Growth Rate Question

[BlAcK VoLiTaN ';.;']

Well I would like to know the growth rate of a clown trigger?

Don't get mad maybe by the time it out grows out of my 125G tank I'll have a 300G.

I have just quit my paper route 100 something $ a week and my family has a new custodian job at a local church,(biggest church in town :eek: ) and we haven't got paid, because we've only been doing it for a week.

p.s of course I will get rid of my lionfish TriggerAddict

[mattsilvester]

If you feed the clown trigger as often as you should, then he'll grow quick ..... an inch a month until he's 6 or 7" ....then maybe 1/2" a month until he's over 10". Starting with say a 2-3" specimen, in a good system, with plenty of good food ........ well I'd expect him to reach 9 or 10" in a year, and much less than that isn't really healthy.......

At this stage, his growth would slow right down, very rapidly, and he might put on a few inches in the next year..... I'd expect him to be a 12" inside 2 years.

In a 125 ..... well he'll outgrow that pretty quick if you expect him to share the space with others...... but alone, then you could squeeze him in there for a year I suppose - not ideal, but better than most.

Problem I see with doing this is that triggers can be very much a product of their environment. This, in my experience is two fold.

(1) Put in a nice big tank, with future tankmates, from the outset with mean much higher chances of the fish remaining a socialable (spelling) animal. He is less likely to see these tankmates as threats, and with loads of space, will feel far more comfortable and relaxed .... and hopefully will never "learn" to be mean and aggressive. However, in morecramped conditions, the fish will learn to be mean out of necessity ....and once he discovers how fun it is to be a bully, then he won't "un-learn" this behaviour.

(2) Should you manage to grow him on, with suitable tankmates, in the 125, then the trauma of moving him might in turn bring about huge behavioural swings......and again, if he is put in the position where he needs to fight for a sleeping space etc, then he will quickly learn his own strength etc.

So, my advice, get him into his final home ASAP and let him there, because disrupting the happy home can sometimes mean that all the pieces of a puzzle will not go back together.

But I guess you know you are gambling with this one anyway .....

Good luck,
Matt

[BlAcK VoLiTaN ';.;']

Thank you for your information matt between your post and talking to my and and researching I'll probably wait till I have enough for a 220G. To get a trigger tank G'night :sleep:

[JAH]

I don't buy that for a minute, my brother has housed a clown trigger for 5 years in his 125g, he is happy, healthy, and a gentle giant, never hurt any fish in his tank, he is about 7 inches long and eats like crazy but doesn't seem to grow very fast. Now there have been times, while on vacation, where the clown would be on a limited diet for a week or two, but that is bound to happen to any aquarium. He has been moved to three locations in that time. Every fish is different and every fish has its own personality. His other tank mates for the last 5 years have been a fermosa wrasse, naso tang, and a star and stripes puffer, along with varius other fish over the years. So what do you have to say about that?:D

[mattsilvester]

JAH,
That is what makes clown triggers so appealing - the "possibility" of them being a "gentle giant". Some folks would argue it is a case of when, and if he looses the rag....... but I think it is "if".
If it were the case that all were complete lunatics, and totally vicious, then it would be easy to say "beautiful but not feasible". And likewise, if they were easy to keep, and totally un-aggressive, then folks probably wouldn't be so attracted to them .....

Your brother has suceeded despite of its possible aggression, not because of it ...... he's been lucky, and chances are he'll stay lucky....

As to why he hasn't grown as quick as I ould expect..... don't know why.... some fish grow quicker than others..... but any experience I've had with these fish, and what I have seen and heard, and read about suggests they grow very quickly for the first 12 months, reasonably quick for the next 12, and then slowly for the remainder ......

Your brothers tank is probably quite a good system, but cannot be described as ideal for a fish over 6" long...... had the trigger been started at a couple of inches, been fed a good varied diet, in a stable lightly stocked system, with plenty of water changes etc, and no competition, and then been transferred to a bigger tank at the size of 6", then I bet he'd have grown alot faster.

I think the thing is, is that the original question here was "how quick will a clown trigger grow" ..... but the context was not entirely clear...... grow rate under ideal conditions, and growth rate under average conditions, and growth rate under poor conditions will be very different ...... I'd put your brothers system under "average" ..... I'd put my description under "ideal".... :-)

As far as aggression goes..... I honestly never thought I'd see a regal(hippo) tang go mental..... but mine did. After 4 years as the most peaceful, easy going fish, he literally turned into a demon over night..... hammering a pink tail ALOT bigger than him, a mac angel, and tore half the pectoral fins off my volitan...... not likely, and certainly not typical.......

HTH

Matt

[JAH]

Matt,

Yea, I see your point. These are unique fish, one thing this particular clown was raised with other fish since he was quite young and that may have had an ifluence in his personality as an adult.

Jodey

[SamsonNY]

I've had my clown trigger for about 6 months and he's definitely healthy and very thick, but he's not growing an inch per month.

I got him around 3-4" and he's around 6" now. (Maybe 7"; it's tough chasing him around the tank with the ruler.. :D )

I feed once to four times daily. He's super healthy and beautiful but, not growing that fast.

Diet is:
Cut-up shrimp
Aquadyne wafers
Formula one frozen
Formula two pellets
Formula frozen angel

(He eats everytime food is dropped into the tank).

[Triggeraddict]

I haven't experienced a very quick growth rate up till recently. He stayed pretty constant at 3-4 inches for several months now over the past month has grown at least an inch and is now starting to encroach on 6 inches. He is still the most peaceful trigger I own so will see what happens. I attached a pic, he still has some of his typical juvie colors (he must like them since I have seen many triggs his size that have completly lost their color but its okay, makes him look cool) sorry for the not clean glass, he won't pose if it is clean. That is him under faded NO bulbs, I'm getting PC's for the tank for Christmas so can hardly wait to show off his vibrant colors. Anyway, hope this helps and I knew you weren't going to add him with a Volitan Blk Volitan, no worries.