Clown Trigger In A Mixed Reef ?

[427HISS]

My wife and I are long time reefers and fish only tanks. Started out with a baby Clown in a 75g in wall tank, as he grew we bought a 200g for him with other fish. He was awesome !

Loved him to death, and what a personality !
Had him for 9 years then he had glaucoma in one eye, them 6 months later in the other eye. He quit eating and died. We retired then and now we are back.

The Clown Trigger is a fantastic fish, beautiful, smart and comical. We are building a living room in-wall 125g mixed reef, but we're concerned that he'll eat corals, leathers, lps's. We can't imagine not,...having either in our main tank. While searching a little, a lot of people say that if you feed him well, they never see them eating their corals, clams etc.

What do you guys think ?
Anyone here have one with corals ?

One guys reef with a niger, but has never heard from other reefers where a trigger ate their corals.

Youtube-

 

[sawdonkey]

Triggers don’t eat corals. They might nip because they are curious fish, but they won’t eat them.

Clams....that’s a different story. I recently got a deresa clam and it was fine for a while then I started noticing bits missing out of the mantle. Then I saw my Picasso trigger bite the mantle. Clam had to go.

I’ve never seen my triggers eat my crabs, but they don’t seem to last very long in my tank for some reason?

 

[lion king]

I really have to crack up at this point, anyone that knows anything about triggers knows that these guys will eventually wreck havoc on your reef. That includes the niger in the vid above. It will be a very rare occasion that this does not eventually happen. You will find people with juveniles or recently added post about the perfect gentleman, trust me that is short lived. They will nip, chomp, chew and spit, pick up and rearrange; and you are talking a 125g. If you get an inch little itty bitty clown you could get maybe 3 years out of him before he outgrows or starts to cause havoc.

The xanthichthys genus triggers are the exception, they are relatively reef safe. There was store around here giving terrible advice and recommending triggers for reefs. I had a friend that thought their advice was more sound than mine. It took about 2 years and that clown trigger started snapping his sps like kindling and he watched him decimate a euphyllia(can't remember which one) right in front of him. I think the damage was around $1000 and years of nurture before he got him out. I could not help to lol right in his face. So good luck.

Forgive the algae in the pic, it's a very high nutrient 180g fowlr, this is an example of what my niger does. He lays on his side and tunnels or something and substrate goes flying all over the tank, there are piles of substrate all over the tank with bare bottom spots. That rock, which is not that small, was stacked on the top of the rocks behind it. The niger wedges himself between the rocks and tumbled it down, then lays on his side and pushes it around, while fanning substrate all over the tank. I'm standing there going "what is this nucklehead doing?". That's what triggers do.

 

[sawdonkey]

I really have to crack up at this point, anyone that knows anything about triggers knows that these guys will eventually wreck havoc on your reef. That includes the niger in the vid above. It will be a very rare occasion that this does not eventually happen. You will find people with juveniles or recently added post about the perfect gentleman, trust me that is short lived. They will nip, chomp, chew and spit, pick up and rearrange; and you are talking a 125g. If you get an inch little itty bitty clown you could get maybe 3 years out of him before he outgrows or starts to cause havoc.

The xanthichthys genus triggers are the exception, they are relatively reef safe. There was store around here giving terrible advice and recommending triggers for reefs. I had a friend that thought their advice was more sound than mine. It took about 2 years and that clown trigger started snapping his sps like kindling and he watched him decimate a euphyllia(can't remember which one) right in front of him. I think the damage was around $1000 and years of nurture before he got him out. I could not help to lol right in his face. So good luck.

Forgive the algae in the pic, it's a very high nutrient 180g fowlr, this is an example of what my niger does. He lays on his side and tunnels or something and substrate goes flying all over the tank, there are piles of substrate all over the tank with bare bottom spots. That rock, which is not that small, was stacked on the top of the rocks behind it. The niger wedges himself between the rocks and tumbled it down, then lays on his side and pushes it around, while fanning substrate all over the tank. I'm standing there going "what is this nucklehead doing?". That's what triggers do.

I don’t agree with your first sentence, but the rest somewhat reflects my experience with owning a Picasso and a Niger for 15 and about ten years in a mixed-but-mostly-SPS reef. Mine, and the Niger is huge, never break my SPS unless it’s an inadvertent collision. I’ve never once seen them touch my euphilia.

