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Introduction to Triggerfish

March 1, 2008 9 Comments 7579 Views

Welcome back Mellisa, I hope that you enjoy this general article about Triggerfish. These are facinating, beautiful, and fun fish to keep in your marine aquarium.

Triggerfish

Triggers are with out a doubt some of the most aggressive saltwater fish available to hobbiest. They are carnivores and will eat any small tank-mates. Triggers usually aren’t very picky when it comes to food. They should be fed shrimp, scallops, krill as well as meaty pellets. Triggers should be housed in a large tank 100 gal or more. Larger wrasses, groupers, eels, and large angels are acceptable tank-mates. Most triggers are not reef safe and will chomp on corals, eat crustaceans, as well redecorate the tank upsetting corals and live rock. Use extreme care when placing heaters and power head cords inside the tank. Triggers tend to be very curious and may nibble on the cord causing harm to themselves as well as other tank mates. An aquarist must use caution when working in the tank to avoid being bitten.


In the store we sell several different species of triggers. Some are very aggressive and should be kept alone while others are fairly docile and may be kept in a reef tank with caution.

One of my favorite triggers is the Queen trigger (Balistes vetula). What can I say, I love my queens (Queen angels and Queen triggers). Queen triggers are gorgeous but don’t let their attractiveness fool you. They are very aggressive and get very large which may be part of the reason this fish is not seen all that often in the trade.

The Fuscus trigger (Pseudobalistes fusco), Clown trigger (Balistoides conspicillum), and Undulated trigger (Balistoides undulatus) are also very aggressive triggers but are commonly seen in the trade. These triggers are very attractive and will add character to any predatory tank, just make sure other tank-mates are established and will be tough enough to hold their own.

There are a few triggers that are considered “reef safe” with caution since they are mainly planktivorous. While these “reef safe” triggers do not eat coral, they will most likely eat hermit crabs and shrimp, so be prepared for this behavior if you try them in your reef.

Some triggers in this category include Blue Jaw triggers (Xanthichthys auromarginatus), Sargassum triggers (Xanthichthys ringens), Pink Tail triggers (Melichthys vidula) and Niger triggers. These triggers appear to be less aggressive and are commonly seen in the trade.

I hope that you enjoyed Mellisa’s article. Until next blog,
Dave

Species Profile: Anglerfish

October 19, 2007 2 Comments 12900 Views

One of the most interesting fish available in the aquarium hobby, is also one of the most difficult to see. Anglerfishes, also known as frogfish, are masters of disguise and camouflage, and have developed an amazing array of shapes, colors and textures to allow them to blend into their surroundings. Some look like rocks, some look like sponges, some look like algae, and some look like aliens from a distant planet.
Anglerfish get their name from the specialized dorsal spines that are found on their foreheads that resemble a fishing line and lure. They use this special appendage to lure prey towards them, then eat it whole. Anglerfish have enormous mouths for their size, and are capable of eating objects as big as they are.
Anglerfish are easily kept in aquariums, and some species do well in fairly small aquariums. Make sure that you know the adult size of the species that you are planning to keep to make sure that you are giving them enough space, Anglers can reach there adult size fairly quickly, dont be fooled by the small size that are usually found in pet stores. Some species like the Giant Anglerfish, Antennarius commerson can get up to 13″ in length. Anglers are predators, so you must be careful when choosing tankmates, if an Angler thinks it can eat something it will try. Do not keep anglers with fish of the same size or smaller, they will be eaten. Someone once described them to me as a giant mouth with a little fish attached. You should also not keep Anglers with shrimp or other small inverts that may be tasty. Other than towards prey items, Anglers are not aggressive, and make fine tank mates for larger, non aggressive species. Do not keep Anglers with aggressive species, they are easily picked upon and have little in the way of self defense.
Anglers spend most of their time sitting on the bottom, or “walking” around on their modified pectoral fins, that look more like legs in some species. You will rarely see an Angler swimming around in the open, as they are poor swimmers.
Feed Anglers a varied diet of small live foods, such as ghost shrimp or guppies. You can also train Anglers to eat fresh or frozen foods with the use of a feeding prong.
I hope that you have found this information interesting, Anglers are one of my favorite fishes, and I hope this will inspire someone to give them a try.
Until next time,
Dave