Add a Trigger???

[Scrandrew]

I have never owned a Triggerfish of any sort. I have a 210 reef with various sps, ricordea, leathers, and shrooms. I also have multiple shrimp. Because I am tired of trying to add Tangs, only to see the more established ones torture the newbies, I have been contemplating adding a Butterfly. Is this wise? If so, what is the safest of the Triggerfish? Still a good idea if I decide to add a clam or two later on?

Andy

[iamwrasseman]

a blue jaw trigger is best ,crosshatch also but rather pricey at times . they are beautifull fish though .the clam ,hmmmm i "think" would be okay but please dont quote me on that one .

[jaybfresh]

I had a bluethroat with clams, lps, sps, zoas, shrimp, crabs... just about eveything. He never bothered a thing, and even let the cleaner shrimp crawl all over him.

As wrassman mentioned, a crosshatch trigger is in the same family, as is the sargassum trigger... both usually reef safe. Pinktail triggers and niger triggers mostly leave coral alone but are more likely to go after shrimp and crabs

[atwinparadox2]

I housed a niger trigger for about 2 months while a friend of mine moved and setup a new tank. It never touched anything, not even crabs or shrimp. I think i got lucky but that is just my experience...

[droth335]

I've had a pinktail and a blue jaw in a reef tank and both pretty much left everything alone...

[blumoon reefers]

I have a pinktail and have had no problems in a mixed reef.

[p.archer]

Does anyone think a Picaso trigger could ever be added to a reef tank.

Have read that SOMETIMES when added as juveniles, they are okay.

I really like these fish, i just have serious doubts about it in a reef tank.

[Scrandrew]

Does anyone have any more input for me?

Amdy

[Scrandrew]

Does anyone have any more input for me?

Amdy

[Scrandrew]

Does anyone have any more input for me?

Amdy

[Scrandrew]

Does anyone have any more input for me?

Amdy

[hatemeyet]

Hi,

I have a male and female blue throat, plus a pink tail trigger and a butterfly,plus 10 tangs in my 220..They all do fine..they'll eat some crabs at times and my pink tail moves some sand around but other than that they've been great fish

[Nereaga]

I had a Niger Trigger for a few months and he left the corals alone but wiped out all my snails. I fed daily and he ate out of my hand! I eventually got rid of him as I wanted a clean up crew again.

Great fish with tons of personality.

Brad.

[maynardjames]

this dosent help you out much, but i had a picaso in fowlr tank for a while. they are great fish. now only have a reef & would like to add trigger also. i think they are great looking & interesting fish. had a pinktail in reef for a little while but got scared that he would become a monster & traded him back to lfs. wished i had kept it now. didn`t bother anything, but only had it 2 weeks. it was great looking fish also

[downhillbiker]

A picaso is a serious predator. It will not be reef safe at all, and will go after all of your inverts and quite possibly your coral. I would stick to the bluejaw, pinktail, crosshatch, and my favorite of the reef safe triggers, the sargassum!

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm107/downhill_biker/downhill_biker%20tank%20pics/2009%20Reef/newfish001.jpg

[SDguy]

If you want a non-Xanthichthys trigger, I would go with a niger trigger.

[wdt2000]

I have two Bluethroat Triggers in my 300 reef. They leave everyone alone and can be shy at times.

[iamwrasseman]

i have to side with downhillbiker the picaso will usually desimatate your snail and crab population rather quickly .his suggestions are right on key !

[Apstorm17]

Given how my Picasso acted before I had to give him away, putting a Picasso Trigger in a reef tank would be a disaster. They're awesome fish, but are much more suited to a FOWLR with TOUGH tankmates.

[powderhound]

I have had a small huma Picasso trigger in my tank for over two years now. He never touchs the shrimp or clams or corals. Snails on the other hand, he goes thru about 20 every six months. Costs about as much as other type of food. He is probably my favorite fish to watch swim around. But it is only 2 inches still

[Argentiner]

I've had this guy for a few months now. Is very calm, hasn't touched any inverts including 2 cleaner shrimp that were in the tank before him. VERY cool fish. They are really shy at first, hiding for a long time even though no fish was bugging him at all.

http://i690.photobucket.com/albums/vv268/Argentiner/IMG_00284486.jpg

[DEERE G]

Nice Sargassum^^^^. Love mine. 1.5 years in mostly SPS reef.

[Neuticle]

I got a male Bluejaw two months ago, he's a model citizen. If you have tangs, this may not be the way to go, my Kole had the Bluejaw on the ropes for the first month. I was surprised, the Kole isn't even one of the more dominant species of tang. Both my ocellaris clowns took shots at him, even though he's a 4" fish.

The LFS put a 12" Niger in with a 9" Naso (male), the Naso wouldn't let him leave the corner of their 240gal. Poor thing was terrified of the tang.

I guess it's never a sure bet that fish do what books say they will, my trigger is a little lamb.

[blennymower]

I have had a Niger Trigger for a couple of moths now, and he's very peaceful. Hasn't touched any corals, which includes sps and clams. No shrimps in the tank, but he hasn't touched any of the CUC.

[Stuart60611]

I have housed three humas over the years-- one with some corals, and now house a saragassum. Humas will eat every single mobile invert in the tank. They will generally leave corals alone, except for any new ones you add when the huma is established which the huma will sample and maybe destroy. I have had to get rid of each of my humas because of aggression issues. They need to be housed with tough fish. Humas are pretty docile until they reach the 3 inch size or so then start to turn very aggressive. Also, many humas love to constantly take mouthfuls of substrate and spit it out all over the rocks all day long. This can be a real problem when housing corals because they get covered in the substrate.

On the other hand, my saragassum is well tempered fish. He is not shy at all and is always front and center swimming about looking for food or surfing in the powerhead stream. He shows no aggession toward any of this other tankmates. I have never housed my saragassum with corals or mobile inverts, but I am sure he would be fine. Pictures can be found below in my tank thread.