Trigger Fish

[psycho-killer]

can i maybe keep a small picasso trigger ? hear if u get them small its fine

 

[andywg]

All depends in what your tank size is, what your other tank stocking is and many more. Give some info on what you have already and plan to have and we can help.

 

[psycho-killer]

its a 1000 litre tank,

have

1x powder blue tang
1x powder brown tang
1x purple tang
1x tamatoe clown
1x cardinal
1x leopard wrasse
crabs and snails
w
anted the yellow box fish but maybe the trigger will be better ?

want to stock some pipe fish,boxer shrimp,cleaner shrimp some wrasses and other tangs

 

[andywg]

Snails could be an issue. The first thing my picasso trigger did upon getting into his tank was eat every single snail in the tank.

Pipefish are fairly sedantry feeders that really need to be thought of as similar to sea horses, so they will probably not enjoy being in a tank with so many more active feeders.

The rest of the fish stock should be ok, just keep an eye out for aggression, though I would expect more problems from 3 tangs than one picasso, though the tangs will be mostly at each other rather than other fish.

 

[Lynden]

My picasso attacked snails, but did not kill them. These are benthic triggers, not planktonivores, so the risk exists. Also, as which came as an unwanted surprise to me, they can grow very quickly, so a small one will be a big one in a year.

 

[vickie_M]

Several days ago I purchased a beautiful purple tang at the
LFS (I just couldn't pass it up though I probably should have waited). Any
ways I had observed it for about a week before purchasing it and it was
eating well, and looked great. Once I got him into the tank he just
started swimming back and forth from one end of the tank (75 gal) to the
other non-stop. The small picasso trigger that I have in the tank just
sits back and watches him as if to say "what is your
problem". Nonetheless, the tangs antics are tiring both of us out. He
also hasn't eaten yet even though I have offered a variety of live, frozen,
and flake foods. It's been four days now and he hasn't stopped once. Is
he just stressed out from the move? Do you think he'll ever relax?
Should yes... by now even... do try some dried algae on a feeding clip
Also, I was reading through some of the archived questions on your site and
came across one persons letter describing his aquarium set-up. One of the
items he had was bak-pak II protein skimmer with a biobale material. You
told this person to change the biobale material to something else. I too
have a bak-pak skimmer and was wondering what material I should use to
replace the biobale?
I would... this stuff tends to get clogged up and cause trouble
Also, the skimmer is rated up to 60 gal. The guy at
the lfs said it would be ok on my 75. Is that true or was he just trying
to get a sale knowing I couldn't afford a higher priced skimmer??

 

[Lynden]

Replace the biobale with either nothing, or a small amount of phosphate remover (granular ferric oxide).

As for the tang... it could have been a rough shipment. Other than that I don't have any guesses.