Trigger FOWLR Questions

[TheOtherDay]

Hey all.

Ok I have two questions.

In a 75 Gal FOWLR tank, is it possible to mix triggers? I have a 1 1/2" Niger in the tank right now, was thinking about adding a cross hatch or blue face.

The second question is, IF I ever decided to switch the tank to a straight reef, would the triggers have decimated the rock so much that it would have to be re-seaded?

Right now in the tank:

Niger Trigger
Yellow Tang
Naso Tang (Missing for days, presumed dead)
20 Turbo Snails
20 Margarita Snails
20 RL Hermits
2 Sand Stars
1 Brittle Star

Of course, I would love to add a Clown Trigger, but I know I could say goodbye to all my inverts shortly afterwards. This is funny however because at my LFS we looked at a book something like Best Reef Tanks of the world, and in some full blown reefs they had clown triggers.

Is it really all just pot luck with the more agressive fish? does feeding and appitite have something to do with it?

Hmm thats actually 4 questions ;)

[harlequin]

You will have different opinions on some of these questions.

IME, you can mix CERTAIN triggers. A niger and a crosshatch would be a good choice to put together. Triggers I wouldn't mix are:

Queen and Undulated Triggerfish (They get too mean)

I have kept many different triggers and have kept up to four triggers in the same tank without problems. I have kept the Undulated, Niger, Pinktail, Bluelined, Picasso, Bursa, Blackbelly, Bluejaw, Clown Triggerfish (not all in the same tank, I have multiple tanks) I plan on getting the Assasi, Halfmoon, and Sargassum triggerfish in the near future.

You rock will be fine, but any crustaceans you have will be a snack to any triggerfish.

A Clown trigger gets to big for a 75 gallon, the picture you saw of a Clown in a reef was probably a 500 gallon plus tank.

Its not luck its really just knowing your fishes personality and having the room for the fish you want.

Feeding does have something to do with it. If you don't feed right you fish will have to eat something so they will kill another fish to survive.

Tip: If you are going to put multiple triggers in a tank make sure you rearrange the rocks. This will the triggers a new surrounding to get used to and be more excepting to new fish. This helps with other territorial fish such as Sohal Tang, Groupers, Angels.

Hope this helps

[steve1s]

Hey all.

Ok I have two questions.

In a 75 Gal FOWLR tank, is it possible to mix triggers? I have a 1 1/2" Niger in the tank right now, was thinking about adding a cross hatch or blue face.
These species of triggers will co-exist together fine.

The second question is, IF I ever decided to switch the tank to a straight reef, would the triggers have decimated the rock so much that it would have to be re-seaded?
The three triggers mentioned are the least likely of the species to damage reef inhabitants. The LR and corals should be fine but as mentioned the mobile inverts are always up for grabs.

Right now in the tank:

Niger Trigger
Yellow Tang
In a 75 gal tank you do not really have much room for an additional large growing fish. If you add the other trigger you will end up with fighting. Keep in mind that this is not an FO tank with alot of free swimmimg room but rather an FOWLR that has a decent amount of space used up by the rock. It really limits your stocking ability with these kinds of fish. Personally, I would recommend against it.

Is it really all just pot luck with the more agressive fish? does feeding and appitite have something to do with it?
"Luck of the draw" has a bit to do with it, some of the more aggressive fish that are "assumed" as reef safe can turn out to be holy terrors and destroy the tank. Others that are reported to always be destructive can turn out to be very peaceful. It just depends on the "personality" of each fish. I find though that your best chances for success is when aquiring the animal while it si still quite young <2". They are not yet set in their ways and are much easier to accept prepared foods. When you know food comes at regular intervals, why go looking!!

Cheers
Steve

[TheOtherDay]

Never really looked at it that way. I guess it's time to re-think the tank, yet again :)

The trigger and the tang are both small, no more then 1 1/2".

I do want to add 1 more fish, probably a conspicious angel or a Gray Poma, not sure yet, If you can only have 1, may as well be something exotic ;)

In that kind of eviroment, can you recommend some corals that can take a bit of abuse? would Anenomes be better? (I'd hate to think so, I dont like the idea of buying them just to have them for a few months).

[steve1s]

The trigger and the tang are both small, no more then 1 1/2".
They will both get to +5" in about a years time. Small now but later... :wink:

I do want to add 1 more fish, probably a conspicious angel or a Gray Poma, not sure yet, If you can only have 1, may as well be something exotic ;)
Both of those would be more a concern for corals than the triggers you have planned. The Conspicuous angel also gets larger than the tang. You may wish to consider an Eibl's angel, they are the least prone to coral nipping and will generally only be a concern with clams. They are also much smaller growing.

In that kind of eviroment, can you recommend some corals that can take a bit of abuse? would Anenomes be better? (I'd hate to think so, I dont like the idea of buying them just to have them for a few months).
Leathers would be your best bet. I would not suggest an anemone, one bite and it's dead. The leather would survive.

Cheers
Steve

[TheOtherDay]

I know the fish I have picked will get quite large, possibly too large for a 75 gal tank. I am im process of putting together a 150 gal setup (Over the next year) that I will relocate to, so I am not too concerned about their growth.

Thank you for all your advice everyone :)

[dbulick]

Well when you said that the Naso is missing and presumed dead, it is probably because one of the other fish decided it did not like it. Niger triggers get really big 15+ inches easily. Yellow tangs are no slouches either. That is on its way to being a really cramped tank, and that is without putting any other fish in there.

[Triggeraddict]

The species of trigg that I have not been able to mix is any kind of Xanthichthys with my Nigers. Even if I do mix around the rock work it doesn't matter and this is a 209g tank with 220lbs of rock. The 209 is home to several different species of trigg right now with no issues (there will be some as they grow and they will be divided into different tanks by then) but it is home to 2 6" Queens, 5" Clown, 4 and 5" Nigers, 4" Blue line, 3" Huma, and 2" Undulate but he will be moved here in the near future. The Clown is by far the most peaceful Trigger I own followed closely by the Queens meanwhile the Huma is the most aggressive. Now I totally don't recommend this set up but I watched all triggs for several weeks prior to purchase and all has been well for over a year now. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck.

[TheOtherDay]

Well after some reasearch I wound up getting juvis of the following:

Yellow Tang
Niger Trigger
Grey Poma Angel
Sleeperhead Goby
Australian Blue Devil

All is well in the tank now. Well since all these babies will grow up within the next year, I am taking the plunge for a larger tank. 220 seems to be a nice size at a reasonable price.

So far, the only problem in the tank is the Margarita snails. They fall over and aparently just give up and die..It's Astrea Snails for me now :)

Thanks for the advice and suggestions.