picasso triggerfish

[radwkr]

I have a 150g that contains: 1- Mac angel, 1- flame angel, 1- foxface, 1-yellow tang, 1- maroon clown, 5- green chromis, 1- LTA and 1- coral banded shrimp. It also has about 250 ponds of live sand and 150 pounds of life rock, as well as assorted snails.
I would very much like to add a picasso triggerfish. I know that this is probably not smart, but can you tell me just how stupid it would be? If adding the picasso is completely out of the question is there a fish you would reccomend to add some flare to my tank.
Thanks in advanmce for your help.

[floridajhawk]

blue throat trigger, they dont grow as large as the picasso and they are much more peaceful then the picasso so even if your tank is a little cramped with fish there is a smaller chance of aggression ;)

[spamin76]

The only fish my picasso ever ate was a Green chromis :D. They may eat anemones, probably your shrimp. If you dropped one of the larger fish in the tank you would be ok to add a picasso - they are less colorful than picassos, but bursa triggers and assasi triggers are closely related and less aggressive.

[spamin76]

An Odonis niger might be an option, but it would probably outgrow your tank after several years when it got full grown.

You could do a pinktail - they are quite peaceful and have endearing personalities.

[juice me man]

you can go ahead and add it but it may star snacking on the shrimp and snails.

[Reef Trigger]

I would expect your shrimp and snails to be a quick snack.

[angelfishlover]

You could do a pinktail, but they can get moderatly agressive. I would be very careful if you tried that. I know mine eagerly eats any fish she can catch. They make great pets, but you need to be cautious when keeping them. I have one myself. I am very attached to it. Patrisha has become a true pet. She eagerly greets me for a little snack.

[spamin76]

Your pinktail eats fish??!!??

Wow - that is not exactly typical behavior

[emperior911]

i had a pinktail that ate a damsel

[spamin76]

damsels aren't fish!! :lmao:

[Hockeyben51]

lol:)

[juice me man]

Originally posted by spamin76
damsels aren't fish!! :lmao:

lol

[HouseDJSTL]

Damsels are toys for my trigger....

[Ocicat]

Ok, so I know this thread is just a LITTLE old, but I am glad to see I'm not the only one whose pinktail definitely is NOT the laid-back trigger that I've read about so often. AFTER I bought him, I learned from the LFS where I got him that he had been traded in by another hobbyist because he was "going after small fish." They said he'd been in a 55 or maybe a 75, so they (and I) thought he'd be less problematic in my 180... Besides, I was in love with him already (I gave him the name Fido, for his dog-like behavior).

Then I had to put him in a 20-long QT tank with 4 blue-green chromis, a yellow-tail damsel, and a flame angel to treat for ich, and he ate 2 of the chromis over 2 nights (I witnessed him lunging after the other two, right after the first two disappeared). I thought maybe it was just the small quarters (and boredom?) getting to him... Then, a few days after I moved everybody back to the 180, the other two chromis were just gone one morning! I'm 99% sure he ate them, too... I suspect that (for all 4 chromis murders) he would wake up early and get them when they were still sleepy, maybe when the actinics first came on.

I also believe he bit and injured my flame angel while in QT, who died a few days later (although I had partitioned him off from Fido by that point when I saw the wound in his side and the piece missing from his tail) - probably because there was only so much rock real estate in there, and the flame wanted some of it, but Fido didn't want to share.

Fortunately, he completely ignores the yellowtail damsel who's in the display with him. We call the damsel Chingachkook after the last of the Mohicans.

[spamin76]

I wouldn't say pinktails are non-agressive, they can be agressive, and I would call them a moderately agressive fish.

The fish eating behavior is not normal at all, but it is definitely possible. Triggers in general have a few desired food items, but they are very adaptible feeders overall. Usually pinktails tend to eat plankton and algae, but due to the trigger jaw structure, most triggers literally could eat anything fleshy. It is not the typical behavior, but if all the environmental factors were right and if the fish were a off center to begin with, it is definitely possible.

[dawnskaybug]

I snorkel and dive with picassos all the time and they are Mean SOBs
Ive had one chase me for about 100 feet before in about 3 feet of water. You woulda thought JAWS was after me. ....
But my friend has one in his 200g and it just does loops in the corner until he feeds it

[I like Triggers]

Mine does loops in the corner when it is hungry as well. I love mine, it is in my 225. Mine is close to 5" or so, and is pretty aggressive.

[Rockhead21564]

Okay I'll chime in,lol. My pinktail, about 5", is getting harassed by my 6" lawnmower blenny. Not trying to steal a thread, buuutttt can I put a bluejaw with a pinktail? Somebody asked me and I really hadn't heard one way or the other.

[No Worries1979]

Dawnskaybug,
If your have any other stories or information or even pics from your diving experiences I'd love to see and hear them! Picassos are my favorite!