Fish Survey: Clown Triggerfish

[Seafan]

If you currently keep this fish, please select the options starting with "current owner"; if you kept this fish in the past and no longer keep the same fish, please select options starting with "past owner".

If you could take some time and share your experience with this fish, please take the following survey. I will then put together a web page of this fish like THIS ONE

Thanks!

Jason

[Seafan]

The following is is a list of questions/topics about this fish species. If you would like to include them in your reply, click on the last icon of this post (Reply with Quote), and remove the [ QUOTE ] [ B ] tag in the beginning and the [/QUOTE][/B] at the end.

SELECTION
Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish? Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where?
Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS? What do you think is the ideal size to get?
Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species?
Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish?

ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish?
Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen?
Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank?

COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank?
Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school?
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank?
What’s the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you?
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)?
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)?
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)?
Did this fish hurt/eat Mollusks (snails, clams, oysters, mussels)?
Did this fish hurt/eat Echinoderms (sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins)?
Did this fish hurt/eat Worms (feather dusters, flat worms, etc)?

FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first?
If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food?
What’s the diet?
How much and how often do you feed?
How does this fish eat?(grazers, active or sedentary predators, sand sifters, etc)
Does this fish eat any microalgae or macroalgae in your tank? If so what type of algae?

GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)?
What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish?
If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take?
How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause?
What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported?

DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment?

BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances?
Does this fish dig the substrate often?
How active is this fish? Is this fish shy?
How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates?
Did this fish ever jump out of the tank?
How does this fish sleep?
Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often?
How does this fish interact with human?
Did the fish release toxic substance that killed other creatures in the tank?
Any other interesting observation of this fish?

REPRODUCTION
If you have a mated pair, how did you get them to pair up?
Any information of spawning in captivity?

SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species -
How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5?
1 - very tolerant, may survive a cycle in a new tank
2 - quite tolerant, may survive accidental ammonia or nitrite spike
3 - not terribly sensitive to reasonable pH, salinity or temperature changes
4 - sensitive to any significant water chemistry changes, and may show stress during such changes
5 - very sensitive to water quality, may easily get stressed and get sick with any change in water chemistry
Do you think we should not keep this fish (for what reason)?
Would you recommend this fish to beginners?
Is this fish best kept in mature/established (6 months or older) tank?
Any other recommendations/comments?

REFERENCES
Do you have any links to web sites, online articles or any other source of information about this species that you would recommend?

If you have any picture(s) of this fish you took, please post it here and share with us!

[moonpod]

Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish? Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where? no, got it from the LFS. To my knowledge it is not captive bred

Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS? What do you think is the ideal size to get?don't get a huge one or a tiny one. in between is good. should not be thin, should be active and inquisitive and eating

Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species? yes, the spots change a bit and the yellow can become more pronounced. It's not like super dramatic.

ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish? no, like all other fish temp and ph match and then drip and intro

Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen? don't get a super small one...the middle sizes have no special requirements beyond a good tank

Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank? last...they are no pushovers and can in fact become pretty violent


COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank? It is a FO type fish, it is a "rough and tumble" fish--mine ended up in a species tank w/a friend taking care of it after I left

Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school? never tried, wouldn't try

Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank?ditto

What’s the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you?
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)? it became a mean, antisocial, but full of character fish, hence it went into a species tank instead of back to the store. It killed several other fish
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)?yes, but it "sampled" them, never really "ate" them

Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)? oh yeah....

Did this fish hurt/eat Mollusks (snails, clams, oysters, mussels)?did someone say lunch?

