triggerfish in a reef: How crazy am I?

[Gaffes]

Hello everyone,

I have an 80 gallon tank with two tiny domino damsels, a six inch clown trigger, and a four inch picasso trigger. The tank has been set up for three years, and they were all added at the start. I haven't lost any fish yet.

About a year ago, I started getting interested in reef tanks. I know that triggers don't mix with much, especially reefs. So, I started by adding about 35 pounds of liverock. Now I have some mushrooms, some xenia, some star polyps and an open brain coral. I also have about 30 hermit crabs that the trigers have not touched (?)I haven't added anything within the last six months.

Now I am thinking of adding another 35 pounds of liverock, and maybe researching additional corals. Have I gone completely crazy? Has anyone else done a reef with triggerfish? Is therre anything else I can add?

Please advise....

 

[TurboRook]

I don't think you are crazy at all. You seem to be going about these additions in the right manner. I would guess there are probably many species of corals that the triggers would show no interest in. It will take a lot of careful research to find out what species those are, but it doesn't seem insurmountable.

I think the biggest issue will actually be keeping your nutrient levels down as the triggers become larger. The waste these eating machines create might end up being more detrimental to your corals than the triggers themselves 8O You might want to add some macroalgaes such as caluerpa or halimeda to the tank to help with nutrient export. Good luck!

 

[Gaffes]

Thanks, Turborook. I was thinking the same thing about the triggerfish waste. They are pretty big and eat alot. I am very careful not to overfeed, and do a 7 gallon water change weekly.

 

[M.E.Milz]

My bluelined (fuscus) trigger, niger trigger, and picasso trigger have not bothered any of my leather corals, yellow polyps, and green star polyps. They do, however, like to harrass the hermits in the tank.

 

[danmhippo]

I have niger and his cousin, file fish. They have never bothered any of my softies, goniopora, and clams.

 

[Anonymous]

I've kept a male bluejaw in my 75 reef quite successfully, that is until he wandered too close to my gigantea anemone. :roll: He never bothered anything in the tank, including the cleaner shrimp.

With one of the more aggressive species of triggers, such as a clown or a fuscus, I wouldn't worry so much about the corals as I would the crabs and snails. My wife's pineapple trigger in her 29 gal has chowed into every snail or crab I've ever tried to add in with him. :roll:


-John

 

[SPC]

Posted by Sharkky:
My wife's pineapple trigger in her 29 gal has chowed into every snail or crab I've ever tried to add in with him.

-I can't imagine why Sharkky with all of that room in a 29. :roll:
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Posted by Sharkky:
My wife's pineapple trigger in her 29 gal has chowed into every snail or crab I've ever tried to add in with him.

-I can't imagine why Sharkky with all of that room in a 29. :roll:
Steve

The trigger's only an inch and a half long and he lives alone. More than enough room in the nearly-empty 29 for him until he's big enough to handle himself in our 125.

-John

 

[pathos]

here's my story:
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69663
but, I added the trigger to an established reef; I did not build the reef around the trigger.

 

[dsb1829]

http://www.geocities.com/dackakarot/miscpage.html

This is a good reference for those thinking about triggers in their reef. It is written by Dave who goes by the board name of Wolverine over at RC. Not the end-all of articles, but some very good insights and information he has compiled for fellow reefers. Enjoy 8)

 

[Gaffes]

Wow! You guys are really giving me some good information. I wish I could just get another tank for FO, and go crazy with both the reef and the fish only.

 

[wasabi]

I kept a sargassum trigger in my reef along with several chromis and a blennie. he never bothered a thing in over a year. a great fish with a great personality. untill that fateful day of the carpet surfing championships.

 

[philakapd]

I have a 135gal w/wet dry and aqua-c urchin skimmer. It's about four months old and this is what has happened so far.
I purchased 100 lbs of fully cured LR from Dr. Mac & Sons. Placed in tank alone for two weeks with wet skimming. Then tossed in one damsel. Waited two more weeks. Tossed in 30 blue leg hermits (thinking someday they would be food).

About two months from the start I then added a baby porcupine puffer and a baby Humu Humu.

It's been two months now since they have been in the tank. The only thing I found destroyed was a small clam that made it in on the LR. I never saw it until it was laying on the substrate towards the front of the tank. I'm not positive, but it looks like it was a mussel or clam (about the size of a penny).

I still have all the blue legged hermits, the corals are growing. I've noticed new polyps, frogspawn, and all kinds of other goodies I'm still learning to identify. I feed 2-3 times daily and make sure the fish eat all the food before I add more. The trigger is always hungry, the puffer still only eats from time to time.

I use RO/DI water and feed only live and frozen. I supplement the LR with Stontium/Moly, and calcium as recommended by kent.

I have corraline growing out of my ears and no CYANO! I try to keep the tank as clean as possible.

So far I have been very lucky. The cyano cycle hasn't hit yet, and I'm having nightmares when it does. Just need to regularly change water and filter out the substrate. I do not have any gobies, I fear it wouldn't last a half hour with the trigger. So I take a powerhead and "rinse off" the LR whenever I have time. LOTS of water circulation. I'm moving about 1700 gallons per hour in a 135gal tank. It's fun to watch the fish trying to eat, the food is all over the place!

Good luck and take your time! Do some research on the triggers. I found the undulate and the clown to be a little too risky to add to the tank. Both beautiful, but I like my corals too!

Phil