Triggers...The Good...The Bad....The Ugly

[barrera23]

I've talked to atleast 10 different people in my area in regards to Triggers and get all different answers, for instance.......
Some say A Niger Trigger is one of the most aggressive fish ....
Others say Nigers are the friendly Triggers.
Some Say Pink Tail Triggers Are as Agressive as Ungelated and Clown Triggers ......
Others say Pink tails are real calm.
Some say it is okay to put a Niger and a Pink Tail together
Others say its a bad Idea
some say a Niger is more agressive then a HUmu Humu
(personal experiance The Humu ripped the Niger a new corn hole)
Some say a Clown Trigger will Kill all other Triggers
The others say a CLown will do just fine
If you guys can help I would appriciate if you can tell me what Triggers are the ones to stay away from

 

[luckyk0505]

Queen..
Unless your tank is bigger than 500

 

[snakes'n'fish]

There is no real guide to how triggers will get along with each other. Niger is probably the most passive of that group. Followed by the pink tail. Undulateds, huma huma and clowns are all pretty aggressive fish. I have an undulated in my trigger tank now, he is the smallest of the triggers and he holds his own VERY well againt the picasso and rectanglus. I have not had a clown, but they can be real terrors.
Triggers to stay away from, I agree Queens are just plain nasty and titans as well. (though I don't think you will see a titan at your local LFS, of course ya never know ) They both get very big. Nigers being one of the more peaceful triggers also get very big 16 + inches, so you will need a monster tank for one of those as well.
Mixing them, well it is kind of a roll of the dice. There are people on here who have a niger with a huma and never had a bit of a problem. Me personally, I think my huma would make short work of a niger. He is trully a aggressive trigger.
Do you your research , see what other people say. Kind of go from there.
HTH
Brian

 

[aquarius 1]

When it comes to triggers and any fish for that matter, it really all comes down to each invidual fish's disposition and personality. Despite all the research I've done on the aggressiveness of Clowns, Nigers, and Picassos, I've never ever had an aggression problem with any of these fish (Except for the undulate who was just plain nasty.) Whether it be a tang, an angel, or a trigger, there's always a 50/50 chance that your fish turns out to be aggressive. You may get a Picasso trigger that turns out to be a complete nightmare, or by the same token, a perfect citizen. It's all a matter of luck. As far as doing your research, most of the things that you read about aggression are heavily generalized accounts, so take it for what it's worth and then make your own decision after taking this info. into consideration.
From what I've heard though, you should stay away from Undulated, Queens, and Titan triggers because they can get pretty ruthless.

 

[grouperhead]

All fish have different personalities. I've seen nigers that beat the crud out of clown triggers, and I've seen nigers peaceful with clownfish, tangs, and wrasses. It's best to add the most predictable trigger first to a tank. Bo

 

[gibbus]

I agree with Grouperhead
Overall the most aggressive are the queens and titans. I have not seen a queen in person. I would like to get one if i get a 200 gallon tank

 

[bullshark]

I have kept triggers for years and years. After a SCUBA trip to Cayman Brac I decided that a Queen Trigger was the fish for me. I looked for the right size one. Took a while, but I found one that a guy needed to get rid of. When I showed up at his house I should have known. The queen was in a tank by itself. I got him home, dripped my water into the bucket to acclimate him. Put him in the tank and all seemed well. The tank was a 180gal with a Harliquin Tusk, a very large Niger trigger, and an Undulated. The queen trigger was the smallest of them all. He killed everything else in the tank, within a matter of two or three days.
Moral of the story: Some fish are just no good in a community tank and should be kept alone or not at all.
Dont learn the hard way.

 

[gibbus]

BullShark
How big was the queen?

 

[barrera23]

I have a Humu Humu who beat up my Niger but the Niger beat up my Pink Tail.The Pink Tail beat up my Lunar Wrasse so they all got split up except for the Niger and the Wrasse. The Pink Tail was the biggest and the Humu was the Smallest but The Humu was the most F'd up

 

[armageddon]

mixing an undulated with anything is a gamble. I have a huma mixed with a niger and a SFE and he stays away from them. He got a hold of my hand again the other day. He is maturing into an aggressive specimen.

 

[dubba-r]

How about a bluelline (fuscus) trigger? Ive read they can be aggressive and can also coexist with other larger tankmates. Any here with long term experience?

 

[grouperhead]

Blue-lines get way too big for most home aquariums. The only thing I'd keep them with are other large triggers, large eels, and large groupers. They are mean suckers. Bo

 

[bullshark]

The Queen was around 5 inches. And mean as hell. He would click his jaws together in the tank and scare off all the other guys.

 

[gibbus]

Queens are one of the nastiest triggers. I have kept both the ungulate and niger triggers. I have found the niger to be peaceful he was kept with a percula clown.
We had Blueline trigger at work in our4,000 gallon display tank. It bite me twice when i was cleaning the tank. However it could eaten by the black tip in the tank.

 

[lisalgk]

We have a Niger and a Pink Tail in our 125 gal. tank.
The Pink Tail is a bit larger, and is definitely the aggressor. (approx. 5.5")
The Niger is a sweetheart, and has never been aggressive toward any of the fish. (or shrimp, etc.) (approx. 4") Her name is "Bubbles", and she thinks she's a shark. (She swims with her fin above the water line.) I adore her!!
We also have a Porcupine Puffer (Sid) (approx. 3.5") He's adorable!!!

 

[patandlace]

We are thinking about a blue throat trigger. I read that they aren't that aggressive. Has anyone had any experience with these?

 

[tjake68]

i keep quite a few triggers i have a niger and blue throat in a 75 no problem i have a titan ,a bursa,a ungulated,aredtooth niger in a 300 gallon with a huge violtion lion and stars and stripes puffer the ungulated is a teror the rest are very peacefull so far there all about 6 inches i also have a small fuscus (blueline) about 3inches hes growing in a 55 gallon this fish is a eating machine hes also a terror he will atack any fish twice his size im wating to put him in my big tank. my experiance with these great fish is that they all have there own personality i have seen calm timid clowns and nigers that will kill anything you take a chance with any one but they have a worse reputation then they realy are certain triggers just have to be added to your tank last triggers with pointy mouths are usally more aggresive where ones with rounded mouths set higher on thier heads are alot calmer and some are even reef safe like pink tail bluethroat they just give so much waste you need a large reef tank these triggers are mid water feeders and the pointed mouths are predators they use thier pointed mouths to get in crevices or to get into shells of hermit crabs they also stick thier mouths in crvices and blow air till they blow out whatever thier looking for and then they eat whatever was hiding i also keep red starry hermitcrabs with my triggers ill lose 1 or 2 every couplle of months in my opinion these are the best fish to keep hardy and easy to keep good luck you never know what youll get with these fish a terror or a calm one

 

[stella]

I have the Sargassum and Picasso together... as of today..... no problems

 

[dual45s]

Here's a question to all you trigger-happy guys/gals, is there something that can hold its own with a highly-aggressive trigger? I'm (possibly) planning a large aggressive tank and don't want 220 gallons of buffet for a single fish. Essentially, I'm looking for something that will hold it's own against a clown or queen.

 

[nigerbang]

I've got a Niger and a Humu in the tank together and they have never bothered each other. The Humu likes the taste of snails though