If triggerfish are the first fish added to the tank, they may defend the entire tank as their territory, and can make it difficult to later add other fish.
Finding good tankmates for triggerfish can be very difficult, and an aquarist needs to think about this ahead of time. Triggers with "up-turned" mouths Xanthichthys, Melichthys, Odonus tend to feed more on zooplankton, and are typically less likely to bother corals and small fishes. These fish can usually be kept with large peaceful fish, smaller, aggressive fishes such as dottybacks , and more aggressive dwarf angels.
They may attack small peaceful fishes, especially zooplanktivores that stay in the water column, such as chromis and small cardinals. In summary, to maximize coexistence with other fish, triggerfish should be kept in large tanks, fed well, and put into the tank last. If you intend to keep ornamental crustaceans such as cleaner shrimp, it is better to stick with the zooplanktivorous triggers, which will be less likely to attack. Putting the crustaceans into the tank first will maximize the chances of their coexistence.
Be sure to approach owning a triggerfish with the understanding that you may lose some shrimp along the way. Maintaining a clean-up crew in a triggerfish tank can be difficult. Triggerfish's jaws are designed to bite through the shells of snails and hermit crabs. They will also flip the animals onto their backs and enjoy an easy snack. Again, triggers with up-turned mouths are less likely to eat shelled organisms, but may still do it at times. Many hermit crabs will hide during the day, and only move around the rocks at night.
With the larger, more aggressive triggers, the tank owner will most likely replace the clean-up crew because of the losses incurred. When cleaning the tank, always keep an eye on the trigger and consider wearing thick gloves, as many of them can and will deliver a large, painful bite. Triggerfish are often selected for fish-only tanks with aggressive inhabitants, which suits many of them well.
Lionfish are also commonly used for tanks housing aggressive fish. This unfortunate pairing often leads to the demise of the lionfish. Triggerfish are experts at avoiding the venomous spines on lionfishes, and are able to attack and kill lionfish, avoiding the spines without being stung. Rhinecanthus triggers are especially common culprits of lionfish mortalities. Those with upturned mouths, being more peaceable, are less likely to engage in such behavior.
Part of the appeal of many of the Balistids comes from their unusual behaviors and antics. Of course, this can also be considered part of their downside in the home aquarium. One such behavior involves rearranging rockwork in the tank. In the wild, triggers will move and break pieces of rock and coral to find food, such as urchins and crustaceans.
While this behavior can be fun to watch, it becomes much less endearing when a trigger flips over or drops a piece of rock on top of that prized coral.
In an attempt to alleviate this problematic behavior, many aquarists will leave small "toys" around the tank for triggers to move. Rhinecanthus spp, Pseudoblastes fuscus, and Balistes vetula are the most common culprits of this redecorating behavior, though any triggerfish may do it from time to time. Triggerfish will often lie on their side above the substrate and undulate their dorsal and anal fins, sending up a cloud of sand, detritus, and microfauna.
This is another feeding behavior that allows them to expose buried animals, and they will swim through the cloud of debris picking out small benthic organisms that were flung into the water column. A downside to this behavior is that it makes many triggerfishes incompatible with tanks containing a deep sand bed.
Xanthichthys and Melichthys triggerfishes are less likely to do this. Spitting is another common triggerfish behavior.
This is an adaptation of their natural feeding behavior. In the wild triggerfish will hunt by hydraulic jetting: they blow water out of their mouths and into the sand to uncover prey. In the aquarium, they learn to associate the surface of the water as the best source of food rather than the substrate, so they go to the surface for jetting.
This habit can be a hazard if the tank is uncovered and there are electrical outlets or power strips near the tank. I'll concentrate on the triggerfish that are most commonly seen in the aquarium trade, starting with those that are least aggressive and considered to be most "reef safe.
Xanthichthys auromarginatus , commonly called the blue-chin or gilded triggerfish is found in the Indo-Pacific at depths from 25 to feet.
It feeds on zooplankton, growing to about one foot in length. The species is sexually dimorphic, with females lacking yellow margins on the tail and anal fins, as well as the blue chin that gives the male fish their common name. This species is the most common Xanthichthys trigger found in the aquarium trade, and is occasionally found available in mated pairs. It should be housed in a larger tank that will give it plenty of swimming space.
