Mixing dangerous fish

[davidcanupp]

I have a small Clown Trigger sharing a 55 with a medium Damsel and they have been in there for about 3 months. I was wondering if anyone had some ideas about other fish to add to this tank...I know that the Trigger will grow and become even more aggressive but I will be upgrading eventually so that is not really a problem. However, there is a good amount of room in the tank (For the time being). Any suggestions?

 

[pufferlover]

David: In reading your post last night and again this morning I kept asking myself what would be the best suggestion for you and I still have no great answer for you- why?- A 55 is a narrow tank (12 inches) and you have a fish that will in time become quite large (not for a while tho) and more aggressive (it is their nature). I have gone thru the "gee this tank looks a bit empty" stage myself (more then once I must admit) so I go get another fish put it in and then everything goes sour due to the selection I made or the attitude of the current resident fish. Over the last year or so I developed the attitude of less fish per tank and in some cases have 1 in a tank or even just 2. Has this worked better for me?- yes and no. Yes in the fact that if I got a good fish it seems to do better with less stress of tankmates. No in the fact I now have to darn many tanks and some are to small for the fish when it reaches bigger size, so where am I going to move all these happy, healthy babies as they grow (I do not know). In my case many of my fish are 5 to 7 years old so room will develope due to some hitting their age limits. What all this is saying is if I were you I would leave the Trigger and Damsel alone for now and not add more then maybe one other interesting but compatable fish with them. It would need to be a very hardy and somewhat aggressive fish if you want the Trigger to accept it. My thought would be a Snowflake eel which would add a interesting fish to the tank and given some rockwork to live under it would be safe (altho they tend to be left alone by tankmates). Clowns are great looking and interesting fish but they want and must be the ruler of their tanks or peace will never happen in that tank.

 

[davidcanupp]

Pufferlover,
Thanks for the through reply. I kind of figured that would be the answer. I have thought about an eel but I heard that they stay up all night and torment their tankmates. Is this true? Also, are they hard to feed? (my Trigger and especially my Damsel are mean and quick eaters) Thanks for the help! -David

 

[davidcanupp]

So what about something like a Lunare Wrasse in the 55? Or something like a Grouper (That is, until it grows too big). Just some thoughts, what do you guys think?

 

[craigj]

Both lunare wrasses and all grouper(with the exception of the gold-striped soapfish) need very large tanks in my opinion. Both are very aggressive too. I have heard many horror stories about lunares. If I were you, I would not add either one of these. Instead, I would go with a snowflake eel. They take up hardly any space at all and are very peaceful but can hold their own against a trigger.

 

[fixitdude2001]

A snowflake eel would be a great addition. I would get one two to three times the size in length. But I will warn you.... We have two of them and ours have grown faster than anything else . First one {Snowy} got him when he was 12- 15 inches, know he is two foot- this only took 9 months. number 2{ little snowy}got him at about 6-8 inches know 10 inches or more in 3 months. I dont no if they all grow that fast but ours did, But I would not be without a snowflake eel they are just to darn intresting . also with the other two fish you have you might just have to get a feeding stick to get it down to him, . This is fun to do but, Myself like to go fishing for them bear handed , big snowy takes it gently little snowy isnt quite ready for that tho- he is a bully and he always gets enough to eat...cya....fixit

 

[pufferlover]

I to in the beginning fed with a feeding stick to my snowflake, but it to now comes to the top and I use a pair of plastic tweezers to give it its food. My Golden Moray is still able to be fed with the stick and in the tank it is in (my 135) I prefer it stay that way as not to spook the other fish who had the tank to themselves for 4 and half years before the Golden was added a few months ago. I never cared much for eels and my son kept working on me till I got one then another and then a 3rd (lost one the baby snow died after 6 months). I don't think I could have a tank without one now as they are darn fine additions to a FO tank.

 

[craigj]

Did you have a problem with what I said earlier Snowflake? That is in fact what snowflakes are like...peaceful in manner(i've yet to see otherwise) but they are tough enough to be kept with triggers (i've yet to see one get picked on by a trigger). I would think someone with the name SnowflakeEel would know a little more about them.

 

[craigj]

OH,well in that case, all is forgiven.

 

[npaladen]

I have a snowflake and he is quite peaceful with his tank mates. The only problem he ever has is if one of them goes after his food. I think in fact that my fish like to tease him and purposely try and get his food just to upset him. But I have had no problems, this is my second one and they have both been great. Except that my first one tragically committed suicide one night when I left a whole oncovered on the top of my tank . So I say keep the tank covered and go for an eel.

 

[fixitdude2001]

Hi craigj, I love my two snowflakes and as I said would not be without one but, I have seen this awfull thing happen to a snowflake. We go to our favorite local coral store wich is 50 miles from us[anyway]looking at all there fish I noticed a tank with 2-3 baby snowys and 2-3 undilated triggers and, guess what they were eating. I whent right up and told the guys but it was too late. they did scoop out the remaining eels but it didnt make me feel much better. I will say I dont think all are safe with triggers. some yes but not all. Undilated triggers are unpridictably meeeean. I just responded so anyone not knowing about the undilated trigger would not try this as you said you never seen a trigger do this. All triggers were not created equal....cya ..fixit

 

[craigj]

Yeah you're right...I should have specified. I myself do not really consider the undulate much. I'm not sure really why anyone would want to keep them. So when I say triggers, I mean every one except the undulate. Just about everyone knows the undulate should be kept in solitude.

 

[fixitdude2001]

Whats a real shame is the undilated trigger is really a beauty. We had one when we first set up ,our local guy said suuuure they are compatible, our dottyback didnt think so, I bet the undilated wasnt in the tank 5 min and the dotty was shredded along with choco chip star. He whent back to the LFS and I tell ya what he got a big earfull and I got credit, big deal tell that to the starfish and poor dotty . I am really glad this guy is out of buisness now,, what a donkey, you know what eye mean....cya ...fixit