I have read different information on triggers, can triggers ie. a picasso trigger be kept in a reef tank or do they need a predator tank?

All of the triggerfish just love to munch on corals, algaes, inverts, and crustaceans...so, nope...sorry!
greg

Hi Oscar, Your not thinking of keeping an octo with a picasso trigger are you? I hope not, because the octo would probably become food for the trigger. I had a 10" Picasso in my reef for some time. He ate all shrimp, crabs and snails in the tank and was quite unruly. Didn't bother the corals, though. He was just way to aggressive at feeding time. I also have a large zebra moray eel in the tank that I hand feed and "Wilson", (my trigger) was making it nearly impossible to feed him. Attacking my hand and stealing the food before the rather slow eel would have a chance to get it. He was a great fish loaded with personality but I would never put another in my reef. I sold him and he's now in a 180g fish only tank at a doctors house, doing well last I heard. If you must have a trigger, check into the "blue jaw" trigger. They're very layed back and a lot of fun.

Spring

Would triggers do well with a blue regal tang, a couple of damsels and a cleaner wrasse in a tank with just live rock?

what size trigger? If cleaner wrasse and damsels are under 2 inches they will become food for sure. If the blue tang is over 2 inches it should be ok.

It really depends on which trigger you get. Pink Tails, Blue Jaws and Sargassism Triggers are considered pretty reef safe. My blue jaw is a sweetheart. I don't think I'd add any of the more aggressive triggers like a clown or undulated. Keep the trigger smaller than the current fish in the tank. My Picasso didn't pick on any of the other fish, just inverts. He did try to eat a rather large blue spotted watchman as I released it from the bag once. Had the goby in his mouth up to the gills and then spit him out. That was one lucky goby. :wink:

Spring

I was thinking of a 2 inch picasso. Do nigger triggers fare well?

no, i wasnt thinking about putting a trigger with an octopus - i dont really want to know what would happen!...do you think...never mind

i couldnt find anything on sargissism triggers or whatever, the pink tail and blue jaws are nice looking, but the picasso was just soo cool! lol

oh well, maybe a predator tank one day

thanks for you help

Niger Triggers are one of the less aggressive types also. Forgot to include it above. I had one a couple years ago when I was first starting my marine tank. He stayed hid a lot in the rock. A 2" Picasso would most likely do well. Just remember that a 2" trigger will quickly grow into a 6" trigger and then up to 10" or so. Just be careful adding any new fish when it starts to get larger!

Spring

Any Idea how fast the triggers grow? Maybe I'll look for one of those three "peaceful" triggers. I was also thinking of a yellow tang, would this go well with the blue regal I already have?

does that mean that if the trigger is the last fish introduced and it is small when it is introduced it should be fine with most things?

Triggers are voracious eaters so they grow pretty fast., At least the ones I've had, did. I added a yellow tang to my tank that already has a red sea sailfin tang and a blond naso, and he was initially pick on by the sailfin, But they are the same species, Zebrasoma. This lasted about a week, but now all are happy. The naso didn't bother the yellow at all. I think you could add it ok. (JMO)

Oscar, You'll have better luck if the more aggressive fish is added last, in most cases. That's not to say that when it grows and becomes comfortable it might not become the tank boss, but it will usually tolerate the fish it grew up with.

Spring

j

i only kept a niger trigger for a few days.

It was the last fish into a tank i had and the bloody thing kept nipping at the tails of the rays i had... it was fished straight back out of that tank and back to the shop!

sorry to hear that joel - maybe i should leave triggers to the experts for a while or at least untill ive got some more experience!!! :|

Sorry bout what Oscar?

How big were those rays Colin?

oh...sorry - not joel!! colin!!

im looking at 2nd hand tanks on the trading post and classifieds! any comments or suggestions? I asked someone about copper meds being used by previous owners of a tank and he said copper is netralised within about 2 months!!

Is this correct? Otherwise there was a treatment (cant remember the name) which claimed to make a tank invert-safe after copper meds - any thoughts - does it work?

We've had numerous discussions about copper here in Ceph Care - why don't you search on it and read the various contributions. The end result was that copper is not neutralized and does not disappear - there seems to be no safe way to make this happen.

Nancy