Yes, they will lay on their sides and blow sand around with their tails to make a cave. Yes they will pick up loose stuff with their mouths and carry it around. Yes they will gather sand in their mouths and “crop-dust” it across your tank.

There’re surely some downsides to triggers (aggression to new fish additions, and messiness, and my Niger bites my hand) but their personalities outweigh the downside.

So, to the OP, go for it if that’s what you want to do. Be warned that clown triggers in particular do have a reputation for being decent citizens until one day they snap and go on a murdering spree.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I have a clown trigger in a 155 gallon 72"x24"x24" mixed reef for close to two years. He is around 8" long and a good 2"+ wide. He doesn't care about small fish, but any large fish additions is a big no no. With an acclimation box it is possible to add fish. He does nip at sps, I believe this is to maintain his teeth. If I feed my corals then he tries to eat the reef roids, which tends to damage the coral. Leaves softies alone. Every fish is different but with him I have been able to find what works. I now feed my corals before lights out and put some PVC in the tank around the corals, that makes him stay away. Once lights are off he doesn't bother anything. He gets fed A LOT everyday and this keeps his aggression in check. He is a nitrate factory but carbon dosing takes care of that. This fish can absolutely be maintained in a reef with a bit of elbow grease. I would not keep keep high end sps with him. Absolutely beautiful fish and worth the effort. Training them is critical, they are smart and can be taught to stay away from certain things. He will become the alpha with other fish, but just make sure he knows your hand is the alpha when in the water.

 

[lion king]

I don’t agree with your first sentence, but the rest somewhat reflects my experience with owning a Picasso and a Niger for 15 and about ten years in a mixed-but-mostly-SPS reef. Mine, and the Niger is huge, never break my SPS unless it’s an inadvertent collision. I’ve never once seen them touch my euphilia.

Yes, they will lay on their sides and blow sand around with their tails to make a cave. Yes they will pick up loose stuff with their mouths and carry it around. Yes they will gather sand in their mouths and “crop-dust” it across your tank.

There’re surely some downsides to triggers (aggression to new fish additions, and messiness, and my Niger bites my hand) but their personalities outweigh the downside.

So, to the OP, go for it if that’s what you want to do. Be warned that clown triggers in particular do have a reputation for being decent citizens until one day they snap and go on a murdering spree.

I guess I could have said the same thing I say about angels, "It depends on the type of coral each fish decides to go after and the amount of destruction you are willing to put up with". I just couldn't put up with it in my reef and I really don't have any friends that would either.

 

[427HISS]

I agree, their personality is worth putting up with. We do know they play like a toddler high on sugar, and get into trouble. We as parents have to put them in a time out, once in a while or ground them to a fish bowl,....

 

[HB AL]

My clown doesn’t touch a thing in my heavily coral/fish stocked mixed reef.

 

[427HISS]

Awesome !

 

[Nokiaec11]

My clown doesn’t touch a thing in my heavily coral/fish stocked mixed reef.

Beautiful tank

 

[Nokiaec11]

Triggers are curious fish, they will bite just to see if they can bite whatever it is; had one that would bite the tooth brush I used to clean debris off rock, just a silly fish... As long as the corals are in the tank first may have no problem, but Clown Triggers have a silly personality...Just keep it well fed.

 

[HB AL]

Triggers are curious fish, they will bite just to see if they can bite whatever it is; had one that would bite the tooth brush I used to clean debris off rock, just a silly fish... As long as the corals are in the tank first may have no problem, but Clown Triggers have a silly personality...Just keep it well fed.

My fish are well fed 8 to 10 cubes a day of Hikari, only trigger that bites me is the Sargassum when I have my hand by his cave hang out, he hasn’t drawn blood though, he also hates the turkey baster and attacks it the whole time I’m blasting off rocks and such. Triggers do have great personality’s like my clown spits water out of the tank when he sees I have food ready to go,

 

[427HISS]

My fish are well fed 8 to 10 cubes a day of Hikari, only trigger that bites me is the Sargassum when I have my hand by his cave hang out, he hasn’t drawn blood though, he also hates the turkey baster and attacks it the whole time I’m blasting off rocks and such. Triggers do have great personality’s like my clown spits water out of the tank when he sees I have food ready to go,

Well, not very grateful when serving food is he ! lol
Tell him, "food doesn't grow on trees ya know"....

 

[HB AL]

There like small children, they don’t listen.