Did this fish hurt/eat Echinoderms (sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins)?no experience
Did this fish hurt/eat Worms (feather dusters, flat worms, etc)?no experience


FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first? Uh, I was feeding the other fish and it decided food was good

If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food? prepared food from the start

What’s the diet? crustaceans, urchin, formula foods

How much and how often do you feed? twice a day, quite a bit really

How does this fish eat?search and destroy

Does this fish eat any microalgae or macroalgae in your tank? If so what type of algae? not that I noticed


GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)? about 2 inches to 9 inches in 1.5 years

What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish? 30 to 90 to 90 species. Probably deserves a 125 or bigger

If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take? n/a

How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause? I moved

What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported? I think lifespans greater than 10 years in captivity are reported, but I'm not sure


DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment? N/A


BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances? yeah it gets pale when freaked out

Does this fish dig the substrate often? yeah it digs a lot

How active is this fish? Is this fish shy? wasn't shy at all, constantly exploring, digging, biting

How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates? started out ok, then decided the whole tank was his/its

Did this fish ever jump out of the tank? no

How does this fish sleep? like all triggers in a rock or cave

Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often? N/A
How does this fish interact with human? you could hand feed it, but it'll bite ya

Did the fish release toxic substance that killed other creatures in the tank? no
Any other interesting observation of this fish? killer fish for a BIG tank or a species tank

SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species -
How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5? not that sensitive really, but I wouldn't ever cycle w/any fish. Would probably survive ammonia spikes, but why chance it?

Do you think we should not keep this fish (for what reason)? you just gotta know what you're in for
Would you recommend this fish to beginners? no b/c most don't have tanks big enough
Is this fish best kept in mature/established (6 months or older) tank? most are, but that's not realistic
Any other recommendations/comments? no

[SamsonNY]

Seafan: Good idea.

MoonPod: Great informative reply post!

If you don't mind, a few questions for you:

1.- I feed the clown trigger (and all fish) once a day (dinner). Any problems with this?

2.- Pale coloration when "freaked out": My clown does his pale coloration when he goes into dormant stage at night (usually wedged between some corals) and I've read that's normal.
BUT: after a heavy feeding, he also goes pale even though the lights on the tank are all on and all of the other fish are wide awake. He'll stay like this for a few moments and suddenly wake up again. Weird. Is this "somewhat" normal? Nothing in the tank is freaking him out. I watch him eat and then, (with a full belly) get pale and "take a nap". Nothing in those few moments freaked him out.

3.- Growth rate: Wow: 2" to 9" in a year and a half. Is that exceptionally fast? Or average? Feeding twice a day a big factor in that growth rate versus feeding once a day?

Thanks.
Richard.

[moonpod]

samson, I think most fish benefit from more than one feeding a day--in the wild they generally eat all day. Triggers constantly pick at stuff when you see them in the wild.

I think the color thing and your trigger is normal

as for growth rate it's the only one I kept, and we fed it a lot cause it was "fun". weekly 10% water changes and the nitrates were still off the scale, but the trigger didn't care.

[JDM130]

Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish? Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where?

1.) Got mine from a LFS, no breeding in captivity to my knowledge.

Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS?

2.) Looked around until I found an active swimmer and a good feeder with an overall disease free aperence.

What do you think is the ideal size to get?

3.) Something above 2" but below 7"

Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species?

4.) Yes, color paterns are different. Juviniles have an almost yellow head kind of like they are wearing a mask, as they mature this yellow only covers the mouth area and a "ring" developes around the mouth as well. There are some other minor changes as well.

Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish?

5.) Not to my knowledge, but I have heard the males have deeper colors, but this is not confirmed to my knowledge.

ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish?

6.) no more then any other SW fish.


Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen?

7.) Keep them well fed especially when young. Also obvious water quality issues.


Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank?

8.) IMO, the last.

COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank?

9.) Mine was in a FO tank as is my current one. My last one lived with a Queen Angel, HUGE Volitian Lion, Tesselatta Moray, Large Naso, and a Panther Grouper.


Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school?
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank?

10.) NO, Only 1 per tank. as far as I know, they are not schooling fish like some other Triggers. I currently have a Clown trigger and a Queen Trigger together with no problems.

What’s the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you?

11.) Clown Trigger was in the tank first and was about 7" when I introduced a juvi. Queen about 2-1/2"

Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)?

12.) I have owned 2 Clown Triggers, either one was aggressive.

Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)?
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)?
Did this fish hurt/eat Mollusks (snails, clams, oysters, mussels)?
Did this fish hurt/eat Echinoderms (sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins)?
Did this fish hurt/eat Worms (feather dusters, flat worms, etc)?

13.) N/A

FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first?

14.) Easy, just threw in some cut shrimp and he chowed down within an hour after being in the tank.

If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food?

15.) N/A

What’s the diet?
How much and how often do you feed?
How does this fish eat?(grazers, active or sedentary predators, sand sifters, etc)
Does this fish eat any microalgae or macroalgae in your tank? If so what type of algae?

16.) Mine eats everything, I feed fresh shrimp, clams, scallops, squid or whatever else is on sale at the grocery store as well as silver sides. I feed a few times a day usually twice a day. These fish eat most anything, but do tend to get picky from time to time, sometimes mine turns away certain foods and the next day accepts them again. Mine loves caulerpa and romain lettuce, it actually eats more of it then my Angel.

GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)?

17.) Both were around 3" when I got them. My last one lived to 11 years old and was around 14" It grew fast for the first 7" or so then dramatically slowed down after that. My current one is about 1 year give or take, and is about 5".

What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish?

18.) Mine were in a 180, now in a 360. I would not put this fish in less then a 150 unless it was a juvenile.

If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take?

19.) Yes, less then a year.

How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause?

20.) My last one I kept for 11 years. I lost him to a bacterial infection from my Grouper bighting him in the face to steel food from his mounth :-(
My current one is alive and kickin! :-)

What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported?

21.) Not sure, I believe they can reach 24" in the wild, not sure about captivity. I believe they can live up to 20 years in captivity. Maybe more.

DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment?

22.) None, Only a bacterial infection that rapidly consumed the fish, tried anti biotics to no avail. This fish died one week to the day after being bitten.

BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances?

23.)Yes, turns pale when sleeping.

Does this fish dig the substrate often?

24.) Mine never did.

How active is this fish? Is this fish shy?

25.) very very active. Not shy at all.

How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates?

26.) Not aggressive at all, but my last one was getting grumpy with age, he didnt tollerate much from other tank mates. My current one has not bothered anything.


Did this fish ever jump out of the tank?

27.) NO

How does this fish sleep?

28.) Usually in a cave upside down or on it's side.

Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often?

29.) N/A

How does this fish interact with human?

30.) Incredible, very excited when I come to the tank. Almost like a dog when you come home from work. Both of mine would lay on their side so I could pet them.

Did the fish release toxic substance that killed other creatures in the tank?

31.) NO

Any other interesting observation of this fish?

32.) not really, read above, pretty much sums it all up.

REPRODUCTION
If you have a mated pair, how did you get them to pair up?
Any information of spawning in captivity?

33.) NA

SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species -
How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5?
1 - very tolerant, may survive a cycle in a new tank
2 - quite tolerant, may survive accidental ammonia or nitrite spike
3 - not terribly sensitive to reasonable pH, salinity or temperature changes
4 - sensitive to any significant water chemistry changes, and may show stress during such changes
5 - very sensitive to water quality, may easily get stressed and get sick with any change in water chemistry

34.) 2 I personally would never cycle a tank with one of these incredible fish.

Do you think we should not keep this fish (for what reason)?
Would you recommend this fish to beginners?

35.) I would recommen this fish to a beginner.

Is this fish best kept in mature/established (6 months or older) tank?

36.) Yes, IMO, give your filtration time to mature, these are messy eaters becuase they chen instead of evgulfing

Any other recommendations/comments?

36.) Give them lots of swimming room, a varried diet, good water qualty, A BIG Skimmer, and you'll have a great pet for many years to come.

REFERENCES

Do you have any links to web sites, online articles or any other source of information about this species that you would recommend?

37.) Not off the top of my head.

If you have any picture(s) of this fish you took, please post it here and share with us

38.) Look next to my name :-)

[Jon_Hewett_85]

Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish? We kept it on display at the LFS where i work
Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where? no
Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS? make sure they are parasite free
What do you think is the ideal size to get? 4-5"
Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species? no
Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish? no

ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish? same for other sw fish
Same for other fish
Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen? nope
Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank? THE VERY LAST!

COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank? We had it with a BIG niger, and a big angle...and a BIG naso tang
Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school? NO
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank? yes, a BIG niger
What’s the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you?the last fish introduced
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)? YEs...will eat anything
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)?Yup ate corals
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)? ...nothing but a snack
Did this fish hurt/eat Mollusks (snails, clams, oysters, mussels)?loved em
Did this fish hurt/eat Echinoderms (sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins)? ate em
Did this fish hurt/eat Worms (feather dusters, flat worms, etc)?ate them to
FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first? dumped food in the tank
If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food?
What’s the diet? anything and everything
How much and how often do you feed? every other day....mix of stuff..mysis, squid, shrimp, noi
How does this fish eat?(grazers, active or sedentary predators, sand sifters, etc) all of the above
Does this fish eat any microalgae no

GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? 14" How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)? noe
What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish 240outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish? as BIG as possible
If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete?n/a How long did it take?
How long have you kept this fish?
we had it for severalIf you no longer have this fish, what was the cause? passed onto a bigger system
What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported? 20 years in captivity
DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment? It would occasionally develop some sort of whitish parasites on the eyes/skin. A FW dip would clear them right up

BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances? pale when stressed
Does this fish dig the substrate often? yup
How active is this fish? Is this fish shy? VERY active...not shy at all
How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates? definatly one MEAN mofo...he would fight the mag-float. Left goges in the acrylic a couple of times trying to get through the glass at me.
Did this fish ever jump out of the tank? mp[e
How does this fish sleep? in a cave
Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often? no....it eats em
How does this fish interact with human? Trys to attack
Did the fish release toxic substance that killed other creatures in the tank? no
Any other interesting observation of this fish?
this is one of the meanest fish i've ever seen...for some reason it would tolerate one or two other fish...but if they got in its way.. it would let them know who's boss.

[Seafan]

Thanks for all the input! I've put together a web page for this fish based on your posts:

Clown Trigger FAQs

more input is always welcome!

Jason

[SamsonNY]

I'd say very good job. And, thanks for the photo credit.

The only minor technical point is that when I click the first "rating descriptions" button, nothing happens. But, when I click the second one, it works. Just an FYI.

But, definitely a good, quick, complete reference to those interested in the Clown Trigger.

[Triggerfish]

this fish was a great eater.
he was under 1" at first then grew to over 4" in 1 year.

became too aggressive in the 55 tank with picasso and naso tang.
perhaps the tank was just too small.
traded him in for something else.
would love to get another.

[aquababy]

I am somewhat new to the operation of these boards - quotes etc. but have taken some time to write the following (although incomplete I am getting sleepy and may come back to finish another day - I also have a decent picture or two but was warned about posting on the board. I will try to post it on some other space and link it later.
I imported this fish from Bali - a really decent supplier amongst many. I ordered it for a maintenace co. caring for a large tank at one of the local McDonald Restaurants. It was over 10" long as requested (XXL). Consideringthat these triggers will go to the rocks for protection and wedge themselves in with the use of their trigger extended such that you couldn't get one out without a pliers, most of these fish - usually the tiny and small ones - are chemical captured. I have noticed that the small one seemed to be more triangular shaped than the longer adult sized. Because the maintenance guy never came to pick up this fish for various reasons and because the pet shops in my area were not really interested in a fish this size I had to keep him for over a year and a half. I feed him nothing I would not eat myself from the fresh fish department at the local supermarket where the workers still ask how my fish is doing. When feeding, especially fresh cold water atlntic mussels the colors would intensify noticeably (Green stripe across the face, yellow lips and other markings). When hungry he was a maniac, when full I could pet and scratch his his head and nose. He would spit water at me when hungry coming three to four inches or more out of the water to what seemed like a dog begging. I contacted "Thiel" who claimed to be breeding these asking for body shape differences between male & female but he never responded. To see any difference on should view about 8 -12 sexually mature specimens and scrutinize them for some time - like in th eold days picking out breeding stock of fresh water angels and discus. I WILL TRY TO RETURN AND FINISH THIS QUESTIONAIRE AND PROVIDE PICTURES. There should be a better way to set this up. I never had to answer so many questions all at once - what a survey!

