Any SPS tanks have Triggers?

F

Fretfreak13

I am not a boy!
Well, I work at a LFS and cupid has stuck me good. Okay..I'll say it...I'm in love with a fish. A blue throat trigger to be exact. He's such a gentleman! Pulls out chairs for the cute little firefish he lives with, helps tiny hermit crabs across the street, etc. This guy is a model citizen!

I am working on an 80g (48x24x16) SPS dominant zeovit build and I would love for this amazing fish to be my showpiece. The scape is rather minimalistic, probably 60% open space, so he should have decent space to move about. I know LA recommends 125g, but this is not a standard sized tank and has a very large footprint. Does anyone with SPS tanks have any experience with the "reef safe" triggers?
 
I personally would feel bad placing a trigger of your love in a 80 gallon. but us nice guys always get used :P haha
Im kidding of course.
 
i have 3 blue throat triggers in my sps tank. they are great and don't bother any fish or corals.

but my tank is a 300g.
 
He is about five inches long at the moment, rlpardue.

Allmost, haha love it.

Mos90, thank you for your input! =) I originally was planning on stocking heavy until this fella popped into my life, so now I need to cut out a lot of bioload to hold him. Right now the only two fish I am positive I will have with him in this tank is a one spot foxface (fiance's pick) and a target mandarin. I already have her, have had her for almost two years in a 6 gallon, she eats mysis. Technically speaking, this is her upgrade. lol
 
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Honestly I think you need to scratch the idea of a blue throat male in a 80 gallon tank , he won't be happy
 
Bigcefa said:
Honestly I think you need to scratch the idea of a blue throat male in a 80 gallon tank , he won't be happy
Click to expand...

Ditto... these triggers are open-water swimmers and are like tangs on steroids when it comes to needing swimming room.

I'd wait until you get a larger tank for this one.

Sorry...

-Chad
 
This is by far the largest tank I've ever had. I'm a nano-keeper, but I will definitely take into consideration what you guys have said. This is actually an upgrade from my 2g. I am not selfish and put the needs of my critters. first =) I absolutely know what a stressed fish looks like because I work at a LFS. We are a good LFS, but I have sadly seen 7" Naso's in 40 breeders. Sometimes ya gotta do what you gotta do in a situation like that when the wholesaler throws you a curve ball. lol Generally they move to a 200 shortly after, but they need to at least go through the copper system for a little while before they graduate.

However, because I work at the LFS I get a lot of percs. For example, if I do wind up snagging a young blue throat and he outgrows me, this will be his new home. =) I already have a wrasse in there from a previous tank, so know that I have no problem re-homing. Actually, you can even see him in the picture! lol The red flasher behind the yellow tang.

941256_538260782882713_534976127_n.jpg


LA recommends a 125g minimum for these guys. I know their recommendations are sometimes bullcrap. Speaking to people who actually own these fish, what would you change that "recommended minimum" to?
 
4 feet is not enough IMO. Honestly he might do alright for a little while, but he'll look crammed. The best tanks in the world have fish that kinda look small inside of them. I personally wouldn't put it in a tank under 6' long. A 6' long 125g is the minimum IMO. You basically want to put it in a 75 gallon 4 foot long tank.

I think you've gotten enough information about the fish. Most people are going to say its a bad idea. At this point your just waiting for an answer that you want.

I don't like rehoming, rehoming adds a lot of stress to the fish, and other fish around it. This is a patient hobby. Its best if you look at everything you add to your tank as "longterm"

to whatever you decide, good luck

-Charley
 
Thank you for answering civilly. Not enough people do that any more on forums. I appreciate all the feedback and i have a ton of time to mull this over. This tank isn't even wet yet.
 
pink tail, blue throat, cross hatch are all good. I took my large pink tail out, it really turns into a eating and waste machine.
 
Fretfreak13 said:
Thank you for answering civilly. Not enough people do that any more on forums. I appreciate all the feedback and i have a ton of time to mull this over. This tank isn't even wet yet.
Click to expand...

Is there anyway you could sell and go bigger? I think that's your best bet. But no problem the point of forums is to give and gain knowledge not to chew each other out.

toothman said:
pink tail, blue throat, cross hatch are all good. I took my large pink tail out, it really turns into a eating and waste machine.
Click to expand...

When he says "all are good" I think he's referring to SPS safe, not necessarily good for a 80 gallon.
 
There isn't a way I can go bigger. I literally JUST purchased this tank. Its still at the store. I'm a full time college student working for near minimum wage. This is already practically out of my price range. lol

Like I said though, a lot of thought will go into this if I ever do it at all. Most likely not, sadly, but if you think its hard not to impulse buy when you go into a nice LFS, try working at one and having first pick of all the livestock. lol I'd rather study now and at least prepare myself for stupid decisions later if they get made.
 
Keep in mind that even though these X triggers are reef safe, they are not all that reef friendly - they eat a LOT. I had a Crosshatch and a Bluethroat that could EACH eat a whole sheet of nori in about 1 minute. The ended up in my mixed reef where I don't mind the excess DOC. Totally cool fish, though.

FWIW - I sometimes felt that my 240 was too small for them.

As for the pink tail, I had an awesome one in my mixed reef for years. One day, it got mean. It was a good 6" of body (7.5" with the tail) and had been growing quite rapidly and could down a few sheets of nori at a time, or 6 cuttlefish heads and some whole shrimp. I had to move it on to the public aquarium. I don't know if these just more aggressive as they grow, of it it was just mine. I had about the same experience with a hawaiian black - for a long time it was a great tank mate that would let the cleaners into it's mouth. Then, one day, it started to chase fish around the tank.
 
Thank you jda. =) Do you happen to know the dimensions of the tank you kept the trigger in? Just wondering as part of my research.
 
8x2x2

Since we have moved, I currently have a blue throat in that same tank and it is OK. However, it is really small, barely has any coloring and is still a very active cruiser.
 
Had a 5 inch crosshatch in a 135 used to break sps constantly from swimming fast wouldn't recommend unless you have an 8ft tank. Plus they eat a ton so be ready for lots of water changes to avoid algae issues
 
I had one in a 6' 215G and it was too small for him. He was pretty big, though. You could see he needed more swimming room because he would just swim from one end to the other all day long. Now I have a smaller blue throat in a 150G 6'mixed reef tank and he's doing fine.

It's too bad you can't just get a longer tank....
 
MY cousins 120gallon reef I helped set up has a 2'' clown triggerfish. Triggerfish is very aggressive and killed all his inverts. My cousins tank is very successful despite him having a hobbyist "large tank syndrome" (1st larger tank thinking he has space) and over stocking with fish. I m trying to convince him to get rid of the trigger fish and few tangs. His husbandry practices are incredible so he has had very few deaths in the 15 months since we set up the tank. Something I find very hard to believe especially because his acroporas are doing very well.

Imagine a 120 gallon with these hyperactive fish - all decent sized fish
purple tang
yellow tang
regal tang
clown tang
clown triggerfish
large wrasse
bird wrasse (gifted)
bi color angelfish
flame angelfish
clarky clownfish
 
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