New Undie in the family

[jcupit01]

Well after a rocky history in this 55 FO tank, I have stabilized the tank and turned into a single species tank for one Undulate.

I found this beauty at the LFS and from the looks of it I would say it is a male (I heard Male Undies have stripes on the noses). I had a Coral Banded Shrimp and a chromis still in the tank and the Undie has not messed with them, in fact he is very nice to the shrimp. Go figure. I will move this Undie to a larger tank in about a year. I know he will get uber large.

So a fond hello to Zeus the Undie!

My homepage has more info on tank if interested.

Undie Picture

 

[calvin415]

Very nice.

 

[CDS1967]

Where are you located? We recently sold an Undulated Trigger on my day off...He was kind of a Store Mascot, and I was a little attached to him...I can't imagine it is the same one if he hasn't killed your shrimp yet though. Just curious.

 

[jcupit01]

I got him at Neptunes Realm in Colorado Springs, CO.

 

[aquaman67]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

Looking good!

The only thing that would have been better is a female undie pic.

 

[jcopp24]

that is a female

that is a female

If the Undulated Trigger has stripes on the nose that is a female... not a male... males are larger with pale faded noses, with no stripes on them.
That would also give you an idea why he has not eaten the Coral Banded Shrimp yet. The females tend to be far less aggresive and more of a hider. The Coral Banded Shrimp might not have been entertained by the Coral Banded yet... I have a Purple Spotted Lobster in with my Undulated Trigger for about a year and a half. ( Had the Trigger for 3 1/2 ) The first day in the tank the trigger swam right up to the Lobster grab him by the right claw trashed him around, then the lobster started pinching the trigger, she **** him out and never touched him again. The lobster since has found a cave to hide in that the Trigger can not get into.
Anyway, I would ask anyone that has a Trigger like myself, before you try and put in tank mates... I would give you this advice put in bright colored very fast fish if you want to keep them for more then ten minutes. AND DONT FEED THEM FRESHWATER FEEDER FISH!

 

[calvin415]

Re: that is a female

Re: that is a female

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6754149#post6754149 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jcopp24
Anyway, I would ask anyone that has a Trigger like myself, before you try and put in tank mates... I would give you this advice put in bright colored very fast fish if you want to keep them for more then ten minutes. AND DONT FEED THEM FRESHWATER FEEDER FISH!

Where did he ever say he wanted to add other fish or feed them feeders?

 

[jcopp24]

Excellent point Eric...

Excellent point Eric...

Excellent point... my apology's to the original poster... I did not mean to offer up an advice, experience, or otherwise to someone that has recently bought a fish that I am very versed in.

Also I apologize for offering up some gereral info. to a person that only has two posts on this site. Again I guess a more valued comment would be like the one you posted Eric...

Nice Fish

Again all apology's to the original poster for offering info that he nor Eric asked for...

 

[Chaloupa]

Very cool fish!

 

[jcupit01]

Female eh? Guess I will have to rethink the name.

Yeah the banded shrimp has grabbed on to the fins of the trigger when SHE got to close before. Guess they have a understanding. Thanks for the info!

 

[threeheaddog]

if you order from an online vendor can you request a female?

 

[jcopp24]

attack of the coral banded...

It might be funny to only me... but the first time my Trigger attacked the coral banned I tried to have her with, she bit the long claw like arms and the coral banned just shedded the two long arms... he look rather funny after that...
Then the Trigger ate him... or her... I dont know how to sex shrimp

I did have one question... do you run a sump system or is your heater in the same tank as the Trigger?

 

[jcopp24]

oh yeah

oh yeah

When I tried to order a Undulated Trigger I wanted a female and not a male... Most of the places I called said it was up in the air to which fish they would send... Undulated seem to be on sale only if places get them by accident. : )

 

[jcupit01]

My setup is very basic. So I use a titanium heater in tank with no sump, its all HOB. Are triggers prone to burns from in tank heaters?

I still have a stand from this tanks FW days, and it is not built to easily hold a sump (I didnt build it..its a store one). So everything is either in tank or HOB.

I want to do best by my trigger so if the heater is a big problem let me know.

You can see the whole shabang here http://www.tankblogger.com/ViewTanks.aspx?TankID=1

 

[jcopp24]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6755634#post6755634 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jcupit01
My setup is very basic. So I use a titanium heater in tank with no sump, its all HOB. Are triggers prone to burns from in tank heaters?

I want to do best by my trigger so if the heater is a big problem let me know.

