Has anyone ever kept a huma trigger in a reef tank?

[cr22]

If so how did it go?

[MrTuskfish]

Someone, somewhere has kept every fish available to us successfully in a reef. Often, these exceptions become the "rule". There are lots of these cute little humas on the market and they grow up to be typical triggers; big, quite aggressive and not reef safe. IMO, the only triggers I would consider in a reef are a sargassum, blue jaw, or crosshatch. But, bottom line, I really don't consider any trigger to be a good reef fish. Too bad, there are sure some great looking triggers.

[jda]

Yes - people have.

When they do, it is generally more of a coral tank and not a reef tank. At any size, they will eat snails, crabs and fish. When they get larger, they will often even eat your coral.

Even if they left your coral for a while, they amount of food that they require can harm your coral in the form of nitrate and phosphate.

[FishAreFriends2]

A friend of mine has a really small one I think its 1 and half inches and it has not touched any of his corals. But it has attacked snails.

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12735264#post12735264 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FishAreFriends2
A friend of mine has a really small one I think its 1 and half inches and it has not touched any of his corals. But it has attacked snails.

Supposedly they'll usually leave large cnidarians with powerful stings alone, but I've seen them destroy large anemones.

[StayPuft]

I have kept a 4" Humu in a reef tank.... for 1 month. It was just a temporary home until my 150 FOWLR was setup. In that 1 month it ate pretty much all my hermits but left all the coral alone.

[MrTuskfish]

A common trait of many triggers is that they can "play nice" for a long time; sometimes, even years. Then they go postal and destroy everything in sight. You cannot change the genetic make-up; a trigger is a trigger. There are lots of little humas & nigers on the market and I've a noticed (on this forum & elsewhere) that they are being recommended as "peaceful" and "reef-safe".I think this is because some folks pick out the one experience they are looking for and it becomes the norm.Maybe peaceful FOR A TRIGGER and short term. They are beautiful & personable fish and I love them. But;, IMO & IME, they will almost always turn into aggressive fish that will chomp anything. Its just a matter of "when", not " if".