Triggers

[joking103]

Hi all,

Hi I have a 150g fish only I had been working on a stocking list which included a snowflake eel and a pink tail trigger. Then I sort of got nervous with the trigger and eel idea. The eel is out, too much like a snake for me to even concider really . But the trigger I still want. My issue These are real meat eaters. What do you feed your trigger, exactly? Does it mess with you when you are cleaning the tank? They say it will eat small fish, but not my tomato clown or Bi-color angel, why not theyare not that big? You thoughts and comments are welcome.. Thanks, Joanne

 

[Billybeau1]

I have a picasso trigger. He eats plankton, mysis, blood worms, beefheart and veggies. Loves to chomp on a piece of lettuce now and then. About the only thing he does not like is flakes.

If I stick my finger in the tank he will try to take a chunk. My whole hand he wont mess with.

He does not bother my smaller fish unless they bother him

 

[SW1TCH]

I feed my trigger fresh shrimp,squid,myis shrimp,scallops,bio blend carnivore diet,. My trigger is housed with Blue/green chromis's that are smaller than him and he dont bother them but he is only about 2.5 inches long. My trigger dont mess with me when im cleaning the tank. Here is a pic of the Bursa trigger and the chromis's.

 

[bigdee65]

with the Pink Tale trigger you wont really have to worry about it attacking you or most other fish. They tend to be less aggressive than most other triggers (Picasso, Clown, Queen, etc).

I had a pink tale with a clown, tang, eel and 2 other trigger and it never bothered anything.

 

[bigdee65]

forgot to mention what I fed my triggers:

All Frozen:
Krill
Prawns
Scallops
ON Formula I & II
ON Trigger Formula (they loved this)
Pro Salt Sea Veggies
ON Prime Reef

 

[stevebydac]

Most triggers will eat just about anything. I've fed them supermarket-bought shrimp, squid, fish, scallops, clams. Any frozen food. Algae-type foods. Etc. One of my friends once stuck his business card in the water and my clown trigger ate half of it.

Don't worry about one attacking you. That usually only happens when you have one that is over 10" and has a very mean disposition. Usually, they will just nip at your fingers if you feed them by hand, or if you just leave your fingers dangling in the tank motionless. It usually hurts, but not too bad, nothing to worry about. (Well, sometimes a *little* blood :hmm2: ) They are just very inquisitive and will nip at anything that is in the tank, no matter what it is. If they come near your arms in the tank as you are cleaning, a little swat shows them to stay away and you won't be bothered.

A pinktail won't *usually* attack fish. It has a smaller mouth than the normally more aggressive triggers like the queen, clown, undulated, etc. There are exceptions of course, but you should be ok.

 

[VolitanLioness]

I Love my Pinktail, I have had it for a few years now & what a fish. Ok it only bit me once & drew blood, what a mood it was in that day. I also find it to be a very slow grower, I can hand feed this trigger.

I feed a variety of meaty foods to my Trigger, Octo, Squid, Mysis, Silversides, Raw Shrimp, Crab & so on.

But 1/2 of my triggers diet is Nori, fresh Frozen Peas (Thawed), Fresh Frozen broccoli (Thawed) & Raw thin Carrot slices. So I make sure 1/2 of the diet consist of Greens.

Here is my Pinktail 5-6 inches:

Having a Grumpy moment

 

[VolitanLioness]

Oh and it will tear a Nori clip apart if I do not remove the clip right away, it will separate the clip into 3-4 pieces.

Kaye

 

[joking103]

Thanks guys,

I am not in the habit of leaving my fingers dangeling in the tank, ever well maybe my freshwater, but I have a tang so I am usually careful, I had a yellow that would try to mess with me.

So when you say shrimp from the supermarket, is this COOKED frozen shrimp/mussels. I guess that is where I get confused, because in the ocean there not cooked And the size of the food Chopped very fine or like chunks? How much food and how often. Most of my residents are Spurlina, frozen angelfish diet, frozen brine, cyclopeeze and plankton, I mixed it all and soak it in selcon/Zoe and added garlic to the mix. If toss a bit of spurlina in there for snack time too. They chow down big time. To my amazement I cannot find anyone interested in the nori, I have still been putting it in to see if they change there minds.


