I've got a Red Tail sargassum and he eats everything, is very active, plays well with others, doesn't eat the CUC, and is smart enough to be trained.

However, ever other week he freaks out in the middle of the night racing back and forth, jumping out of the water, trying to get out of the tank. He has damaged himself and got himself stuck in places he would have died if I were not there.

Hopefully he's an isolated case, I hope he makes it...$200 is a lot for a fish.

I hope he is okay. Is any other fish picking on him it sounds like he is trying to get away from something, but I don't know too much about this behavior to be honest. What does he live with, so I know what I need to watch?

WHat kind sof things can you teach him to do?

Yes, $200 is a lot of money for a fish, but we pay it because we love them.:wink:

Most of the lfs will just hold the fish for you if you ask without paying until you pick it up (once you are a regular customer of theirs). I always put a fish on hold when I see something I like and that gives the fish some time to adapt from travelling, as well as to see if it will survive. You can even call the store and they will put it on hold for you (I'm pretty sure I know what store you saw them at). That way you don't have to worry about someone else buying it before you have fully decided.

He's very healthy, plump, and shows no signs of abnormal behavior during the day. He's the alpha fish, always getting to the food first but occasionally displays shy behavior. He'll stay in the rockwork for hours while the other fishes are out happily playing around. We had a mantis problem a few months ago, hitchhiked in with some new live rock, then killed most of the cuc, and terrorized the tank at night. TheCodfather is happily keeping the mantis now. Maybe the sargassum's having mantis nightmares and flashbacks.
As far as tricks, I haven't bothered teaching him anything but I'm sure he's trainable by the way he associated items with food. I've trained my dog that way.

I used Tongs holding chunks of Shrimp, Scalop and large Krill just over the area of the tank thatthey felt safe in at first. they chomped off whatever they like then ziped back in the rock work, now they eat everything, and are trainable as mentioned, they know what the food container looks like. I saw them come out of th bag at my LFS and I took them home 4days later once they were eating. I prefer my water over that of any LFS.

Good luck, I hope you get him

Well I bit the bullet and put a deposit on one of the Sargassum triggers today. I will be bringing him home in about three weeks. I am pretty excited about it.