Information about the Niger trigger

[HAAAAAAAA]

I have a Niger trigger which is about 4 to 5 inches and I wanted to ask some info on him

1 what is the growth rate of this species?
2 what are the main foods to feed him? Currently these are the info I needed but anymore information would be more lovely and beneficial, i wanted to know his growth rate to put him with my tessalata moray which is about 30 inches

And i asked for the propers foods because I had seen an info on a source saying they need hard food to grind their teeth on so currently I feed him squid, shrimp and tilapia aswell as hard algae wafers to grind his teeth on (this is my first time keeping a trigger) so I wanted as much information as possible i was worried that he wasn't eating at first but then i realised I was feeding him in the wrong time because whenever it's night he would never eat most likely because he's sleeping between the rocks but when it's morning or evening or any other time besides night hes so aggressive with the food so that was some exciting information


I am currently keeping him in a 40 gallon with a stout moray (fang tooth) the Niger is big enough for the stout to not eat so I am not worried about that, i first kept the trigger in my 210g with my tessalata but I saw him halfway through my eels mouth so yeah that was a no no and i was so fascinated to see that he didn't have even one scratch being almost swallowed by a big and fiesty eel such as my tessalata (he eats whole 2 medium sized squids about 7 inches long each) my stout moray looks like a model citizen compared to my tessalata which almost jumps out of the tank just to get his food

 

[lion king]

They grow very fast, estimating an exact is based on too many variables. But they are the, or one of the fastest growing triggers. Food would include chunky meaty seafood, they are carnivores. Even carnivores will eat a minimum of algae matter, coming from the entrails of their prey, but check the ingredients of the algae wafer, no reason for a fish to eat grains. Switch out the tilapia for a fatty fish, I recommend salmon as it is readily available and reasonably inexpensive.

Oh don't worry about their teeth, they will pick up rocks and spit rumble to naturally control anything detrimental. The nonsense about their teeth is just a human response. But shrimp you feed should be whole; shells, guts and all.

 

[OrchidMiss]

My niger trigger outgrew my 55g very quickly and I moved him into my 110 where he is much happier. Based on my personal experience, at 4-5'' already, he will outgrow a 40g in a year or less.
I do not add anything to the tank or foods to grind his teeth. I do open fresh clams and drop them into the tank a couple times a week, and all the fish in the tank go into a frenzy.
I make my own foods which I freeze and store in silicone ice cube trays for easy use. My food includes shrimp (shells on), SFBB silversides, salmon with skin on, octopus, scallops, nori, spirulina and garlic. Jello is 3.5 years old and he's close to 9'' tail to tip.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

They grow very fast, estimating an exact is based on too many variables. But they are the, or one of the fastest growing triggers. Food would include chunky meaty seafood, they are carnivores. Even carnivores will eat a minimum of algae matter, coming from the entrails of their prey, but check the ingredients of the algae wafer, no reason for a fish to eat grains. Switch out the tilapia for a fatty fish, I recommend salmon as it is readily available and reasonably inexpensive.

Oh don't worry about their teeth, they will pick up rocks and spit rumble to naturally control anything detrimental. The nonsense about their teeth is just a human response. But shrimp you feed should be whole; shells, guts and all.

Salmon isn't readily available where I live so I use tilapia since it's really good at soaking up multivitamins but any other fatty fish suggestions?

As for the ingredients in the algae wafers there are (white fish meal, krill meal, shrimp meal, squid meal, flour, wheat flour, spirulina, fish liver, fish oil, astaxanthin, carotenoids, yeast powder, minerals and multi vitamins.)

About the teeth part I should've known that fish aren't dumb (well some are) but thanks so much for debunking that info, since i found a good website I feel like I want to read all the info as much as possible i also wanted to ask why my past lionfish died a few months later he stopped eating suddenly and whenever he would eat he would just spit out the food every 10 or 20 minutes

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

My niger trigger outgrew my 55g very quickly and I moved him into my 110 where he is much happier. Based on my personal experience, at 4-5'' already, he will outgrow a 40g in a year or less.
I do not add anything to the tank or foods to grind his teeth. I do open fresh clams and drop them into the tank a couple times a week, and all the fish in the tank go into a frenzy.
I make my own foods which I freeze and store in silicone ice cube trays for easy use. My food includes shrimp (shells on), SFBB silversides, salmon with skin on, octopus, scallops, nori, spirulina and garlic. Jello is 3.5 years old and he's close to 9'' tail to tip.

He looks great! My multivitamins do contain chaeto extracts and garlic

 

[Mwatts12]

Hello. I have an almost 5 year old Niger. He’s a big big boy and in a 225 gallon.

