Trigger expert

[crosshatch35]

Hello i have a 180 with only two clowns in it. My end goal is triggers and one saho and maybe a angle and a puffer. But i am in love with triggers and want as many as i can have. But have no idea on what to add and what order. Could someone please take me under there wing and help me out. I was thinking of adding a blue jaw next but not sure what to do. And the guy at LFS doesn't seem to help he just buy this or that. So any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks Jeramy

 

[las]

U better learn how to properly quarantine before u buy any fish. You will kill many fish without doin this step

 

[crosshatch35]

Thanks for the advice.. I have a 40 gallon set up and running for quarantine. I m looking for advice on triggers. I would like to add one of every species if I can.. But not sure in the order I should add them in. I am gonna be buying one or two tomorrow.

 

[humaguy]

imo, get rid of the clowns...a sohal can be very aggressive but are beautiful...angels also beauitful but get big...puffers great personalities some get big...
triggers are a huge unknown, their temperment varies greatly from individual to individual...but, you do not want to add an Undulate or a Clown..undys are very, very aggressive, clowns are quite calm until they grow and decide to kill everything in your tank...ime, large queens and fuscus are bruts but if raised from a baby and well-fed they can be relatively passive, but when they get large that could change in a second..lagoon trigs (rhinecanthus) are hit or miss...most I have and had have been calm (I raise them all from babies and keep well-fed) some are nasty..pinktails supposedly mellow but mine is crazy...titan, scary aggressive when large but real slow growers and mine is calm...crosshatch, mellow...goldenback, mellow, cinereus, mellow but these fish easily hold their own...so, I would get babies- they have a very high rate of metabolism and do need to be fed like every 3-4 hours- some avoid getting babies as they can die easily if not cared for properly...keep them well-fed and you are on the right path...having said all that a 180 is not large enough to keep all the fish you want...make sure qt them all for 4-6 weeks with cupramine and prazipro...get a massive skimmer...good luck!

 

[Wolverine]

I would not recommend keeping a sohal or a clown trigger in a tank that small, much less getting both.

 

[Wolverine]

I m looking for advice on triggers. I would like to add one of every species if I can.. But not sure in the order I should add them in.

You DEFINITELY do not want to do that, unless you want to spend a lot of time clearing out fish carcasses. In that size tank, you could do a blue jaw or sargassum. IME, crosshatches are very active open water swimmers, and really should have more room. Having a Rhinecanthus trigger would be fine, since they stay relatively small. If you want to have only one fish in the tank, undulated is a great choice, but, IMO, those tanks get boring after a while.

 

[stykthyn]

IMHO that tank is only big enough for one trigger. like said they are mellow until they get bigger and in a tank that is roughly only 6 feet long they will eventually turn on everything else in it. My pink tail is 90%of the time calm but every once in a while goes batshit crazy.

I would look at a wrasse such as a lunar/banana/coris, harlequin tusk, and one of the med sized angels. Maybe a snowflake eel if you really want something else in there.

 

[humaguy]

I agree with the above...
I would do a small huma, flame, Navarchus...and maybe a small dfp...

 

[TitanTV]

I approach tanks different than most and normally like 1 or 2 fish to a tank, no matter the size. I feel a tank with a stunning, single showpiece fish destroys the tanks stocked with a large number of fish.. But I am not the norm for sure.

If it was me.. One Huma Huma and maybe a small school of chromis would be awesome

 

[crosshatch35]

I should of been more clear the clowns are percula clowns not trigs. I was trying to say i would love to have one of every species but i know the tank isnt big enough.. The fish store guy is trying to tell me that i can 8 fish and be safe. But im starting to think i\he is looking at dollar signs and not the well being of the fish in there.. I am very new to saltwater i had a 75 gallon 17 years ago i had one picaso and one clown trig and they did fine. For the 2 years i had the tank then a divorce caused me to sell it.

Anyway this time around i want to do it write and would really like someone that i can build a relationship with and trust to help me out. I am not opposed to reading so if you can link me to some good info on here or anywhere for that matter. I will take the time to read it. Withe so many threads i just get overwhelmed and not sure if i am reading good info.

Humaguy i read your thread with your tank its beautiful! I hope to some day have a masterpiece like that. You seem very knowledgeable and try and read what you post so maybe you could link me to some good reading info.. I am wanting to pick up a fish tomorrow do you have any suggestions? Also i am needing a new skimmer i was looking at a 300 gallon super reef. The tank with sump is 230 gallons. Any suggestions on skimmer? Thanks Jeramy

 

[OSTguy]

If I had to pick all over again for my tank, just triggers, I'd do a clown, queen, and a blue line, or sub one out for a large niger. But you'd want a longer tank. 6' really doesn't do the fish right once they hit the 8" mark IMO. One of the issues with aggression is that when any of these triggers don't feel safe, they lose their personality and their color is horrible. Clowns turn pale and white, same with queens, you'll never see those bright blue and yellow lines over the nose or purple patches on their sides, blue line trigs turn pale as crap too. But have just one of them alone in the tank and their color pops out.

 

[humaguy]

I should of been more clear the clowns are percula clowns not trigs. I was trying to say i would love to have one of every species but i know the tank isnt big enough.. The fish store guy is trying to tell me that i can 8 fish and be safe. But im starting to think i\he is looking at dollar signs and not the well being of the fish in there.. I am very new to saltwater i had a 75 gallon 17 years ago i had one picaso and one clown trig and they did fine. For the 2 years i had the tank then a divorce caused me to sell it.