Xanthichthys auromarginatus individuals are less likely than individuals of many other triggerfish species to pick at sessile invertebrates. Xanthichthys mento , the crosshatch trigger. A close relative of Xanthichthys auromarginatus, X.
The crosshatch is found in the Eastern and Western Pacific Oceans, at depths of 10 feet to feet. This fish is sexually dimorphic. Each scale is outlined in black, creating the "crosshatch" look. Males have a yellow color and a red tail with a blue submarginal band. In females, the scales and tail are gray to blue. But most species inhabit relatively shallow coastal waters.
In general, triggerfish are extremely durable aquarium inhabitants. They are among the most rugged of all aquarium fish, withstanding poor environmental conditions and rarely succumbing to disease. They also have voracious appetites and are not finicky eaters. Triggerfish can even be used to cycle a new tank, but, because they are often aggressive, using them that way may cause a problem if you hope to add any other fish to the aquarium.
The biggest triggerfish shortcoming is their tendency to be rather bellicose. Although they vary somewhat in their disposition, most species should be kept on their own or in a species aquarium. The most aggressive triggerfish are the queen Balistes vetula , gray Balistes capriscus , blue-lined Pseudobalistes fuscus , clown Balistoides conspicillum , and the orange-lined triggerfish Balistapus undulatus.
Because those species are so pugnacious, it is usually a good idea to house them on their own or in very large tanks with other bullies.
The members of the genus Sufflamen and Rhinecanthus can be kept with other fish as juveniles, but they tend to become more aggressive as they get larger. Adults should be kept on their own or with other large, contentious species. Some fish often kept with triggerfish include moray eels Muraenidae , squirrelfish Holocentridae , lionfish Pterois , groupers Epinephelinae , snappers Lutjanidae , large hawkfish genus Paracirrhites , certain wrasses such as hogfish, tuskfish, banana wrasses , large angelfish, surgeonfish, Arothron pufferfish, and porcupinefish.
But even those fish may fall victim to the more aggressive members of the triggerfish family. It is possible to keep vigilant small fish like damselfish and blennies in a tank with aggressive triggerfish if the aquarium is large enough and is packed with places for the smaller fish to hide. Although morays are commonly kept with triggerfish, their tails are particularly attractive targets for triggerfish to bite, so it is important that morays be provided with several large hiding places that will allow them to conceal themselves completely.
You should not house triggerfish that feed on encrusting invertebrates with frogfish or scorpionfish that resemble reef substrate, as they are likely to nip at these species. Even though triggerfish have small jaws, their powerful jaw muscles and teeth can cause considerable tissue wounds when they decide to take a bite. Triggerfish have also been implicated in biting and damaging glass aquarium heaters and both flexible and rigid tubing.
Although heater biting is a relatively rare event, it is a good idea to protect that piece of equipment by placing it in a sump.
Frequently check any airline tubing in the aquarium to see whether it needs to be replaced. Triggerfish quickly learn to solve simple problems.
They will also spit water out of the aquarium. Triggerfish in the wild often engage in a behavior called hydraulic jetting. Triggerfish also use hydraulic jetting to flip over protected prey items like spiny sea urchins. In the aquarium they learn to associate the surface of the water, not the tank bottom, with food. So instead of spitting water at the substrate they blow it at the water's surface.
Although interesting, this behavior can cause severe problems if your top is not totally covered and you have electrical outlets near the tank.
Biological description: The gray triggerfish is found on both sides of the tropical and temperate Atlantic from Massachusetts to Brazil, and from England southward along the coast of Africa.
Open Season: January 1 - December 31 Note: since this species is managed under an Annual Catch Limit, the fishery could close if the recreational Annual Catch Limit is met or projected to be met. If an in-season closure were to be announced by NOAA Fisheries, all relevant information will be included here. Recreational Bag and Size Limits Bag Limit: 10 fish per person per day 20 Fish Aggregate Bag Limit: 20 fish per person per day This means that an angler may harvest or possess a total of 20 fish per person per day, in any combination of species listed below.
Note: an angler may retain only 10 fish of any one species. Minimum Size Limit: inch fork length. Dehooking Tool Requirement: Recreational and commercial fishermen are required to use dehooking tools when fishing for snapper grouper species.