Here is my experience with the in tank heaters... I am now on my third heater... My trigger likes to... and I have no idea why she does this... but she would wedge her body between the glass and the heater to push the suction cups off from the glass... The first one I had in the back she freed the heater and banged it against the glass and cracked it... Same thing with number two except this one didnt just crack it, was sending voltage through the tank whenever the heater would kick on... so you would watch the Trigger swim then all of a sudden shake and run for cover... now I used black plexi with holes in it to block off the corner where the heater lives now.
The other thing that I learned is that over feeding is easy to do with this fish, because it eats like a machine... just remember the stomach is a quarter the size of the eyeball on the fish. : )
The Trigger also likes to "play" a lot. I have a friend that gives his bio-balls to keep his Trigger entertained. I will buy mine a hermit crab or crab everyonce in a while for that reason... keeps her hunting sharp.

 

[calvin415]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6754677#post6754677 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jcopp24
Excellent point... my apology's to the original poster... I did not mean to offer up an advice, experience, or otherwise to someone that has recently bought a fish that I am very versed in.

Also I apologize for offering up some gereral info. to a person that only has two posts on this site. Again I guess a more valued comment would be like the one you posted Eric...

Nice Fish

Again all apology's to the original poster for offering info that he nor Eric asked for...

Hey, no reason to get arrogant. My point was just that you are telling jcupit01 what to do, (or at least it read that way CAPS and !) when he hasn't even mentioned any of these things. You trying to scare the guy away? If it's just friendly advice then type that way instead of soap boxing.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6756321#post6756321 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jcopp24
Here is my experience with the in tank heaters... I am now on my third heater... My trigger likes to... and I have no idea why she does this... but she would wedge her body between the glass and the heater to push the suction cups off from the glass... The first one I had in the back she freed the heater and banged it against the glass and cracked it... Same thing with number two except this one didnt just crack it, was sending voltage through the tank whenever the heater would kick on... so you would watch the Trigger swim then all of a sudden shake and run for cover... now I used black plexi with holes in it to block off the corner where the heater lives now.
The other thing that I learned is that over feeding is easy to do with this fish, because it eats like a machine... just remember the stomach is a quarter the size of the eyeball on the fish. : )
The Trigger also likes to "play" a lot. I have a friend that gives his bio-balls to keep his Trigger entertained. I will buy mine a hermit crab or crab everyonce in a while for that reason... keeps her hunting sharp.

Sounds like you might want to go with a titanium heater like cupitj01 is using... Is that why you are using titanium cupitj01 or did it just work out that way?

Anyone know the likelyhood of being able to keep a female and male undulate together? If the F was larger than the M, or M larger than the F, or one was introduced first? Just curious...

 

[UnderwaterExotic]

Are they mean to other fish as well?

 

[jcopp24]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6758447#post6758447 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by UnderwaterExotic
Are they mean to other fish as well?

Everything I have put in the tank has become lunch : )
Sea Urchins, Snails, Giant Clam, Crabs or all varieties, damsels, and I have tried one grouper.
The grouper went in the water and had no problems when the lights were off as soon as the lights went on... It was on... The Trigger wasnt trying to "eat" the Grouper more like... Gee I wonder what you taste like... took a couple nips off the fins, which I was fine to chaulk up as experience... then when he took a larger bite out of the groupers back... out the grouper came, I am sure that was a wonderful experience for that fish ; )
Eric - There is someone on this site that is a marine biologist from Rockland Maine I think... he has two Undulates together male and female... I was told by him that the only way he could successfully introduce the fish was by have a female ( his was around 3 1/2 inches ) established in the tank first, then he added a smaller male later on... I think it was like a month or so later. That is what I would like to try with my Undulate... I just live in New England so my selection is slim to none... most of the local pet stores will not order an Undulate male or female. Isnt that lame!

 

[calvin415]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6762184#post6762184 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jcopp24
Eric - There is someone on this site that is a marine biologist from Rockland Maine I think... he has two Undulates together male and female... I was told by him that the only way he could successfully introduce the fish was by have a female ( his was around 3 1/2 inches ) established in the tank first, then he added a smaller male later on... I think it was like a month or so later. That is what I would like to try with my Undulate... I just live in New England so my selection is slim to none... most of the local pet stores will not order an Undulate male or female. Isnt that lame!

Do you know how large the Biologist's tank is? Just wondering if it's because each has enough territory or if they actually tollerate each other. ??? Sorry to hear about your poor selection, you might try Marine Center, I've heard they are great about getting exactly what you want, it might cost a little more, but if you're willing to pay for it, you might be able to have one shipped to you.

http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/triggers/

 

[jcopp24]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6762688#post6762688 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by calvin415
Do you know how large the Biologist's tank is? Just wondering if it's because each has enough territory or if they actually tollerate each other. ???

I believe he had them in a 175-200ish... FOWLR tank

Both fish were introduced at the same time to the tank as I remember.

Have you guys ever heard of using a mirror to "de-agress" a fish?
I have read a couple of articles that say this is possible... however I am curious to find out what fish it would work on versus the fish's stress level or possible death?