Niger trigger fish a bully?

[Badiskm1]

Last week i got a niger trigger and a dwarf lionfish. And ever since my snowflake eel hasnt come out of its cave and it hasnt eaten. I asked my LFS and they said its normal. TBH i dont think it is, i think that the niger is scaring the eel. could this be possible?

 

[Betta132]

Triggers can be very mean, and I think nigers are high on the list. Quite possible. How big are the fish in question and how big is the tank?
You need to remove either the trigger or the lion. The trigger will bite the lion's spines off and slowly kill it. Those fish SHOULD NOT be housed together, and your LFS lied if they told you it's fine.

 

[Badiskm1]

My tank is 80 gallons, this morning the eel was more active, but it still wasnt swimming in the tank as it used to before. The eel is about 8-10 inches the niger is like 5 or 6 and the lion is 4ish

 

[humaguy]

Nigers are known as being fairly mellow, as far as trigs go but triggers and lionfish should never be kept together...

 

[Badiskm1]

Ya, my LFS told me that the niger was the least aggressive of triggers, but he didn't tell me anything about lions and nigers not being able to live together.

 

[SoloChromis]

It's highly possible that the trigger is intimidating the lion into hiding. People tend to see things such as this in black and white. They think you've either got a peaceful reef community tank or a predator tank, without considering that certain predator type fish won't mingle well and should have their own separate tanks. Novices tend to assume that lionfish, due to their name, predatory reputation, venomous spines, and shear size, are vicious beasts that won't hesitate to tear apart any tankmate that get's in their way. However the reality is that lionfish are very docile, slow moving fish that won't do any harm as long as their tank mates can't fit inside of their mouths. Lions normally swallow their prey whole, whereas a fish such as a trigger is capable of ripping a fish apart and eating it bit by bit, making them a much more unpredictable predator (I once saw an Indian trigger rip a sailfin tang in half that was of the same size). A lion, with their slow swimming and flamboyant finnage would make a perfect candidate for a trigger to harass and nip at at, especially if the lion is smaller.

 

[Mom2jayden]

MIne is super sweet, doenst bother fishes but is attemting to ingest my entire clean up crew though ;-(

 

[ace_92101]

Your tank size might also be a contributing factor. Niger's need a fair amount of room.

 

[Badiskm1]

Im very positive on removing the niger, and replacing him with the smaller picasso trigger.

 

[SoloChromis]

Im very positive on removing the niger, and replacing him with the smaller picasso trigger.

I've seen some ferocious picassos in my time as well. If you're dead set on housing a trigger with your lion I'd look into the blue jaws, pink tails, sargassums etc.

 

[reelredfish]

I have this same trigger and he is no problem to others....now in my other tank I have a pink tail trigger and he is about to be pulled out cause he is mean as all get out. I hear this loud popping noise some times and its him attacking the glass sounds like a rock being smashed against the glass.

 

[degibson84]

I had a Niger that ended up dying because my tomini tang bullied him so much he couldn't come out to eat. From what I've seen Nigers are a very mellow/timid trigger

 

[sarens]

i've seen some ferocious picassos in my time as well. If you're dead set on housing a trigger with your lion i'd look into the blue jaws, pink tails, sargassums etc.

+1

 

[mav3rick478]

Had a Niger Trigger a long time ago with a Snowflake in a 55 gallon and they got along great, they actually grew up together. Nigers and other triggers with the same rounded jaw shape are usually the docile side of the species, Picassos, Clowns and Undulated triggers with a more sharp shaped head are usually very agressive in my experiences.

 

[NYCBOB]

niger triggers r hit or miss. blue throat or sargassum is ur best bet.