I just read on another forum that some salt water fish will claim a tank of 4x2x2 to themselfs and that its really hard to mix SW fish like triggers and so on, is this true? one person said a trigger would rip apart a dovii with no problem!

Its no guarentee but its a pretty damn good bet. Some triggers can go for years being model citizens in a community tank, then turn from Dr Jeckle into Mr Hyde and trash a tank in no uncertain terms in mere seconds! Many have teeth and get large enough to sever a pinky finger tip if your careless. Some get to be about 20 plus inches and can be quiet vicious(sp?) at times. The only Trigger that could possibly be considered Reef Safe is the Niger Trigger and thats an iffy proposition once it gets about 10 inches at best.

With triggers just about anything that it can bite it is potentially on the menu. With groupers...if it fits inside their mouth or can be worked down after a hour or so is dinner! Lion fish...if the other fish are half it size or smaller will probably disappear sooner or later. Most puffers can be as bad as triggers but your odds are much better that you can have a community tank as long as everyone else in the tank can hold thier own against them.

With these fish I have mentioned...its nothing but a roll of the dice as to if you can have more than one fish in the tank for the most part. Just depends on the individuals personality.

Yes they r pretty aggressive.

I hear a Clown Trigger will go after divers! And sometimes chase them away from thier territory!

--Dan

are you for real? such a nice fish you wouldnt think it would you!

Ive not herd that before but it can grow into 19 inches of attitude....with teeth I might add! I have caught some really large triggers about 20-24 inches while fishing in the Chagos Archipelago that had a big enough set of dentures that I said screw getting my hook back they can have it, even though I had a small pair of needle nose pliers. I am not about to get my hands that close to teeth the size of those!!!

I have a Golden Stripe Maroon female thats from the sumarta area and she can lay on a pretty decent nip on bare hands. It doesnt draw blood but it does smart a bit and its definitely hard enough to be annoying at best. She even challanges the fish net when I stick it in the water. How is that for some pint size attitude...

Most marine fish can be very territorial and can and often will aggresively defend it! Often times to a point out of proportion to thier size!

damn thats amazing, why dont you catch some and put them in your tanks?

Illegal!

--Dan

Yeah "BIOT" (British Indian Ocean Territory) Athorities wouldnt be too humored by such antics. They would definitely get a little sensitive about that, they are so arrogant and up tight!

Besides I really havent been that excited about an aggresive tank anyways, although I would definitely like to maybe set up a large tank with 4-5 Miniata Groupers though. Its about the only thing that really interest me from an agrresive stand point.

A large tank with corals , Banner Fish (Poor Mans Moorish Idol), and a gang of Lyretail Anthias or Square Spot Anthias would be pretty cool on a 300 plus gallon reef tank though for sure. Lots of bright colors every where and always moving around in schools. Granted its not as cool as a Clown Trigger, but...would make for a "Jaw Dropping" display.

The Butterflys and Angels are nice too but thats a big No-Go in a tank with corals or clams, what a bummer....

I lovvvve Angels. I hope to have a tank dedicated to them in the future!

--Dan

Ooooh yeah, that would be so nice wouldnt it....now, where can I fit another tank in without the floor collapsing.....from the excessive weight!

Not all triggers are aggressive.
Whilst its true that most are this doesnt hold the case with all of the species. Pinktails, Sargassum triggers and Bluethroat Triggers are all ideal reefsafe candidates. I have a male bleuthroat in my reef tank with plenty of inverts to entice it, not once has it looked to them as food. as for the ticking time bomb.. well yes this is true but you cannot make the entire species of triggers under this label. You have to look at the fish far deeper than this, the fish and its requirements should be examined. For example, Bluethroats feed off of reefslopes and are generally deeper water triggers. This means they are planktonic feeders and not crustacean feeders. (they also dont grow very large). Because of their feeding habits and the areas they live means they rarely see other things like shrimps etc as food material.

As for aggressive triggers.. nothing can compare to the attitude of an Undulate trigger. this fish is so aggressive it would even attack its own reflection! I have witnessed these fish stalk unwary tankmates by stalking alonside but behind liverock. then it rushes forward and bites! its mental! not a fish i would keep with anything!

How about some updated pics Nav, of the 240g!

--Dan

Dont have much to update.. here are a couple of piccys...

Awesome! I love the Orange and Black tang, a Hercules I believe?

I dont like Marine Bettas, but that one is neat.

--Dan

is that one of those freshwater bettas?

You were all over it Dannyboy, its an Achilies Tang and they are pretty awesome looking fish for sure! Not the easiest of Tangs to keep but not overly difficult in my opinion either.

I dont know about the Marine Betta Vip...I have only seen them in saltwater.

Nice pics Nav, thanks for sharing them.

About the triggers though true enough some will do well in the community tank in most cases with little or no probelm. The Pink Tail, Sargassum, Blue Chin and Niger all get high marks for being model citizens in the community tank but its not with out some degree of risk to corals, inverts or in a worse case...other tank mates. While the ones I just mentioned can be quiet docile it doesnt eliminate the potential for them to get "ugly" on you at some point or time. This aggresive behavior in these triggers is often aggrevated by the fact than many keep them in tanks that are too small or too crowed to give them enough "elbow room" to set up house in. I wish I had a dime for everyone that got a nice cute little Trigger dispite the fair warning and ended up bringing it back to Under The Sea, several months later cause its too big for thier tank or its thrashing everything in the tank.

JMHO & E....

Hey Rits, do you remember that thread we had "Whats your dream tank" in the folder Tank Talk? You posted a picture of like a bar in someone house with 2 massive tanks in it. By any chance you dont still have that picture do you??

Give me a couple of days to scrounge it up and tell me where you want it posted of e-mailed and I will get it too you. I have limited internet access at the moment and cant camp out for hours at a time on the 'net like I used to...but yeah Im sure I got it just got to figure out which folder on my computers hard drive. I can easily copy it and come here and post it