Feeding a Trigger...

[corwise]

I'm planning to buy a Pink Tailed Trigger for my reef tank. I've never had a trigger before, and was curious about their eating habits. The "A Pocket Expert Guide: Marine Fish" says:

"Mixed diet of meaty foods, including chopped shrimp, squid, clams, and fish. Also frozen rations with marine algae and vitamin-enriched foods. Feed no fewer then three times a day."

Live Aquarium says: "The Pinktail Triggerfish needs a varied diet of meaty foods including; squid, krill, clams, small fish and hard shelled shrimp to help wear down their ever growing teeth."

My main question is where/how do you guys get this stuff? I've bought krill at the LFS before, but that's about it. Do you buy clams/large shrimp at the grocery store and put them through a blender before you drop them in the tank? My current tank gets brine shrimp, flake, and seaweed stuff, so I'd love some advice on the easiest way to do this without turning my freezer into a seafood buffet.

Dave

 

[kpk]

You can do like you said by buying it at the supermarket (make sure it's raw) and blending it up or just cutting small pieces. Triggers will eat anything you give them too so feed nori, silversides, oyster, shrimp krill anything will do the trick!

 

[scott0615]

Please note - a lot of fish these days are deemed "reef safe" because they don't eat corals [typically?!?!!?]. Keep in mind that putting any trigger in a reef means no more crustaceans, it's just a matter of time - which is concurrent with what your research has told you of the animals diet. Some won't eat the shrimp right away but give it time. I have found too many people put a "reef safe" fish in their tank only to be ****ed about the disappearance of their favorite shrimp, snail, crab, etc. Back to feeding, krill is readily available and so are silversides. Clams have come back to our industry "on the half shell" through a company called H2O Life. You can also make friends with the guy at the seafood counter in your local grocery store. I used to go in an ask what they can't sell because of dating - they will sometimes give you a few odds and ends. Just make sure you supplement with a good vitamin complex. BTW - "feed no fewer than 3 times per day" - with no grazers???? Yikes, water changes frequently!

 

[corwise]

Thanks for the advice. One question though, what's a silverside?

 

[scott0615]

Available through most retailers are silversides and lance fish. They are a frozen saltwater feeder fish. Long, slender silver in color saltwater fish food. Break them out of the pack, thaw, and feed. WAY better than feeding a freshwater animal to a saltwater animal due to the lack of the correct fatty acids and omega vitamins in freshwater animals. Still add vitamins as they do not tolerate being frozen or exposure to light and air.

 

[ReeferRyan]

Scott pretty much answered your quesiton, but from experience you don't want to put the food in a blender. I did, and no matter what I tried I ended up with a nasty paste that I just ended up throwing away. I would suggest chopping them with a really sharp knife. JMO

 

[2ras]

My 5-1/2" Bluethroat Trigger (over 1 year in tank) eats from those frozen cube packs of mysis, plankton, & bloodworms. I also feed dried nori. Just thaw out the cube, place in tank and dinner is served.....

Ray

 

[papagimp]

question: If you can put a trigger in a reef enviroment by keeping out crustaceans, then what kind of algae clean up do you use? I'd like a trigger but don't want to get rid of my cool conch unless I could replaced him with something better. Thoughts?

 

[pwhitby]

blue throats are pretty safe, their mouth faces up and is tiny, the result of an adaptation to being a grazer more of an active predator. They nibble at rocks and take food floating in the ater column.

As far as feeding any fish goes: See it eat in the store. Buy the food they were feeding it.

When you get it home place in a quarantine tank and get it feeding in an environment where it is not being harrassed by other fish and getting its food stolen.

Once its eating the store food, slowly mix in your tank food till it eats both.

Phase the store food out, and feed more of the regular tank food.

Then its ready to go into the show tank.

---i know most people dont QT animals, but to me, getting the fish ready to compete for food in our tanks is one of the most useful purpose of QT. Especially for a fish likely to be bullied by others.

hth, P.

 

[cirea]

The more I am on here the more I learn.

 

[corwise]

Cirea, you and me both.

After looking through some more stuff and talking to Steve down at Wet Pets I went with the Blue Throat. Hopefully he'll show up soon.

Paul, I understand they're shy at first, but are they very prone to being bullied?