Niger Trigger reef safe?

[Anonymous]

:wink: Good post Matt. The "show me a site" thing is comical.
I will also add, ( and I posted this above, but deleted it) that I have spoken with Scott Micheal on this issue via email. This was some weeks ago. His opinions of course relfect what he wrote in his books.


Jim

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 3 inch niger not including fins that does not seem to do any harm but does chase my Hawk sometimes. My Hawk is the only fish that has killed anything in the tank. Killed my Brittle Star and ate my Shrimp.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a hawk that was mean as anything. He'd chase every other fish around and would pull snails off for fun, then pick at them to get them to close up. He'd never eat them, just pick to annoy them. :?

 

[Anonymous]

I had a hawk that was mean as anything. He'd chase every other fish around and would pull snails off for fun, then pick at them to get them to close up. He'd never eat them, just pick to annoy them. :?

Yep....my Trigger gets irritated with the Hawk and chases him away sometimes. Never does any damage but I think I will find the Hawk on the floor someday.LOL I can't believe how fast the Hawk is.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO the only problem here is that Zoo just comes across to a lot of people as combative. - Kind of like a personality quirk like someone who invades that "personal space" when talking face to face...

Obviously Niger (and several other) triggers are what I like to consider "borderline" fish. To me "borderline" fish are ones that can go either way in regards to demeanor / preferences in each individual.

Does that make them generally reef safe? No, probably not. Does it mean they CAN'T be kept in a reef tank? Absolutely not.

Personally, I've kept triggers (in FO tanks) and hunted them (queens) in the wild (with spear-pole) in the Bahamas. I wouldn't keep them in a reef tank just because it is a risk. But, that's just me.. I'd advise an absolute newbie to be extremely cautious if they wanted to do so...

Just my .02...

Norm

 

[teevee]

I just need to point out that "posting a link" is, in scientific circles, a complete lack of evidence.

Agreed, except in cases where the site is found to be a scientific source (and one needs to understand what sets those sites apart to make that judgement). I would do an article search at my uni library but I doubt anyone has ever done a truly valid study on triggers in reefs.

 

[Anonymous]

someone who invades that "personal space" when talking face to face...

Hmm, 'close-talkers' really freak me out. 8O

 

[Anonymous]

What about that cultural thing? You know, folks who come from places where their personal bubble is much smaller than the typical American's? It's disturbing, yes (last one who did it me was a very old woman, though. She was obviously quite confused about a few things), but maybe it can be gotten around with a bit of understanding and communication.

 

[jevs]

Thanks guys for your welcome.

The only problem I get with my blue throat is he will occasionally fall out with my 3" majestic angel. The angel starts the trouble but doesn't realise the trigger has teeth !!! :lol: and can look after itself. It is quite a placid fish but I wouldn't be without it.

Jim.....I too decided to go for an emperor angel in my reef. I bought it small....1.5" and it's doing very well but has the very strange habbit of laying down in a large clump of xenia...a bit like a clown does in an anemone....weird.

I think that there are many fish that are considdered non reef safe but will live fairly well in a reef. However, a lot of reef safe fish may well live quite happily in your tank for a couple of years then, without warning, suddenly take a liking to your prized acropora, clam or feather duster collection.

Angels are known for this (including dwarf angels) and I wouldn't be surprised if "reef safe" triggers can turn without warning.

Great debate to which there are probably no answers.

Andy

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed, except in cases where the site is found to be a scientific source (and one needs to understand what sets those sites apart to make that judgement). I would do an article search at my uni library but I doubt anyone has ever done a truly valid study on triggers in reefs.

Of course, when a journal article is simply copied verbatim onto the web it is a valid source. However, one would never reference the quote as "http:/www.....", but would find the original journal, article, or book it came from and reference that.

 

[Anonymous]

I think that there are many fish that are considdered non reef safe but will live fairly well in a reef. However, a lot of reef safe fish may well live quite happily in your tank for a couple of years then, without warning, suddenly take a liking to your prized acropora, clam or feather duster collection.

Angels are known for this (including dwarf angels) and I wouldn't be surprised if "reef safe" triggers can turn without warning.

Great debate to which there are probably no answers.

Andy

Had that happen to me several years ago. I was keeping a very small bursa trigger with a very small harlequin tusk. They were alone in the tank and were buddies for several months. Then one day I came home from work and the trigger was inside the tusk. Literally. He had killed it and eaten his way into the body cavity. 8O 8O No warning, no animosity the previous night, just bammo and he went to town on the tusk. :?

 

[TheZooFarmer]

I see no one has posted a thread yet but I just wanted to ask jim our resident expert a couple of questions.

How did that argi angel work out in your 7 gallon nano?

And for someone who supossedly worked at a LFS, how could you not know how to clean coraline algea off of acrylic?

As far as I am concerned anyone that keeps a pair of Harlequin shrimp and an argi angel in a 7 gallon tank needs to look for advice and not give it.

How about this tank

"This tank housed a queen, a french, an annularis, an emperor, a blueface , a personifer and a lemon peel and a koran. "

Another great fish tank from jim, like I said earlier you need to look for advice and stop giving it.

 

[Len]

Because it appears we can't converse respectfully, thread closed.