Small Problem - wife put fish in tank

[smoothie7]

We have a small reef tank set up that is 90 gallons. Has about 60 pounds of rock and about 8 small corals. The small problem is I was gone on business for a few days and when I got home, my wife had found a very cute 1.5" humu humu trigger and was told by the LFS that he wouldn't nip at corals. She put him in a few days ago when I was gone. It appears that everything looks great and that he hasn't nipped at anything. Should I be concerned? If so, how the heck am I going to catch the speedy devil without tearing apart my aquascape and messing with the corals. Please help

 

[SloppyJ]

They're not reef compatible so you should probably get it out of there. Or just go with a FOWLR tank

 

[degibson84]

Generally they are coral safe. It is small inverts that may come up missing

 

[jcdeng]

lol at least she got good intentions, better a non reef safe fish than bleach.

 

[smoothie7]

I suppose you are correct on the bleach thing. lol. He is a cute little thing. He's not nipping on corals yet, maybe he will be easier to catch once he is bigger. I just would hate to see him have a bad day and wipe out all my coral Not sure what to do

 

[Dmorty217]

Corals are safe, inverts and small fish on the other hand are not

 

[fishhuman]

Whats your stock list besides the humu? Onless you have shrimp or other inverts i would probably not be afriad however, at the LPS i go to i have seen a 5 inch humu chomp down a 3 inch or so goldfish.
They will eat
. Gobies
. Blennys
. Small wrasses
. Damsels
. Small clownfish
. Pretty much any fish less than 3 inches when they get big
If you havent already you should discourage your wife from buying fish while your not around, or atleast show her which fish are reef safe. I have heard to many horror stories of spouses buying aggresive or incompatible fish and wiping out a reef with it.

 

[Nina51]

sound like a perfect time to upgrade since this fish will need at least 180g.

 

[Fish Biscuit]

I agree with Nina, upgrade to the 180 or have both tanks & make the 180 fish only

 

[Dmorty217]

If you havent already you should discourage your wife from buying fish while your not around, or atleast show her which fish are reef safe. I have heard to many horror stories of spouses buying aggresive or incompatible fish and wiping out a reef with it.

+1 amen to that

 

[MickeyDime53]

I always say to make it clear to everyone aroubd you to NEVER surprise you with living things for your tank as you never know what they'll get and if it is compatible with your current stock.

 

[woodnaquanut]

I always say to make it clear to everyone aroubd you to NEVER surprise you with living things for your tank as you never know what they'll get and if it is compatible with your current stock.

This is really a good concept for any live pet. Give a gift certificate, promise to take them shopping. Don't buy any live animal as a gift.

 

[eatbreakfast]

At 1.5" the trigger shouldn't pose too much of a problem. If he grows up with his tankmates aggression shouldn't be bad either. As he grows he gets easier to catch as he will be quite personable. Triggers also dont grow terribly quickly either, so it will be sometime before he outgrows the 90. He will not bother corals and active fish.

 

[smoothie7]

My tank currently has 2 platnium clownfish, and a yellow tang and at the moment a humu humu. We have several corals in there such as mushrooms, frogspawns and clove polyps. I haven't seen him cause any problems but I would prefer that he wasn't in there trying to convince here that we need a FOWLR tank as well. Not sure thats going over well though

 

[Reefinny]

I have one in my frag tank, It was REALLY small when I got it. I didnt want to put it in my DT and I have plans on adding a FOWLR tank in my office so it will eventually go in there. I keep him well fed - he has been a model citizen so far. Been about 3 months now - has not eaten Corals, Eats from my hand - I also have got into the habit of net feeding - this way if I ever need to get him out easy I can.

 

[Betta132]

You could try a bottle trap if you really need to get him out. A soda bottle should work at this point.
DEFINITELY make it clear that surprise live things won't exactly be appreciated.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I would definitely not be hard on her for the mistake, but would have a kind talk with her about the importance of what can go in there and what can't. Also that QTing any fish is a must and cannot be more stressed.

My wife knows to ask me about a fish that she likes, that whether it would be okay or not. But even still she knows that if that fish would work in our tank, IT STILL WOULD NEED TO BE QTed.

Then huggs and kisses.

 

[Nina51]

son son and his wife just always get me a gift certificate from the lfs. he recently asked me if there were any online places where he could get one, just for a change. of course, i told him liveaquaria!

 

[smoothie7]

My lightning fast netting skills caught him on Saturday. Ok....I got lucky and he was looking the other way

 

[Dmorty217]

Did you take him back to the LFS?