At least one dehooking device is required and must be used as needed to remove hooks embedded in South Atlantic snapper-grouper with minimum damage.
The hook removal device must be constructed to allow the hook to be secured and the barb shielded without re-engaging during the removal process. The dehooking end must be blunt, and all edges rounded. The device must be of a size appropriate to secure the range of hook sizes and styles used in the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery. Descending Device Requirement: Requirement: A descending device is required to be on board and readily available for use on all vessels fishing for or possessing snapper-grouper species; Definition of a Descending Device: an instrument to which is attached a minimum of a 16 ounce weight and a length of line that will release the fish at the depth from which the fish was caught or a minimum of 60 feet.
From an evolutionary standpoint, triggerfish are some of the most advanced fish in the sea. For starters, as with other members of the order, Triggers are atypical to say the least in the morphology department. While we can get technical again, it will suffice to say that all these fish share certain morphological characteristics that cause them on the whole to look more the same than they do different. Fish of the order Tetradontiformes however are strikingly different than their cousins in the order Perciformes, there is just nothing else in the ocean like them.
They almost give an impression of some sort of alien craft maneuvering here and there rather than fish. In this assemblage of very unusual and interesting fishes, the Triggers are the most suitable for aquarium life for a variety of reasons. While some notable exceptions exist, the equally stunning, intelligent and bizarre fishes belonging to the other families in the order are often either very delicate, notoriously disease prone, internal and external parasites poor feeders in captivity, or exude toxins that can wipe out an entire tank.
Some will even provide you with a combination of these traits! Fortunately, the Triggerfish share none of the above problems with their other relatives in the order. Aside from their unique morphology, the next thing that will grab your attention about a Triggerfish is the color. A few species are just out and out garish, while some have a more subtle beauty.
One of the other striking qualities about the family as a whole is the obvious intelligence exhibited by these fish. You can almost see the gears turning as they examine their surroundings, or maybe contemplate a possible food item or a newly introduced object or inhabitant in their environment — eyes rotating like some advanced sensor al the while. As with freshwater fish of the family cichidae, they can learn to recognize their keepers, and further, what behavior by their human keeper usually results in a treat being introduced into their home.
Are you convinced yet? How about this — they are hardy…no, indestructible! They are as forgiving as aquarium fish get, and not even amongst their commonly kept freshwater relatives can you find a more resilient fish. Among other things, this of course means that they are tremendously disease resistant.
This quality alone should automatically endear them to most potential owners immediately. They rarely succumb to the common marine parasites that rear their head now and then in captive systems, and in over 20 years of keeping marine fish, including the early days when my husbandry practices were not so careful as they are now this author has never lost a Triggerfish to any marine fish disease.
On the rare occasion that a Triggerfish does become infected with a parasite such as Cryptocaryon irritans saltwater ick they recover with just a bit of TLC on the part or the aquarist. It should nevertheless be a fairly good indication of the inherent hardiness of the family as a whole.
Having said this, there are Trigger species that while still hardy by most standards, would not fare so well under such treatment. Some Triggers always end up alone, or traded back to the fish store, regardless of the extent to which they tolerate tank mates when young, so the aspiring trigger keeper needs to keep this in mind when selecting the species to be kept.
Others will live out their lives in a community setting with few problems provided enough space is provided, some stocking order rules are honored, and tank mates are chosen with some care.
A few will even live in a reef setting. In any case, tall narrow tanks should be avoided, as these are very active animals, and need as much swimming space as can be provided. A hexagonal tank is a very poor choice for a trigger unless it happens to be a very large one. As is the case with many families, a wide gamut of adult sizes, growth rates and temperaments makes generalizations difficult with regard to the minimum tank size. Others are just tremendously slow growers, and are not likely to reach anything close to adult size even after 6 or 7 years of captive life.
A good example of this is the genus Rhinecanthus , which comprises a few very popular species, including the Huma Huma Trigger R. While fish of this genus are without a doubt some of the most easily kept and sociable of all trigger species, they are also very slow growers — annoyingly slow if truth be known.
The above can also be applied to the Undulatus Trigger Balistapus undulates. The primary difference here is that an Undulatus MUST be kept alone, for they are without a doubt the most aggressive aquarium species available, either freshwater or marine!
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