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View Full Version : Fish showing damaged fins, possibly have a bully Niger Trigger. Halp!

visuvius
10/27/2009, 01:28 AM
Hi all. I've been in the hobby for quite a while and I'm not sure how I missed this site.

Anyhow, I have a 100 gallon reef with the following fish:

2 percula clowns
Flame Angel
Purple Tang
Yellow Eye Tang
Falco Hawkfish
Bicolor Psuedochromis
Copperband Butterfly
Niger Trigger

Today I noticed that the Copperband is missing a piece of his tail fin and the Yellow Eye Tang is missing parts of both side fins. I have had the Purple Tang the longest and I've never seen him to be aggressive. The newest additions were the Niger Trigger and the Copperband. The only thing I can think of that could have done that kind of damage is the Niger Trigger. He is kind of a larger one (4-5 inches) and has decent sized teeth. The reason I got him is because I used to have a smaller one and he was great.

I've had him for a couple of weeks and have personally not seen him or any of the other fish attack each other or my corals so I'm not certain what it is. Do you guys think it is the Trigger that is doing this? I'm really concerned and need to figure out what to pull out asap.

I also need to note that I do have an ich issue right now but everyone (except for the Copperband) is eating great and I'm trying to figure out how to deal with that. However I don't think the ich is making parts of their fins fall off. The fins looks like pieces have been straight up ripped off! Its pretty bad. The yellow eye is a champ is is still swimming around and eating great but the Copperband is kind of in hiding.

Thanks ahead for any tips.
techster
10/27/2009, 04:52 AM
I had a niger trigger that nipped at all of my fish had to take him out
mcoomer
10/27/2009, 07:35 AM
Did you have ich in your tank prior to adding the new fish? The reason I ask is that your fish might be suffering an outbreak now due to increased levels of stress from dealing with an aggressive tankmate. They'll have a harder time fighting it off if they're being attacked by another fish. If I were you I'd move the trigger to a QT, if you have one, and see if things return to normal in the main tank. If so, then you have to decide what fish you want in the tank.
ilikelps
10/27/2009, 08:36 AM
HAD a niger, and he bit my clown fishes tale and the second that happened he bought his one way ticket out of my tank!
ilikelps
10/27/2009, 08:41 AM
Oh yea and +1 on the QT. tank, they are life savers, and really useful. Also how big are the other fish, what also might be contributing the the ich issue may be lack of space, sound like you have quite a bit of fish in there. So that may also not be helping. What are your dimensions on the tank too?
CyanoMagnet
10/27/2009, 08:44 AM
You need to post pictures of the dammaged fins. There can be more than one reason for it.

Fish fins can get dammaged from ph swings, or another sudden change in water. It can be a sign of stress too.
visuvius
10/27/2009, 11:49 AM
The tank is pretty standard 72x24x18 with a 150 pounds of live rock. The purple tang and yellow eye tang are a decent sized. The purple tang is about 3.5 inches across and the yellow eye is 4 inches easily, he however has the worst damage to the fins. The copperband butterfly is also about 3.5 inches across.

I'm not sure if I had the ich issue before the addition of the Niger Trigger. I think I might have. I do know that while they have it, it seems to be mild because no one is scratching themselves against rocks or being lethargic or anything. Everyone is grazing and eating for the most part (the Copperband is not happy right now).

I do not have a quarantine tank because of space issues but I'm going to try and get one. I'd only be able to get at max a 20 gallon quarantine tank set up, I'm not sure if this is too small to service my 100 gallon.

CyanoMagnet I'll try to post pictures of the fins tonight if I can. I'm also going to take my water to get tested as well but I don't think water parameters are the issue. The main reason I'm thinking its the trigger is because he seems to be the only one capable of causing that kind of damage that quickly because of those damn teeth. The day before everyone's fins were fine!
mcoomer
10/27/2009, 12:42 PM
I only have a 20G QT. If you follow a good quarantine procedure when you buy new livestock you'll only have one at a time in there so it's not ideal but it's not terrible either.
visuvius
10/27/2009, 11:30 PM
Ok so here is a picture of the copperband's fin damage; my camera is having focusing issues.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_6O2FCp_Oasc/SufUQrMAsgI/AAAAAAAACEk/l-6Ru5JY-qQ/s800/IMG_9062.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_6O2FCp_Oasc/SufUQgMnYtI/AAAAAAAACEo/QZfN4BNrny8/s800/IMG_9065.JPG

The yellow eye tang is dead, which sucks because he looked like the healthiest and happiest fish in the tank a few days ago.
agreeive?fish
10/28/2009, 05:57 AM
yeap thats "i wanted a snack" fin damage