Slow growing trigger

[I like Triggers]

hey guys i was on another thread when someone told me a clown trigger could grow 5 inches in a year, and i said mine grew maybe, 3 in about 9-10 months, is that normal? do fish vary in growth size often? maybe i got a "runt"?

the clown may be a close to 4", i dont know exactly how big it is, but i agree is it is growing slow. i dont know why though, i provide a great home for him. i have about 100 pounds of live rock, there, i check my water levels every two weeks, and all is well. i do 15% water changes every two weeks. i feed them sometimes daily, sometimes everyother day. i usually feed krill, silversides, shelled cockels, squid, new life spectrum thera+A for big fish pellets, and when it was smaller i fed mysis and brine regularly. i have had this fish in the tank with the humu, the whole time i have had it. the tank has 3 damsels, the humu, who is noticably larger than the clown, maybe .5" or so bigger, and fatter, a figi puffer who is about 3.5" inches, a snowflake i bought at 6" who is now 16" or so and a lawnmower blenny. i would say my tank is not overstocked, and i do not plan to add more inhabitants until i upgrade and finish my 240.

the equipment on the tank is as follows:
2 milleneum 3000 filters, rated to 100g
1 red sea protein skimmer deluxe, rated to 140g
2 rio 180s
2 rio 50s
2 250 watt visitherm stealth heaters

as for the colors the clown is brilliant! it glows, i have kept it under PCs until just last week then i added them over my reef, and now i have a 40 watt florescent 50/50 which the clown seems to like more! he eats like a hog, and has never had any diseases ever. it is extremely healthy and is on the thick side.

i bought this fish when it was a tiny baby, maybe under an inch. i added the clown in may 05 as my records indicate, and the humu in april 05. the clown was smaller than my yellowtail damsel. all my fish have been in the tank for at least 5 or 6 months. the tank has been running since about july, i had them in a 26 glass until this tank was done cycling. tank is an 80 gallon, 4ft tank.

any suggestions?

 

[I like Triggers]

by the way, i have had other fish before i added that puffer, and the clown never showed any aggression AT ALL to any fish ever. i am around my tank for many hours a day, and i watch it a lot. ive had a yellow wrasse, a blue jaw pair in there before, a bursa trigger, panther grouper, niger trigger (not all at once). all fish were removed from the tank by my will, and not 1 died. no fish has ever died in this tank, so i consider it healthy water, and all look well, except for the fact the clown is growing slow. this thing has never been a problem to any damsels or inverts even. right now i have 3 large turbo snails, and 3 x-large hermit crabs in there. they were added about 3 weeks ago and havnt been touched.

 

[marrone]

I wouldn't worry about being exact at the 5" growth mark each year as every fish is different. Since you got your very small, and it's about 4" now after 9-10 months, I would think it's about right. Outside of maybe feeding it some clam or urchin the diets seems to be ok though silver side aren't always the best thing to feed. Some people actually overfeed their fish resulting in a very fat fish that doesn't get big but just fat. Once you upgrade to your 240 you should probably see a jump in the growth rate, which a lot has to do with a larger tank and better water conditions. Also Clown triggers are easily effected by nitrates in the tank, more than other triggers, and high nitrates could cause a slow down in some growth.

 

[I like Triggers]

should i feed live urchin? i have never seen packaged frozen urchin. i feed cockels in a shell instead of clams, maybe is there a feeder clam you can buy?

 

[marrone]

Usually at the fish market they sell clean clam meat. As for Urchin LFS use to sell it in the frozen selection, I don't remember who made it but I used it and the triggers ate it like crazy but it was very messy with a lot of liquid it in.

 

[Wolverine]

Are you including the tail in your measurement?
Standard fish lengths go from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, which means your fish could actually be smaller than what you're measuring.

Dave

 

[stevebydac]

It can vary from fish to fish. I had a clown trigger that grew pretty quickly to about 7", then slowly after that, about 1" per year.

Yours seems about average growth for that size. I wouldn't worry. As long as he looks healthy...

 

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6844097#post6844097 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stevebydac
It can vary from fish to fish. I had a clown trigger that grew pretty quickly to about 7", then slowly after that, about 1" per year.

It's not uncommon for the growth to taper off a little like that, but it should be much quicker when it's really small.

Your's may have slowed off at that time due to tank stocking or tank size issues.

Dave

 

[Zoom]

before i upgrade my skimmer to a Deltec 851 i was feeding my CT once a day it grow about 7" in two years , is about two months now that i feed him two times a day mostly raw clams he did not get any longer ooh may be a little but he got big all over his head and body is now full .
But without the big skimmer it will be impassible to feed this fish is good as we suppose to.