[aquababy]

TWICE NOW AND AT THE EXPENSE OF MUCH TIME I HAVE TRIED TO ANSWER EVERY QUESTION IN YOUR SURVEY - PICTURES INCLUDED - ONLY TO BE PUT DOWN BY RC SERVER PROBLEMS. I AM GETTING A LITTLE DIZZY AND FRUSTRATED. IF I FEEL BETTER AT SOME OTHER TIME I MIGHT TRY AGAIN - SORRY!

[aquababy]

SELECTION

Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish?
No. No comment.
Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where?
I do not know.

Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS? What do you think is the ideal size to get?
Received specimen from reliable Bali supplier. Should look for undamaged, disease free fish that eats food before purchase. Allow a few days to a week between moving from one environment to another.
Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species?
The very small speciment seem to be more triangular shaped as opposed to the longer bodied larger adults. My guess it is due to mature internal sex organs.
Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish?
I would start by observing know breeding pairs for differences in shape etc. If no pairs available try observing 8 to 12 sexually mature specimens for anatomical differences that may be obvious or very slight.

ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION

Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish?
No, the usual proceedures are fine.
Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen?
Need variety of good food and frequent feedings.
Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank?
That depends on the size and type of the aquarium and the size, type, and population if its' inhabitants.

COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank?
This fish is alone in a segregated section of a 100gal. coral holding system.
Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school?
No. N/A. N/A.
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank?
No.
What’s the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you?
#8217? I do not understand this question.
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)?
No.
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)?
No, none were made available.
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)?
I fed it live bait green crabs from the Jersey shore. Like eating potatoe chips.
Did this fish hurt/eat Mollusks (snails, clams, oysters, mussels)?
I fed it Atlantic cold water clams and mussels.
Did this fish hurt/eat Echinoderms (sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins)?
No, none of these were made available.
Did this fish hurt/eat Worms (feather dusters, flat worms, etc)?
No, none of these were made available.

FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first?
Live damsels.
If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food?
Once the fish learns you are the source of food you stop feeding until hunger sets in and then the fish usually takes what you give him. I have trained lionfish to eat flake food and pellets. This works well with predators as they usually can go a little hungry without real damage.
What’s the diet?
What's with this#8217? I do not understand this question.
How much and how often do you feed?
I fed an equvalent of two large shrimp or two large mussels or a large clam once daily and sometimes twice.
How does this fish eat?
Like Jaws on drugs!
Does this fish eat any microalgae or macroalgae in your tank? If so what type of algae?
COncerned about veggies I fed large pinches of flake food and dried sushi nuri seaweed.

GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)?
Arrived approximately ten inches total length and grew about three quarters of an inch in a year and one half - measurements estimated.
What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish?
This fish was segregated in a fifty gallon section of a 1000gal. multi chambered coral holding facility in about seven inches water depth. Technically speaking, as long as the fish has enough room to turn around, tank size is meaningless provided water conditions do not inhibit growth. I have raised quite a nuber of fresh water fish to rapid maximum size in relatively small aquariums by changing water very often to remove or dilute growth inhibiting theramones that the fish naturally produce - natures way to regulate size in overcrowded conditions.
If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take?
Recieved very large adult.
How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause?
I had the fish for a little longer than one and a half years when it died. I used feeding this fish in conjunction with experimenting with my prototype nitrate remover. I cut back on his feeding for a short time and he became very weak and was unable to feed. I hand fed him for another ten days - equivalent to using a turkey baster to squirt food into the fish by way of his mouth which he allowed me to do. He started to improve but then died. IMO I do not think he starved to death - chemical capture of these fish are always at the front of my mind.
What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported?
I do not know.

DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment?
Shortly after receiving this fish I got in a Phillipine Specials that included box lots of lionfish - the trigger came down with Dynoflagulate disease, possibly Oodinium. Treatment included raising the temperature a little and keeping the lights on for fourty eight hours. The system was treated with copper temporarily and UV lights were serviced.

BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances?
Yes, sleeping, eating and stress.
Does this fish dig the substrate often?
No gravel but fish moved live rock for some time, especially when hungry.
How active is this fish? Is this fish shy?
Hungry - active, full - complacent, shy - never!
How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates?
Hungry - aggresive and territorial. When full a real pussycat. There were never any tank mates.
Did this fish ever jump out of the tank?
No, but it was impossible to do so.
How does this fish sleep?
Wheter the lights were out or not, this fish would swim into the same corner of his tank near some liverock at about the same time every night. I was amazed and amused at this as he reminded me of a baby human.
Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often?
N/A - Never introduced these.
How does this fish interact with human?
Interaction with humans solely motivated by food. This fish could differentiate myself from another human somehow.
Did the fish release toxic substance that killed other creatures in the tank?
No.
Any other interesting observation of this fish?
Seemed more "intelligent" than any other marine fish I have dealt with and I have dealt with them all over the years.

REPRODUCTION
If you have a mated pair, how did you get them to pair up?
Any information of spawning in captivity?
No to both questions.

SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species -
How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5?
1 - very tolerant, may survive a cycle in a new tank
2 - quite tolerant, may survive accidental ammonia or nitrite spike
3 - not terribly sensitive to reasonable pH, salinity or temperature changes
4 - sensitive to any significant water chemistry changes, and may show stress during such changes
5 - very sensitive to water quality, may easily get stressed and get sick with any change in water chemistry
[b]
It is generally accepted in the business that these fish can put up with greater variations from the norm in water conditions than many other fish. When acclimating from international shipment these fish react the same as do all the others although they may recover sooner and there may be less fatalities. This does not mean that they or their water should be neglected. The volume of food they eventually require will soon raise nitrate levels that will cause them to suffer in ways we might not be aware of.
Do you think we should not keep this fish (for what reason)?
That depends on whether you like it or not.

Would you recommend this fish to beginners?
Yes, provided they understood its' requirements.
Is this fish best kept in mature/established (6 months or older) tank?
Any other recommendations/comments?
N/A

REFERENCES
Do you have any links to web sites, online articles or any other source of information about this species that you would recommend?

If you have any picture(s) of this fish you took, please post it here and share with us!

[Kschell]

I have a small (1.5") Clown trigger that was 1" when I purchased it about 5 months ago. It had always eatten agressively, until about 4 weeks ago. It started only grabbing one bite of food at each feeding. After a I returned from the holidays, the fish-sitter told me that it has stopped eating entirely. I had fed it Lifeline (green and red), Formula One, Prime reef, and occasional raw shrimp. It will not eat any of these. The LFS recommended guppies, but he will not even chase them. (Guess I will have to find some other use for the guppies. they are about 3/4 as big as the trigger...) Last night I tried a variatey of fresh seafoods: Squid, mussell, scallops, shrimp. I held the food in my fingers, and he would swim up and bite my fingers and ignore the food. (Little Shop of Horrors...)

Anyway, I do have 2 water paramater problems. I had tested the water about 1 week after the trigger stopped eating, and the PH was 8.3, and then I had changed the water. A week later, the PH was 8.6. I have no idea why, but I have done 2 quick changes and lowered it to 8.4. No other fish seemed affected by this. The LFS also tested Phosphates for me, and it was 2ppm. They gladly sold me some expensive phosphate removal medium. I am going to go to the store tomorrow and have them re-tested. All other basic tests the LFS had within acceptable parameters, and I confirmed with my own tests (ammonia=0, nitrire=0 nitrate=10 salinity=.020 temp=78)

Anyone have any ideas for irristable foods?