I also have a valenti puffer very small, very slow. Nobody messes with him though, so I think the trigger would not either?

Nice pic of the pinktail, they are really nice looking. They are my favorite but mostly for there more calm nature, and the colors are just an added bonus for me. I did see one at the pet shop but his mouth was not looking normal at all, so I passed him up. He was eating but I didn't want to chance it.

I appreciate you honesty in the biting department. Sorry so long..

Thanks, Jo

 

[VolitanLioness]

It should be fine with the little puffer. It is Raw Shrimp uncooked that they eat, I still throw in smaller pieces, every once in a while it will grab a chunk off the feeder stick.

You will enjoy this trigger, they are loaded with personality.............. Good luck & show pics when you get your new trigger.

Kaye

 

[bigdee65]

You want to get the uncooked seafood from your local store. The fresher the better. What I do is buy a bunch and they freeze it, its much cheaper than buying the stuff from the LFS.

 

[stevebydac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6684704#post6684704 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bigdee65
You want to get the uncooked seafood from your local store. The fresher the better. What I do is buy a bunch and they freeze it, its much cheaper than buying the stuff from the LFS.

Exactly.

Here's what I did. I would go to the supermaket each week and buy 1/4 lb. or 1/2 lb. of seafood. Usually bay scallops (cheaper than the bigger scallops), the cheapest uncooked shrimp available(still in the shell, this helps to wear down the teeth of puffers, triggers, etc.), squid, clams (either in the shell or minced), strips of inexpensive fish.

When I got home, I would gather some of the empty plastic seafood containers that they gave me on previous supermarket trips. (save these, don't throw them away, for this purpose) Then I would take my 1/2 lb. of the seafood I just bought and chop it up into smaller pieces to make it easier for the fish to eat. Then I would put only enough food in a container to just cover the bottom of it. This is to make it easier to remove and break apart the seafood from the container once it has been frozen. (nothing is as frustrating as trying to separate a frozen-solid baseball sized chunk of scallops or clams, believe me).

When I wanted to feed the fish, I would take out a handful of food from the freezer, put it in a cup filled with tank water to thaw it out. After about 10 minutes, I toss the food in the tank WITHOUT pouring the dirty water back in the tank to minimize nitrate/phosphate (important!).

I would feed the fish a rotation of the food: one day scallops, another day clams, another day shrimp, etc. I would mix in the frozen cube food from the LFS too.

Be sure that you freeze the food before ever feeding it to your fish. This minimizes the (admittedly) unlikely chance of having the fish be infected parasites, etc. that somehow survived the trip to the supermarket. Better to be safe than sorry.

Hope that helps!

 

[emperora]

my huma eats shrimp i buy at the super market as well as frozen clam ,squid ,ocean nutrition trigger fomula and brine shrimp ,he also eats flakeand pellets ,but he wont eat mysis shrimp and i don't know why!

 

[Bret61081]

My trigger will eat anything I put in the tank! loves Nori, shrimp, scallops, silversides, flakes, pellets, mysis...whatever I feed the fish thatday! as for a trigger and eel...I have my blue throat with my white ghost eel and have had no problems...just make sure u feed the eel at night after the trigger has gone to bed or while ur feeding the other fish! my trigger loves to attack the silversides on the feeder stick...!

 

[3rotorFD]

mine will eat pretty much anything i put in the tank. But I can tell He LOVES raw shrimp. The same stuff i eat

 

[jcopp24]

This is my female Undulated Trigger... never been bitten, however I have been through two heaters... aparently she loves the rush of voltage running through her Trigger veins.
She eats mainly silver sides and loves marine cuisine I defrost both in a glass and let it marinade in Kent Garlic Xtreme. When I want to give her a treat I buy her either a couple hermit crabs or a sally light foot or two. Maybe once a month she gets something live to hunt.