trigger fishies

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porcupine

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To all the experts out there,

I just got a 31 gal. tank. I'm planning to put two of my favorite fishes in there, and I'm sure you all can guess what that is. Two porcupine fishes and I really really want to put two triggerfishes in there. One Picasso, and a Niger. I remember reading somewhere that the aquarist will find that to keep two triggerfishes-let alone two of the same species- is virtually impossible. My question is, I've seen two clown triggers put in the same tank for a month before another one was added. They are doing fine now. Should I just throw away the book I got? Any advise will be greatly appreciated! ^.^
 
I wouldn't put those four fish together in a 31 gallon tank. I wouldn't put two triggers together in any tank unless it was huge. I have seen triggers together at the lfs, but that doesn't make it right. Remember the old rule, 1" of fish for every 3-5 gallons of water. On the safe side, that means just over six inches of fish after the tank is mature. Those four fish are going to be way more than that.
Good luck

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Larry M

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I agree with the others. You can put two triggers together, but not in a tank that small with two puffers. I've seen Picasso triggers get really big really quickly, and you'd be amazed at how soon he's ready to tear his way out of a tank that size.
Many people feel that a 31g tank is too small for even one trigger, since it won't really give him a lot of swimming room.

Just my $.02,
Dave
 
Well Im sure as always I will get shot for saying so :), but anyways. My parents have a 55 gal with a fair amount of fish in it, along with 2 triggers (Huma-huma and a niger). THe huma huma (picasso) is probably 3" long and hasnt grown since we got him. None of them fight or have any issues in the tank. While I dont know if I would keep 2 in a 31 gal tank, especially if 2 porcupines are going in, I can say that we do keep 2 triggers together in a 55 gal with no problems of fighting. I do have a feeling it depends on the temperment of the fish, we gave the huma huma some therapy before we introduced the Niger :).

P.S.-I wont mention what else they have in the tank at risk of tar and feathering :).
 
Psyduck--There are always exceptions to the rule. Many times tank inhabitants get along fine until they reach maturity, which in some fish can take a long time. Then trouble starts. Another thing to consider is people (myself included) a lot of times are conservative on their stocking recommendations for a reason. That reason being, if you read the message boards for a while you will see plenty of Ich problem threads. IMO one of the main reasons for ich outbreaks is stress caused by overcrowding and territory disputes. If this problem could be avoided I'll be over half of the ich problems would disappear.
I always try to keep in mind what a huge environment these fish live in, in the wild. We can only attempt to duplicate that, but I think it is our responsibility to try.


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Larry M

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of course the synnical response to the argument of environment size would be that if we were that concerned about the well being of the fish we would just leave it in the ocean, but i do agree with you, that is why i said it depends on the fishie. To be honest, I have never had an ich problem after the fish had been in the tank for a while. In fact, the FO I dont think has ever had ich. But again I do agree w/ you on the fact that we should go for less instead of more when it comes to stocking. I just wanted to say that we do have 2 triggers together and they are fine so far :).
 
Psyduck, I've got the same kind of thing going on. I've got a niger and a clown in a 50g tank. They've both been there for over a year. There used to be a lot of fighting in the tank, but that stopped as soon as we got rid of the dominoe damsel. And here's the hypocritical part; I do it, and it's worked fine, but I wouldn't recommend putting two triggers in a tank the size of mine. I got that tank going before I knew about the message boards, or anything above the basic level of marine aquariums. But I've learned a lot since then. When I move, I'll break down this tank, and I won't do this same thing again. If I go with two triggers, I'll get a much bigger tank.
So it can be done, if you get lucky, but I think that a 31g would really be pushing it.

Dave
 
This is only my opinion. I love the clown trigger. I have always wanted one. I had a 75 gallon tank and I felt that a 75 was to small for the clown when full grown. My research indicated that a clown got to be a max of 15" long. a 75 is 48" long and 18" front to back. It is my understanding that trigger fish in the wild swim over a large area in the wild. I know that we can't give a fish a large area but I would think that a 15" fish turning around in a 18" space is tight.
this is all just my opinion, but I think your tank is way to small

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I'm so skeptical, I can hardly believe it!
 
He he, wow a 15" trigger. I will be AMAZED if one of the triggers in my parents tank even makes it to half that size. However, everyone has made good points, and even us hypocrits (Me and Wolfy) know that 30 gal is way too small for those fish. Hindsight is 20/20 :).
 
An LFS near here has an absolutely gorgeous clown trigger that's a little over 12" long. They're still looking for a good home for it.
The one we have right now is about 3.5" (standard length), and he's been the same size for about 9 months. I'll give him away LONG before he gets anywhere near 15". Actually, if he somehow manages to get over 5-6" before we move away from here (and he won't at this rate), I won't hesitate to give him away. And I already have a few great potential homes for him. The most likely one is the aquarium at the Omaha zoo. I know everyone says not to count on that, since they don't always have the space, but I know some of the people who run it (through my old work at an LFS and the Marine Society) and they've told me that they'll gladly take my clown trigger whenever I'm ready to give him up.

Anyway, like I said, if I had to do it over again, I probably wouldn't get it for size reasons. But we did get it before we knew better (they were on sale, and we couldn't pass up a $25 clown trigger), and now that we love it, we figure we'll keep it until it's too big or we move.

Dave
 
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