Thanks,
K

[ayrton]

Hi Kschell
I've a couple of large triggers and I've always been a great fan of this kind of fish by many years. I suggest to feed your clown with mussels. These fishes love them very much!!! you can buy them frozen at superstore.
Try them and keep me posted

[Kschell]

Update,

The trigger has started eating, adding weight and growing. I realized that I was feeding seafood from a frozen mix a bought at the grocery, and it was all pre-cooked. I fed raw scallop, and raw shrimp, and that caught his intrest enough to eat. Now he is eating everything again. Went almost 5 weeks w/o eating more than one bite per day, and survuved. Tough fish.

[spamin76]

I just got one today
He is a baby - only about 3/4" I'm putting him in my 30" once I get him out of quarantine and am gonna keep him there until he gets too big.

[Dave A]

I'd really like to talk to the member who had his CT for 10-14 years. His experience with this fish would be invaluable.

Dave

[capt. insano]

Dave A

Have a friend who owns a LFS. A customer returned a clown trigger that he had been sold by the store 5 yrs previous ( the clown was about 2" when sold and about 8 or 9 when he was brought back in)

He has been in the stores main 500g display tank for 4 yrs now.....making him about 9 yrs old. He is one big dude, and pretty laid back for a CT.

[SurferStevo]

Super hardy fish. I kept a trigger tank for 3 years. I had a clown, huma, & a pink tailed trigger. All got along well (or reasonably well). I just got tired of them & wanted a less aggressive FO tank.
In my current set up (this tank has been running for 2 years now) I have a dog face puffer, a harlequin tusk, a hippo tang, a pair of maroons & an Emporer Angel.

Oh, I almost forgot - this is an answer to one of the survey questions that I found was not fully answered.

Did this fish hurt/eat Echinoderms (sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins)?
Yes, the clown trigger turned a chocolate chip starfish into a playtoy tossing it around for 30 half an hour before finally taking a sample bite. Then the star fish was removed & I never tried any thing like that again.

[frankiej]

Hi,

Just wanted to share my experience with triggerfish if I may...We have a clown and a huma huma(picasso), along with a blue tang, coral beauty, mandarin goby,scooter blenny, tomato clown, and a sally lightfoot crab, all together in our 125 along with over 30 different corals at present.

This spring I planned on getting a much larger tank, mainly for the simple reason of no more room lol, and id like to get many more corals I think, but not more than another fish or two maybe, we have a yellow tang as well but it is in a defferent tank at the moment.

I was thinking of a 500-600 gallon tank and wanted to ask someone with more experience with triggers how big they could eventually become, I know the blue tang could get big, but dont know about the triggers, and so far they havent bothered my corals to much at all, except for one time when the picasso was put in tank, it nibbled on one leather 2 nips, and thats it.

As long as they are kept fed well I dont forsee a problem, but if someone knows different please let me know, because I have had a couple people say when they get bigger, is when they start to show the more aggressive side??? Is this proven fact, or just a more often than not statement???

Anyhow anyone which wouldnt mind sharing thier experiences with them, I would apprecciate it very much, as these guys are one of the more looked at species in the tank when visitors come by, I definitely want to keep them, and therefore need to find out more about them, so thanks and im off to read some more lol.

Frank

[Limpit]

I just got mine home about 45 minutes ago and am acclimating him (or her) as I write this message. I have always wanted to get a Clown Trigger but never had a big enough tank. He is the second fish to add to my new 125. The first fish was a V-tailed Grouper. I am also planning on adding a Harlequin Tusk and possibly a large Angel and that should be it. Time will tell if they are going to get along. I am going to keep my fingers crossed!

[frankiej]

Sounds like a nice mix though, hopefully all goes well, id like to get a harlequin, but usually they are so much we cant afford one, anyhow thanks for sharing and I hope all goes well, keep us informed.

Thanks and good luck with your reefs.

[rsteagall]

Can a Clown Trigger thrive in a 58 gal ? Or is this too small? I'm putting my saltwater back up this week and I've always wanted a clown trigger.... I hope my 58 will suffice.

Please let me know your thoughts.

[raddogz]

Perhaps a small fish, but as you may have read from the above posts they can grow pretty fast. They will need a bigger tank eventually.