Reef tank trigger

ksr.aaron

New member
I want to get a trigger pretty bad, I am verrrry cautious of my tank, I know their eith a NO or with caution . If its a bad idea please tell me or can I get one young feed well and possibly be ok... Any feedback is helpfull

oh and if their is one better than another please inform me the style i should go with... I read blue jaw is best in reef tank??
 
ohhh and its going in a 175
yellow tang
blue hippo
xmas wrasse
2 picasso clown
2 pepperment shrimp
cleaner shrimp
is my stock not including a ton of zoa / sps
 
Just saying, to me you seem kinda full. Even a blue jaw trigger will get up to 8". Blue jaws have a great reputation of being great triggers for reef tanks. They may eat your shrimp, so be wary of that. Also, try not to add anything after the trigger. DO NOT TRY ANY OTHER SPECIES! I say that in bold. One of my friends had a Niger, (one of the more peaceful triggers) and it nuked his reef tank in one day. Be wary, but they are great fish.
 
so that be the last fish cause their territorial? I dont want to overstock by anymeans, I am hunting my yellow tang to put hoim in the frag tank, otherwise I dont feel like I am too full yet but I am kind of a begginer and if I need to clean some other ones out to make room I will, I have wanted a trigger for awhile I just was more worried about the corals!!!
 
Im in the same boat as you. Really want a Trigger but love my reef as well. Everything I have read the blue jaw are the "safest" and they are not considered "reef safe" b/c they will take out your shrimp but most of the time leave your corals alone if well fed. I guess I will find out
 
well in that case I may reconsider because I like what the shrimp actually do for my system even though I never see them! thats going to have to be a long thought
thanks for info guys
 
I've tempted fate and had a Niger trigger with shrimp. He's done well with them, and has not gone after them or any of my cleanup crew. I got him small and he was shy, but is now one of the largest fish in the tank. I also have a harlequin tusk that leaves the shrimp alone. While I don't recommend it, it might be possible. They are gorgeous in the tank, and have a lot of character.
 
Our Niger is also a model citizen, good with shrimp and corals, but we do recognize that we tempted fate by adding him and that he might change his mind at any time. Still, he is gorgeous, tons of personality and a great swim style.
 
I have a blue throat trigger, the harlequin tuskfish, and a zebra eel in a 180 mixed reef tank. All three devour shrimp, clams, and crabs. However, the corals and snails are fine.
 
I had a blue throat for a long time in a reef. He was pretty benign, didn't go after crabs that I noticed.

One thing I'll say about blue throats... If I had to vote a fish that's not appropriate for captivity, they'd be it. In the wild they're probably the most pelagic of the triggers, plucking most of their food from the water column. It's why they're considered so reef safe. Whereas most of the other kinds of fish we keep interact with the benthos in some way, either grazing it or hunting for food, blue throats don't. By and large the other truly pelagic fish that we keep are either social and usually kept in groups, or too small and stupid to notice otherwise.

Mine was the only fish I've ever owned that exhibited what a zookeeper would call 'stereotypical behaviour', which happens when reasonably intelligent animals are confined without enough space or mental stimulation to keep them sane. It usually manifests as some form of obsessive compulsive behaviour, like pacing an identical path in their cage for 10 hours at a stretch, pulling out their own hair/feathers, or doing weird and gross things with their faeces that their wild counterparts never ever do.

My blue throat paced. And not "I'm looking for food" pacing, pacing the EXACT same clockwise path around the top of my tank over and over and over. From the moment the lights came on in the morning, until they went out at night. It was like watching a zombie. The only time he wasn't like that was when I was feeding the tank and he could zip around chasing after food.

I just don't think there's enough going on in a tank to prevent a large, solitary, (relatively) intelligent pelagic feeder from going insane with boredom.

I've seen similar behaviours in just about every other blue throat I've seen in captivity, but people don't seem to pick up on what that pacing actually means.
 
I am planning on adding a Niger Trigger once I get a big enough tank to house one. My favorite all time fish. Hopefully I get a "reef safe" one.
 
I had a Niger trigger in my reef tank. He was fine for over 2 years, then he became a big dog (maybe 8" long) and decided that snails and hermits were tasty. I watched him pick them up and crack the shell to feed. He became to aggressive at the point and he had to go. Living the dream in someone else's FOWLR tank.
 
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