Niger triggerfish reef safe?

daniella3d · #1 10-25-2010, 10:05 PM

wow, are you sure your cleaner wrasse was not dead and the trigger was just eating the dead fish? Because I have read that cleaner wrasse have very poor survival rate.??

Quote:

Originally Posted by medhatreefguy

Safe for Coral... yes, safe for inverts and small fish... maybe when they are juveniles but as they mature the predacious instincts will come out. I've had mine for two years, he is one of my favourite fish and up untill recently I haven't had a problem. He fights with my Sally Lightfoot crab constantly but they are evenly matched so no one gets killed but it is funny to watch. I am sure as soon as one gets an advantage the other is toast. I looked in the tank last night and my Niger was eating my cleaner wrasse! He is still not aggressive toward any other tankmates, I also have a Virgate Rabbitfish, Porc Puffer, Emperor Angel, and Maroon Clowns. I have never fed him live fish so that's not the reason for his behavior. He's not hungry, I overfeed if anything, Mysis every day, and raw shrimp every other day. The thing that attracts you is they have a personality second only to my puffer, both of these fish are so entertaining you don't care if you have anything else in the tank, I wouldn't give them up for anything! I would say on the agressiveness scale, they are more agressive than a Bluethroat, Pinktail, or a Crosshatch, and certainly more tame than a Picasso, Clown, or Undulated.

sitandwatch · #2 10-25-2010, 10:29 PM

I have a Niger, Pink tail and a blue Throat.

I have snails and a clam that non of them care about, I had a cleaner shrimp that use to hang on and go for trips with the Niger and Pink tail but I think it died during a molt.

I have SPS and the only thing issue is the Niger likes to relocate the frags sometimes but since adding in some rubble he is happy with that.

I hand feed then all.

I have heard of them "Turning" so time will tell but right now the Pink tail is the boss so who knows they are fish.

naesco · #3 10-26-2010, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniella3d

wow, are you sure your cleaner wrasse was not dead and the trigger was just eating the dead fish? Because I have read that cleaner wrasse have very poor survival rate.??

I was thinking the same.

MedHat, do cleaner wrasse also 'clean' nigers? If so it was likely dieing when the trigger attacked.

viperfish · #4 10-26-2010, 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by naesco

I was thinking the same.

MedHat, do cleaner wrasse also 'clean' nigers? If so it was likely dieing when the trigger attacked.

That's the strange part, I've seen the Niger hang around the cleaner wrasse and hold its gill out so the cleaner could give it the royal treatment. Last night I was just watching the fish when before I could do anything the Niger came along and bit a chunk right out of the belly of the Wrasse, it squirmed as it sank but there was no chance of survival and certainly no guessing as to who the culprit was.

naesco · #5 10-26-2010, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by medhatreefguy

That's the strange part, I've seen the Niger hang around the cleaner wrasse and hold its gill out so the cleaner could give it the royal treatment. Last night I was just watching the fish when before I could do anything the Niger came along and bit a chunk right out of the belly of the Wrasse, it squirmed as it sank but there was no chance of survival and certainly no guessing as to who the culprit was.

Than you are right nigers can't be trusted with small fish.
The cleaner which was it's friend turned into sushi!

ALang · #6 10-26-2010, 02:47 AM

Ugh-oh! I just added a niger into my reef. It has clams and cleaner shrimps.
So far he's good, but he's only a couple of inches long. He's "rooming" with the cleaner shrimps in the same mound of live rocks. He gets the "kiss" marks from my large algae blenny ( I think that the blenny wants to evict the trigger).

So feed him frozen clams?? Like mussels, to wear down his teeth?
He's eating flakes (Formula One and Two), pellets, mysis and nibbles on the romaine lettuce that I left for my tangs.

I am now praying to the fish gods for a good trigger.

viperfish · #7 10-26-2010, 03:42 AM

All I can say is be aware as it matures, one common statement that I have heard from quite a few people is that its not that the Nigers show signs of aggression, but have a tendency to snap at random and kill a fish or invert. IMO if you choose your tankmates carefully you will find the reward that comes with owning one of these beautiful fish far outweighs the risks. Like I said earlier I wouldn't part with mine for anything.

reefwars · #8 10-26-2010, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by medhatreefguy

All I can say is be aware as it matures, one common statement that I have heard from quite a few people is that its not that the Nigers show signs of aggression, but have a tendency to snap at random and kill a fish or invert. IMO if you choose your tankmates carefully you will find the reward that comes with owning one of these beautiful fish far outweighs the risks. Like I said earlier I wouldn't part with mine for anything.

the problem lies when they get older they start seeing other sources of food and as they get bigger they get more cocky and are willing to go a little further like stated above mine would snap at small fish generally around feeding time i think food motivates their behavior more than aggression mine ate cleaner shrimp and gave my puffer a hard time around feeding time.mine out grew my tank but i would of had to remove him or the smaller fish.i think they are beautiful and def worth putting in and i plan to own another once my new tank is up.they do get to be a big size mine was about 7" and still showing signs of getting bigger

daniella3d · #9 10-26-2010, 05:27 AM

My gosh...no way I am brining that fish in with my female mandarin in the tank. wow, voracious! so I will have to wait until I have no more clam and small fish. Maybe one day

Quote:

Originally Posted by medhatreefguy

That's the strange part, I've seen the Niger hang around the cleaner wrasse and hold its gill out so the cleaner could give it the royal treatment. Last night I was just watching the fish when before I could do anything the Niger came along and bit a chunk right out of the belly of the Wrasse, it squirmed as it sank but there was no chance of survival and certainly no guessing as to who the culprit was.

daniella3d · #10 11-01-2010, 05:32 PM

Ok I don't know if I did well but I could not find a blue throat and found a nice very blue looking niger and bought him. He was very friendly with other fish so I will see. I currently have no shrimps in my tank either. He is around 3" and the color is very nice.

Time will tell.

Can I put a niger with a blue throat together in a 75 gallons?