 

[McPuff]

First off, I LOVE triggers... definitely my favorite type of fish. I had them for years, then didn't have any for years... now I finally have one again. It is better than I remember. Like a little dog. That said, my humu is in a 40 gallon lagoon that is tied in to my system. I've got softies, LPS, and SPS in there. The trigger has never damaged any of the corals (though I'm sure he has nipped at them) and I even continue to see 1 or 2 hermit crabs surviving in there. They must be large enough (for now) to survive. May try a large emerald crab as well to see how it goes (bubble algae). This guy will bite my eheim grabbing tool every time... must think it's an eel or something? No idea but it's hilarious. Thankfully he doesn't come near my hand when I'm working in the tank! Not sure how a new fish would do now that the trigger has had the lagoon to himself for over 6 months.

Where am I, what was my point? It's certainly POSSIBLE to have a trigger in a mixed reef. BUT you have to be willing to sacrifice your invertebrates... and there is always the chance it decides to wreck a coral colony just because it's bored (same with angels!). And maybe it'll kill some fish too. If you're a trigger lover though, then you might as well go for it because chances are good that you like the trigger more than the coral.

 

[Lukas75]

I've seen it done. I had one alone in a FOWLR. I received a shipment of cerith snails with a few red legged hermits in with it. I didn't want the hermits in my reef so I gave them a "chance" at life with the trigger. I eventually rehomed the trigger when he got about eight inches long. When I tore the tank down every hermit was still alive! I was certain he'd make a snack of them, but he didn't.

 

[Lukas75]

I should add that he liked to stack clam shells and move small rocks around to his "taste". That might make a clown a little destructive in a reef.

 

[HB AL]

First off, I LOVE triggers... definitely my favorite type of fish. I had them for years, then didn't have any for years... now I finally have one again. It is better than I remember. Like a little dog. That said, my humu is in a 40 gallon lagoon that is tied in to my system. I've got softies, LPS, and SPS in there. The trigger has never damaged any of the corals (though I'm sure he has nipped at them) and I even continue to see 1 or 2 hermit crabs surviving in there. They must be large enough (for now) to survive. May try a large emerald crab as well to see how it goes (bubble algae). This guy will bite my eheim grabbing tool every time... must think it's an eel or something? No idea but it's hilarious. Thankfully he doesn't come near my hand when I'm working in the tank! Not sure how a new fish would do now that the trigger has had the lagoon to himself for over 6 months.

Where am I, what was my point? It's certainly POSSIBLE to have a trigger in a mixed reef. BUT you have to be willing to sacrifice your invertebrates... and there is always the chance it decides to wreck a coral colony just because it's bored (same with angels!). And maybe it'll kill some fish too. If you're a trigger lover though, then you might as well go for it because chances are good that you like the trigger more than the coral.

When I added my sargassum and bluejaw over 2 years ago I slowly stopped seeing my hermits especially when they would always flood out when I fed the fish, figured they were getting munched on, I was wrong those little suckers are smart, a month or so ago I woke up in the middle of the night to take a leak, and flashed a flashlight in there to look for odd critters and to my amazement there were my hermits out grazing! I was able to count 15 of them, I'm sure there were more but I probably couldn't see them since I have alot of rock and corals. Point is those little suckers became STRICTLY NOCTURNAL feeders once they saw the 1st trigger in the tank. There survival instincts definitely kicked in.

 

[427HISS]

lol,...have to laugh at your stories.

Years ago my Niece made a ''May Basket'' with her classmates in school. She would stop by after school to feed our fish, buy mainly Bubba Joe, our Clown. She asked me if it were ok to put food in her basket and see if he would eat it, I said where did you come up with that ? lol....She replied, in a dream.

She put some clam in the basket and it sunk to the bottom of the tank. After about 10 minutes and several swim by's, he took the bait. After that day, when his was hungry he'd pick up the basket and swim the length of the tank, back and forth, so we'd feed him. Such a funny guy. The tank was a 200 gallon.

Yep, now because of you guys, we gotta get one again ! (your fault if he eats all the corals and other fish)

 

[TheRealDmorty217]

Are triggers completely reefsafe, as in won’t nip at or touch anything in a reef tank... no. I have heard horror stories about clowns and have heard they were model citizens like mentioned above, so it’s a risk. I have had crosshatch and golden back triggers that didn’t touch a thing but haven’t ever tried a clown with inverts and small fish