Clown Trigger Behavior

[Finzin]

I have had a clown trigger for the past 4yrs which lives alone in a 180 gal aquarium.With optimal water conditions. I purchased it at about 1/2-3/4 inch and it is now 5.5 inches long. I know there is variation in the speed of growth amongst individuals. Is this a little slow? Compared to other Triggers I have this guy gets distended with food with less food than the Blueline and Queen I have. His abdomen gets flatter by the next day and his waste is not white or stringy. If he gets more than 4 TDO “large pellets” in the Am he temporarily looks heavy in the water and may hide behind a rock. His Pm food is LRS 2 small bits. Otherwise he is very interactive inquisitive searching for food and almost jumps out of the water when being fed. When I first got got him he was in His own 75 Gallon for months and was prophylacticly treated with General Cure in his food for 10-14 days.Is this within the range of normal behavior for a Clown Trigger. Thanks

 

[lion king]

The clown trigger is surrounded by myth and exaggerations. Clown triggers do grow slowly and rarely even reach 10" in captivity. I've raised a few baby clown triggers, have raised them for others and kept them myself for more than 10 years. I've seen clown triggers living in aquariums as large as 10k gallons for more than a decade reaching around 10". In the early days a clown trigger was one of the most aggressive fish you could get, so that's where their rep started. And if you get a large mature adult from collection, you will get a beast. If you raise a baby, they usually turn out to be a good tank mate, and even after 10 years, may reach 10". On the other hand,vthe blueline and queen do grow very fast, and their aggression rivals very few, even early on staritng at 5-6". No trigger grows more slowly than the rhinethacus(spelling) triggers