trigger fish (reef safe)

[BucNtears]

I've always wanted to add a trigger to an established sps/lps reef tank.
So I started doing some research and figured the more information the better..

So those of you that have attempted to keep a trigger please tell what kind and size when purchased and what problems were encountered.

thanks

 

[jg2269jg]

i have a pair of blue jaw triggers in my reef they can go after shrimp but they have been good with corals and other fish, they can spit at me sometimes which makes for a wet rug but i love the fish. they were about 3 inches when i got them

 

[FishAddict87]

I had a niger trigger in my fowlr before he got too big for my tank. It didnt touch one invert surprisingly but it did move some little rocks around...idk if that will help you any. great fish with a great personality I miss the little bugger

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

I love triggers too but have always decided against then because of space limitations (I have a 180) and reef safeness issues. I ended up with several species of small filefish (very closely related to triggers) and just love them. I think they have all the charm and personality of triggers without the large size (most species of files are much smaller) and all of the ones I have kept have been very reef safe, and the aggression issues you sometimes get with triggers. I have kept the puffer mimic, orange body, and aiptasia eating files and had good experiences with all of them.

 

[jarrod13]

To be honest I'd be more worried about a filefish than a trigger, since they naturally eat off the rocks, and heard more stories of files eating coral than triggers. The planktonic triggers are far less likely to be a nuisance, Niger, pinktail, bluethroat, sargassum. I've kept nigers with no problems

 

[BucNtears]

The only thing holding me up is the size tank. I have a 120 I think its still to small. i

So I'm leaning towards a matted filefish..

 

[MIKE NY]

I had a Niger and a Blue Throat.....the BT didn't bother a thing and was the more peacefull of the two, but I didn't chance having any shrimp.

 

[ghostman]

I have a Niger trigger in my 120g and he is doing fine. He's still small at about 3", and hasn't bothered any of the clean up crew or my shrimp. I do keep him well fed though, and he was the last fish added.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

All of the reef safe triggers mentioned get way too big for a 120 long term, files can be even more destructive to corals than triggers depending on the species but the matted is a good bet, the three I've kept never bothered anything except aiptasia.

 

[SDguy]

I agree with the suggestion of files over triggers. Personally, almost all the "reef safe" triggers I've seen have been horrible tank inhabitants.... neurotic and constantly pacing the tank walls.

 

[BucNtears]

Agreed, filefish it is... can't bring myself to house a fish that gets over 5"

 

[kuyatwo]

I had a pair of bt also you need add them after you had shrimp in there. I have even seen the cleaner shrimp clean the blue throats


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[dalyreef]

I am still fairly new to this hobby. I have a niger in my 200 and doesnt bother my gsp or mushrooms. My yellow tang picked on him when I put him in. However I am missing a chromis. Went from 3 to 2 overnight....But my snails and hermits are all fine. I have had no problems other than the chromis coming up missing.... I seem to like him. Still small tho.. Also kept him with 5 chromis and a pair of clowns and yellow tang for about a month when my main tank got ich. That was only a 30 gal. Hope this helps

 

[evilfrog]

as far as i know the only reef safe triggers are the blue throat and crosshatch triggers but they can eat shrimps and crabs

 

[johandagentile]

Alright, just a little add in on my experience with triggers and file fish. I now have a 6 inch blue jaw trigger and a pinktail trigger. The coolest fish in my tank. The blue jaw is the nicest fish loves to chill with my naso. Now I recently had to take a niger trigger and an aptasia eating file fish out of my display tank I saw my niger trigger bite the little antenna off of one of my dart fish I also started noticing that my pulsing Xenia stoped pulsing then i noticed there were less hands on it. I drained my tank which is a 135 in wall set up with a mag 12 will all the fish and coral were still in the tank of course and got them out of my tank. I even took the oppertuniy "might wanna spell check dat" of getting this huge yellow tang and purple tang out since they were killing every attempt of adding other tangs. Need less to say the file fish was added to the tank to eat some aptasia that came with some rock that I got from some guy in town the fish ran thru the aptasia and then started eating shrimp to. He was in my tank for about 3 months and everything seemed ok then one day things started happening and i saw him nipp at the xenia. My niger was bitting all my little fishes and even my midnight clowns.but he messed up and got caught close my xenia. So i get em all out! Since then my coral is looking great, dart fish antenna grew back, and I even added a blue regal tang in my tank. All I know is if u got little fish....don't get a niger trigger! From my experience

 

[Wolverine]

All of the reef safe triggers mentioned get way too big for a 120 long term, files can be even more destructive to corals than triggers depending on the species but the matted is a good bet, the three I've kept never bothered anything except aiptasia.

I agree on both points.

The Xanthichthys triggers are the best bet, with pinktails not far behind. Nigers are pretty unpredictable; some are great, some are terrors.

 

[singold]

Small clown trigger (1.5 inch) in my reef tank with softies and lps corals for about 2 mnths now. No problems, thus far.

 

[Wolverine]

Small clown trigger (1.5 inch) in my reef tank with softies and lps corals for about 2 mnths now. No problems, thus far.

In a 75g?
I hope you don't like anything else in that tank. Small clown triggers turn into big clown triggers. There are a few people who have gotten away with keeping them in reefs, but all the ones I know have had tanks that are at minimum 300g for the display tanks.
Most people have them behave for a while, and then turn and wipe everything out in a day or two. I've seen them clean out 200+g tanks literally overnight.