Clown Trigger Diet

[rldavisou]

I just bought a clown trigger, a fish that I've been wanting for a long while now. I've been reading about husbandry on this and some other sites, and have found a few things about diet specifics. I have some questions over what I've read:
1) Some things say to keep them well fed, some say not to let it eat till it stops....? I tend to err on the side of well fed, as my Niger gets pretty cranky when he's hungry. What do you guys think?
2) I've found some things about wearing down their teeth. What foods are good for that? How often should I feed "teeth wearing" foods? Is there anything I should be watching for, to make sure the teeth don't overgrow?
Thanks, any help would be appreciated.

 

[slackjawed]

Originally Posted by rldavisou
http:///forum/post/2657158
I just bought a clown trigger, a fish that I've been wanting for a long while now. I've been reading about husbandry on this and some other sites, and have found a few things about diet specifics. I have some questions over what I've read:
1) Some things say to keep them well fed, some say not to let it eat till it stops....? I tend to err on the side of well fed, as my Niger gets pretty cranky when he's hungry. What do you guys think?
2) I've found some things about wearing down their teeth. What foods are good for that? How often should I feed "teeth wearing" foods? Is there anything I should be watching for, to make sure the teeth don't overgrow?
Thanks, any help would be appreciated.
live silversides

 

[prime311]

Yes, keep him well fed. Feed a varied diet including some crustaceans. You can use live ghost shrimp or even some stuff at the grocery store. I buy clams, scallops, and whole crab from my grocery store, the clams I add since they're still alive the rest I freeze and cut up/portion as needed. This is for my puffer, but a trigger has similar feeding needs.

 

[rcreations]

I've read feeding triggers live food makes them more mean and likely to go after your other fish in the future. So I stick with dead stuff.
I keep my Triggers well fed with raw shrimp, squid, krill, silverside, formula 1 & 2, emerald entree, plankton and whatever else I have at the moment. A varied diet is best. Usually I make my own food with all the above that I feed to my entire tank.

 

[timbuster81]

hi there
i have found that feeding them white bait is best ass other fooods do not contain calsium i switched a year ago and he has never been so happy

 

[el guapo]

Try to feed fresh clams ,scalops, Raw shrimp in the shell ,silver sides . YOur trigger will chew on the rock work to keep its teeth in shape .

 

[rldavisou]

Hey thanks for the great responses guys. So if I pick up some raw shrimp from the grocery store, I just leave it in it's shell, no need to do anything to it?
I already feed quite a varied diet, my wife says my fish eat better than we do.
If I feed it a clam, I can just drop the live clam in the tank and the trigger will figure it out?

 

[el guapo]

Originally Posted by rldavisou
http:///forum/post/2657899
Hey thanks for the great responses guys. So if I pick up some raw shrimp from the grocery store, I just leave it in it's shell, no need to do anything to it?
I already feed quite a varied diet, my wife says my fish eat better than we do.
If I feed it a clam, I can just drop the live clam in the tank and the trigger will figure it out?

Yeah just freeze the shrimp and then cut it in to pieces about an inch long . If you cut it while its frozen the shell sticks better . As far as the clam goes you might need to crack the shell a little bit but the trigger will get the idea that way and soon you wont have to crack it anymore .

 

[rldavisou]

How long will the clams live in the tank if I don't crack them?

 

[rcreations]

I was wondering that too. Also, is there a way to tell if a clam you buy is live or dead? I understand it's bad to put dead ones in the tank.

 

[prime311]

I have a clam in my tank has been there 3 weeks. I had another one died and I took out a couple weeks ago. If the clam is open in the store its dead, it shoduld be sealed tight. If a clam is dead in your tank he will probly be open fairly far. If hes open just a little with his 'tongue' hanging out he's definitely alive.

 

[el guapo]

Originally Posted by prime311
http:///forum/post/2658697
I have a clam in my tank has been there 3 weeks. I had another one died and I took out a couple weeks ago. If the clam is open in the store its dead, it shoduld be sealed tight. If a clam is dead in your tank he will probly be open fairly far. If hes open just a little with his 'tongue' hanging out he's definitely alive.

Pretty much what I was going to say .

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by RCreations
http:///forum/post/2658586
I was wondering that too. Also, is there a way to tell if a clam you buy is live or dead? I understand it's bad to put dead ones in the tank.
Your local fish market should not be selling dead clams anyway. Once they die you definitely do not want to eat them. They should be closed tight when you buy them. If they are open, they are already dead.

 

[srfisher17]

A great "teether" for triggers & puffers is a chunk of cuttlebone, stuck out of the way in your DT. Get the plain one, no vitamins added, sold for birds. Its a natural marine product and my toothy fish always love to gnaw on it. BTW, I hope your profile isn't current and you're not going to put a CT into a 30 gal.

 

[rldavisou]

No I haven't updated my profile in about 8 months. Now I've got a bunch of tanks. He's in a 55 now but he's a tiny baby, about 2".

 

[el guapo]

I would have never thought of a cuttle bone . Not it a milion years . How long does that last ? How do you attach it so it doesn't float away . ARe the fish normally atracted to it and chew or is there a weaning process ?

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by EL GUAPO
http:///forum/post/2659451
I would have never thought of a cuttle bone . Not it a milion years . How long does that last ? How do you attach it so it doesn't float away . ARe the fish normally atracted to it and chew or is there a weaning process ?
I just use fishing line and a piece of rubble and keep it pretty much out of sight; the 1st time I tried it (if I remember right) it didn't take long at all to see them gnawing on it.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by rldavisou
http:///forum/post/2659450
No I haven't updated my profile in about 8 months. Now I've got a bunch of tanks. He's in a 55 now but he's a tiny baby, about 2".
Good luck with this guy; CTs are fascinating fish. Of course, he'll outgrow the 55 quickly. I'd keep things as peaceful as you can for him for a while; juvi CTs are very hard to raise...but easy once past the yellow-face juvi phase.

 

[rldavisou]

Yeah, he's past the yellow face phase. I'm not sure if he's just small for his age or what but he definitely has the patters of a mature fish. He seems happy for now in his 55. I'm going to work on his new home, probably a 180, as soon as I get my current project, a 120 reef, up and running.
I'll try the cuttlebone next time I go to the pet store, thanks for the idea.

 

[rldavisou]

So, I noticed a very slight concaveness to my CT's belly this morning. He's eaten like horse ever since I got him, and it's not a very severe shape at all, but he doesn't look "fat" like some fully grown CT's I've seen.
Is this just his age, or something I need to worry about? Like I said, he devours any food I throw in there.