Questions about Trigger Fish

[brian j]

I bought a Undulated Trigger for my first fish in a 55 gal FO.My question is what else if any fish can I keep with such as a yellow tang,Lion fish,or any other Triggers?What can you feed them other than goldfish.I found some stuff at a supermarket sea food shop called Sea food Medley it contains clams,cuttlefish,shrimp,octopus,mussels its frozen and in perfect size pieces for him, would all of this be good to feed?
Thanks Brian!!

 

[barry]

Well Congratulations, you just got yourself the "demon" of triggers. Undulated are very beautiful, but they will generally kill any other fish which has no defenses. He would just LOVE to eat a pretty yellow tang. He would probably start by stripping the tang's fins raw until the bone was exposed then he would finally go for the kill. (I have seen this first hand.) The undulated loves to chew on coral skeletons and demolish all tank decor as well! Now that I have scared you, here are the positives: You CAN add a good sized lionfish. You CAN add a BIGGER trigger of another species provided there are enough hiding places. I am sorry I gave you the gory details. I just want to save you any grief with other fish, etc. Best luck with him!
P.S. I would stay away from live feedings for this fish, so he will be less apt to think of his tankmates as "live food" when he is hungry.
[This message has been edited by barry (edited 06-28-2000).]

 

[brian j]

What other kind of trigger would be good?I would like a Clown but they are a little bit out of my price range,what would be another choice?what would be a good Lion to put with him,and how much bigger does he need to be?I what to try to stay away from the bigger ones since I only have a 55 gal.My Undulated is about 4" long.Sorry for all the ? I just hate to feed him a high $ meal!!!Thanks again for any info Brian!

 

[fishgirl]

Get a lion or a Picasso or clown(juvi) or queen(juvi) trigger that's bigger. It is true that undulated triggers are the most agressive of all triggers, but just because of this dosn't mean they're not some of the the coolest fish ever!! Don't turn it back...just cuz he's not what you expected..he's really cool and most people don't give them a chance.

 

[barry]

Queen Triggers are good at holding there own. A Bursa or Huma would be great too. I would just stay away from a Niger since they tend to be very shy and delicate in comparison with some of the others in this group. I think a clown trigger would be awsome, but besides the cost, your tank is new so I would make sure it stablizes fully before adding anything real pricey anyway. HAVE FUN!

 

[veskas]

Just my opinion, but you really have to raed up on these fish so that you don't make EXPENSIVE mistakes!!! The undulated trigger will kill the others (even larger fish except maybe the queen trigger!). Either resign yourself to having only one fish in that 55 (which is too small anyway!) or return the fish & start over! No offense!