niger trigger experience with a reef???

[Hendersonracing]

I have a niger in my 56 gallon refugium..wanting to move hime to the reef tank(210) what is everyones experience with them in a reef????

[Jeremy Blaze]

Generally a good fish. MAy eat small crabs, stars, etc...

[Hendersonracing]

so overall a pretty peaceful fish? I may add him to the main display and see...will he nip at corals? I can replace snails and shrip ect? but hard to replace a nice coral!

[Jeremy Blaze]

I have never seen one nip at corals.

[Hendersonracing]

ok good....I know they need room so he may have to move to the 210..

[55semireef]

It really depends on the personality of the individual. Some Nigers may be more apt to nip at corals, kill hermits, snails or shrimp while others may be become aggressive to your tankmates.

I had a Niger once and it occassionally killed a snail here and there but one day it started becoming aggressive to my slower clownfish. Ended up killing a blue tang too. However, it never messed with my coral banded shrimp.

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10198920#post10198920 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hendersonracing
so overall a pretty peaceful fish? I may add him to the main display and see...will he nip at corals? I can replace snails and shrip ect? but hard to replace a nice coral!

They're very hit and miss. You can replace the shrimp, crabs, and snails, however, if you have a niger that tends to eat those, he'll decimate the new ones pretty quickly.
They rarely nip coral.
An aggressive one can kill your other fish, but a passive one can do fine in a reef and never bother anything else. Nigers are extremely variable in their personality, and almost impossible to make a general rule for.

Dave

[55semireef]

For the record, when I first added my anemone to my tank it did nip at that and chomped off a tentacle...most likely out of curiousity though. Once it got stung it ceased to mess with it again.

[gsxxxr]

had a great niger and never messed with anything for 2years then had a fatal power loss

[Hendersonracing]

my niger has been a great fish.....

[bureau13]

I too had a very calm, easy-going specimen that didn't bother anyone...but something injured him, not sure what, and he died. He was pretty small still however, I've heard that when they get older they tend to get more aggressive.

jds

[thor32766]

yes as they get older they will become more aggressive.

[hgbarwick]

My old niger trigger didn't nip at corals, but he was mean! He bullyied other fish, and ate every snail, crab, and shrimp I had. I ended up taking him back for a more peaceful fish. He was a really cool fish, just was a bully and nasty with crustaceans.

[Hendersonracing]

how long was he in the tank?

[hgbarwick]

About 5-6 months.