Anyway this time around i want to do it write and would really like someone that i can build a relationship with and trust to help me out. I am not opposed to reading so if you can link me to some good info on here or anywhere for that matter. I will take the time to read it. Withe so many threads i just get overwhelmed and not sure if i am reading good info.

Humaguy i read your thread with your tank its beautiful! I hope to some day have a masterpiece like that. You seem very knowledgeable and try and read what you post so maybe you could link me to some good reading info.. I am wanting to pick up a fish tomorrow do you have any suggestions? Also i am needing a new skimmer i was looking at a 300 gallon super reef. The tank with sump is 230 gallons. Any suggestions on skimmer? Thanks Jeramy

haha..yeah, I knew they were not clown trigs...thanks, I have been building that tank in my head for almost 30 years...it is nice to be able to actually have it...I have the goldenback in qt and will add to dt in a month or so...and may remove a few trigs in the process...read anything and everything...I moved to Kauai just to study and learn more...talk to everybody ask questions..join any club in your area...go to conferences...but take what your lfs says with a grain of salt...they want to make a sale...I would buy a massive skimmer before a fish...take the clowns out...find a couple tiny trigs, babies..maybe a juvi Navarchus angel,- smallest of the large angels..maybe a flame angel and call it complete...I forget the size of your dt, sump, and if you have a ht or backuop tank...but if things go bad you can put a fish in the sump, ht, or backup tank...do not buy a clown (as cute as the babies are) or undy...stick with a very small and be prepared to feed them every 3-4 hours...I actually do it around the clock, almost 24 hours a day, when i get in a new baby...they do need sleep too but I set my alarm and feed them as they need it...buy your fish from dd, nya, and pia...imo they have the best livestock around....no impulse purchases...good luck...

 

[humaguy]

If I had to pick all over again for my tank, just triggers, I'd do a clown, queen, and a blue line, or sub one out for a large niger. But you'd want a longer tank. 6' really doesn't do the fish right once they hit the 8" mark IMO. One of the issues with aggression is that when any of these triggers don't feel safe, they lose their personality and their color is horrible. Clowns turn pale and white, same with queens, you'll never see those bright blue and yellow lines over the nose or purple patches on their sides, blue line trigs turn pale as crap too. But have just one of them alone in the tank and their color pops out.

a large fuscus or esp a large clown can be a very dangerous fish...I would never recommend keeping a clown with anything...if you buy them as tiny babies they will probably do okay with tankmates but with a clown it is only a matter of time before he snaps and kills all...a large fuscus can be just as bad...if you start off with a baby and keep it well-fed and provide lots of rock, ime, it will grow to be not be as aggressive as a similar sized wild caught fish at that size...meaning buying a 6 inch clown, fuscus or queen that was just pulled from the ocean will be far more aggresive than a tank raised 6 inch specimin...

 

[humaguy]

ps...an 8 inch clown trigger is a nightmare to any tankmates and anything in the tank...same goes for a queen and fuscus, unless you raise them from a baby and even that is not a guarantee...

 

[Wolverine]

ps...an 8 inch clown trigger is a nightmare to any tankmates and anything in the tank...same goes for a queen and fuscus, unless you raise them from a baby and even that is not a guarantee...

Completely agree, and then they can get a lot bigger than that. One of the stores around here (that has since closed down) had "adopted" a 12" CT. They had that thing forever, because no one had a suitable tank for it.

 

[humaguy]

Completely agree, and then they can get a lot bigger than that. One of the stores around here (that has since closed down) had "adopted" a 12" CT. They had that thing forever, because no one had a suitable tank for it.

yeah, years ago (87) a friend bought a 14 inch queen trig...for $60....kept it in an acrylic 320...it ate thru every cord in the tank...heater, powerheads etc...he went out of town for the weekend..came home to water on the floor..the queen tried to eat its way out of the tank...she totally destroyed the tank...looked like someone took a jackhammer to the corner of the tank...lots of lessons learned...

 

[crosshatch35]

yeah, years ago (87) a friend bought a 14 inch queen trig...for $60....kept it in an acrylic 320...it ate thru every cord in the tank...heater, powerheads etc...he went out of town for the weekend..came home to water on the floor..the queen tried to eat its way out of the tank...she totally destroyed the tank...looked like someone took a jackhammer to the corner of the tank...lots of lessons learned...

Wow that is nuts...

Thanks for the tips you guys.. I am gonna spend my night reading up on trigs..:fun4:

What size skimmer? the next size up from the 300 is a 500 i thought that one to big would be counter productive but i don't know for sure. Whats your thoughts on the Super reefs?

 

[humaguy]

cant really be counterproductive....bigger is better...
what skimmer is it?
reading is good....

 

[crosshatch35]

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/CV-SRO-3000INT.html

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/CV-SRO-5000INT.html

 

[kv2wr1]

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/CV-SRO-3000INT.html

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/CV-SRO-5000INT.html

For a 180g the 3000int should be enough. I talked to Jeremy at coralvue about those two skimmers and he recommended the 3000 for a 180. I almost bought that skimmer but I wanted something a little shorter because of the space under my stand was the limitting factor.

In my 180g fowlr, I have a sargassum trigger (sometimes called a red tail trigger), porcupine puffer, yellow tang and a pair of ocellaris clowns in that particular tank right now. None of them ever fight and they all get a long. The sargassum is mellow like blue throat triggers, but not as shy. Mine swims out in the open and when its feeding time he does a shark impression that is hilarious (swims with his top trigger up). If it weren't for the puffer and the clowns, I'd get a huma huma.