Triggers in Reef??

[SpecialK]

The crosshatch trigger is a beautiful fish.

 

[Anonymous]

They've actually come down a bit in price...last one I sold was $350. At about 8", it was a stunning fish...

Peace,

Chip

 

[GSchiemer]

Can anyone post a pic of a cross-hatch trigger?

Also, here's a q that my husband and I are thinking about...

We saw some baby...and I mean BABY clown triggers and some other kind of trigger (something that I've never heard of before) at the LFS today..they were about 1/2 an inch and SO cute....so, if you get a trigger that small and put it in a reef, do you think that they will learn from a young age not to eat the coral since it would be so much smaller than most corals and if it gets stung maybe learn its lesson? It's just something we were thinking about and I wanted to see what you all thought of it.

Thanks!

The Clown Trigger is the only fish that I've seen kill just for the fun of it. I recall purchasing one of those "cute" one-inch clown triggers many years ago. It shared the tank with a peppermint shrimp that was easily twice the size of the trigger, so I assumed the shrimp was safe. The trigger proceeded to eat the eyes of the shrimp to disable it, then it finished it off.

Greg

 

[leftovers]

there is no reason why you cant keep any trigger in a reef tank... provided you dont want other reef fish, hermits or snails or shrimp....that said so long as algae remains under control its not an issue...

I have a feeling I'm just taking the bait here, but here it goes anyway:

Your statement is not true. There are few genera of triggerfish that are mid-water planktivores by nature and relatively "reef-safe." They typically will not bother hermit crabs, snails, and most other reef fish. The aforementioned Blue-Jaw and Cross-Hatch triggers fall into this category.

Greg

I believe "relatively" is the key word, having stocked tanks with a dozen different kinds of triggers, they all will tend to munch on your shrimp, hermits and snails. Some, like the niger will tend to leave your other fish alone, others like a Clown trigger (aka chuck manson) will enjoy your other inhabitants one by one....The cross hatch as has been my experience will tend to not bother other tank inhabitants unless very hungry. A well fed trigger will not snack as often on your inverts as a hungry one.

That being said its been my experience that triggers consume a large amount of food and produce a healthy amount of waste.

As with any species your milleage may vary but don't be surprised or alarmed if you find any trigger carying around a shell or another occupant of your tank.

One other note is that just about all triggers get large 10"+ and the larger they get the more aggressive they can get and dangerous to the unwarry. Many a trigger can take a finger tip off if you get stupid around them.

One of the more playful species though not invert safe is the assasi,

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... ame=assasi

Almost everyone i have handled displays a dog like affection. They have allowed me pick them up in the middle of the open water and they have all to a tee found a favorite stone and carried it around the tank. They often times would toss the stone out and stare at the tank wall till it was tossed back in....