He also grew very fast like everyone else said. As he matures he has become more aggressive. If I have my hand in the tank I have to use the other hand to keep him away. He has bit me before a made me bleed. His teeth hang lower then his bottom jaw!

This was a quick transition as he got older. It almost seemed like an over night aggression.

He eats all day and eats everything I put in the tank. I have a skimmer rated for hundreds of gallons more than my tank due to how much he will eat.

If I skip on any feedings during the day he will become very aggressive to tangs.

Sorry I know you’re talking about food type. But this is a unique fish that the tank kind of needs to be built around.

My tank has 6 tangs also and is only high end sps, but he is the boss.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

Hello. I have an almost 5 year old Niger. He’s a big big boy and in a 225 gallon.

He also grew very fast like everyone else said. As he matures he has become more aggressive. If I have my hand in the tank I have to use the other hand to keep him away. He has bit me before a made me bleed. His teeth hang lower then his bottom jaw!

This was a quick transition as he got older. It almost seemed like an over night aggression.

He eats all day and eats everything I put in the tank. I have a skimmer rated for hundreds of gallons more than my tank due to how much he will eat.

If I skip on any feedings during the day he will become very aggressive to tangs.

Sorry I know you’re talking about food type. But this is a unique fish that the tank kind of needs to be built around.

My tank has 6 tangs also and is only high end sps, but he is the boss.

I am honestly glad to hear that because he seems to be quite a ****** when fully grown and might put up quite the fight with my tessalata (atleast before my tessalata grows to his potential size) though it's quite worrying for the type of trigger almost everyone says is a less aggressive compared to its counterparts like the titan. there's nothing to be apologizing for as I said I would love all the information in the world, I have been a freshwater fish keeper for 9 or 10 years and I have honestly gotten bored wanting more so I finally joined in saltwater and honestly it's so different I am really not used to the (fish sleeping at night) part literally i got worried when I saw that the fish disappeared in my tessalata tank since I had a lunar wrasse and a cleaner wrasse in there and the next day I notice them swimming around in the morning I got so confused until i saw them go into a rock hole every night (saltwater truly is so fascinating) i never saw such a thing in freshwater unless I kept all the lights turned off due to going on an vacation and seeing all my fw fishes just laying down when I got back I guess it sure was a long night for them

 

[OrchidMiss]

Hello. I have an almost 5 year old Niger. He’s a big big boy and in a 225 gallon.

He also grew very fast like everyone else said. As he matures he has become more aggressive. If I have my hand in the tank I have to use the other hand to keep him away. He has bit me before a made me bleed. His teeth hang lower then his bottom jaw!

This was a quick transition as he got older. It almost seemed like an over night aggression.

He eats all day and eats everything I put in the tank. I have a skimmer rated for hundreds of gallons more than my tank due to how much he will eat.

If I skip on any feedings during the day he will become very aggressive to tangs.

Sorry I know you’re talking about food type. But this is a unique fish that the tank kind of needs to be built around.

My tank has 6 tangs also and is only high end sps, but he is the boss.

Agreed with the aggression seeming to come on overnight.
If I miss a nightly feeding, he's not shy about splashing me the next day. He will thrash and splash around the surface of the water and make sure I know he's mad. He was hand aggressive when I tried to put a gloved hand in the tank, 2 weeks ago. I blame the gloves, however, as I don't usually wear them in his tank. He was not a fan.

 

[lion king]

Other fatty fish could include trout, mackerel, and tuna if you are crazy enough to share your tuna. Fat is very important to a carnivore diet. I like Brightwell aminomega for a fat supplement, it so contains other vital elements many aquarium fish miss.

 

[HAAAAAAAA]

Other fatty fish could include trout, mackerel, and tuna if you are crazy enough to share your tuna. Fat is very important to a carnivore diet. I like Brightwell aminomega for a fat supplement, it so contains other vital elements many aquarium fish miss.

Sadly, where I live i don't find tuna (sounds surprising yeah I know) but I will try mackerel hopefully I will find them small enough to feed the eels with and as for the trigger most probably feed him small pieces as for the brightwell aquatics I could find it but it's sadly out of stock. I am currently using a different multivitamin which include garlic, red chaeto algae extract, amino acids and minerals so incase I do find brightwell aquatics I might mix in both of the multivitamins i use

 

[dyno]

Tessalata eels are viscous, if they are hungry anything they sense near their mouth they will latch on to. I had to rescue a 7 inch butterfly from a medium eel once. be careful and get a big niger trigger. They are easy to feed, large mysis, squid, krill, clams on the half shell.