Niger triggerfish reef safe?

daniella3d · #1 10-25-2010, 03:14 PM

Hi, Yesterday I went to someone's house and he has a niger trigger fish with coral in there. For now only lps and soft coral. He told me that niger was reef safe?? Anyone has experience with this fish being reef safe with sps or other coral?

What about their teeth that must be weared out? do they need to eat something hard like sps to wear them down?

I find this fish very interesting for my aquarium but I am worried about my clam and my corals and a bit skeptical about it being "reef safe"??

Delphinus · #2 10-25-2010, 03:21 PM

I know several people with this fish in their reefs. Very fun fish, I like them a lot.

Niger triggers plus any of the Xanthichthys genus (bluechin, crosshatch, pinktail, sargassum) are generally regarded as reef safe although in my opinion they tend to be rather aggressive feeders so success is probably variable from individual to individual.

Lance · #3 10-25-2010, 03:23 PM

Like any trigger they are hit and miss as to reef safeness. Nigers are, however one of the better ones: upturned mouth = plankton eater. I have a Blue Chin Trigger, also a planktonic feeder and he is a model citizen. IMO corals should be safe but shrimps, crabs may be taken. If you keep them well-fed there is usually less chance of this.

viperfish · #4 10-25-2010, 04:13 PM

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.

Madreefer · #5 10-25-2010, 04:39 PM

Up until a few years a go I also had an aggressive FOWL tank. I would put live clams in to feed my triggers and puffers to help in wearing the teeth down on the triggers and the beak on the puffers. The niger I had in there with them was on the clams just as hard as all of the other fish. The would hammer at the muscle that holds the shells together until it opened. So in my experiences the niger killed and ate clams. Good luck if you get one. Cool fish.

reefwars · #6 10-25-2010, 07:09 PM

i had one in my reef for a long time and as juvies he was fine once he got to full grown status he started bullying other fish for food and he would eat any cleaner shrimp or harass all the crabs and snails. so coral safe yes but not invert or even small fish once they get fullgrown....if i hadnt of gotten rid of mine i know he would of eaten small fish sooner than later hes taken quite a few nips from my puffer, and fights with my clowns and damsel

overall though i would add one again in a heartbeat beautiful fish who didnt really cause m,e any grief

i posted the same thread when i got mine and was told also that it was hit or miss especially with shrimp

they do love their shrimp

daniella3d · #7 10-25-2010, 10:04 PM

Ok thanks everyone! very informative. I guess with a clam in the tank it is a no go and I should not have one as long as my clam live. If I ever lose the clam I will probably consider this fish, or maybe a Blue Throat Triggerfish.

daniella3d · #8 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 · #9 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 · #10 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.