interesting than we expected.

I know u are. And I know u were told it couldn't be done before u bought it. I read it and posted in those threads u made previously.

Now u have a flounder in there? I hope not in the 30 u have listed in ur signature......that's extremely small for them since they mostly stay on the sand bed.

 

[Betta132]

Accepting "Frogfish/anglerfish eat almost everything" as truth is not being a sheep. It's like accepting the fact that a tang needs a large tank, or the fact that a domino damselfish is aggressive, or the fact that green brittle starfish will catch and eat small fish.
There's a difference between being someone who tries new things - like the guy with 7 different clownfish species in his 100g - and being the person who's feeding expensive things to their angler.

Also, a flounder is far too large for a 30g. And so is a clown trigger, actually.

 

[fishhuman]

This is all true, do you honestly think others haven't tried keeping with frogfish. I know that frogfish would be a lot more popular if they weren't i species tank fish. Did you think that everyone who told you not to was just making it up. This has been tested many times and it always has the same result. Did you think your experience would be different?

 

[Shobloth]

Guys, I saw it for myself in the fish store - the angler in a tank with numerous other fish the same size as itself. All the local people are telling me it *can* be done and displayed it in their store - 3 different stores. Then I come on here because I'm looking for an optimal setup and suspicious of what I'm being advised and run into the grumpy old trolls! I'm exploring the possibility of something different. So far I've found that a puffer and flounder work well with her. Apropos tank size, all these fish are small and in there until I set up a sw pond for them. Anyway I appreciate the information you've scolded me with, it has contributed to my accumulation of knowledge on this interesting species. Probly the most interesting thing I've learned thus far is from another person who keeps anglers that said the collapsibility of the fins is the biggest factor he's seen in what they eat.

 

[Shobloth]

What I'm thinking about next is harlequin shrimp because they only eat starfish ergo they won't go for the anglers bait. Also I've heard mention that fish think they're toxic because of how they look. Thoughts?