triggerfish attack,...

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Dary421

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i started to do my weekly water change this morning and discovered my mertensi butterfly fish lying on the bottom of the tank dead with no eyes and a nice bite mark outta him,....last night right before" lites out",. i saw out one of my triggerfish chasing him and giving him a good nip....wow,..i had no idea what musta happened after i went to bed but it had to be brutal....besides that attack last night , my tank life was nice and peaceful,....but on the bright side ,..i think i can get some more mushrooms etc,...he was eating them as fast as i could put them in the tank before...i guess its just another day in the world of the marine aquariums. R.I.P.mr.butterflyfish.
 
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What trigger fish was it? I have a clown trigger and he's getting to the size where they can "turn nasty" so I'm trying to make sure he's well fed!!
 
What are you housing with the trigger and what kind of trigger is it? They can be extremely aggressive, I wouldn't have had him in a tank with a butterfly.
 
i have two triggers,... a picaso triggerfish ( "pyscho") for the most part he is non aggresive to anything but my fingers and a rectangular triggerfish which is the aggresive one, he was the one that was that did the deed.....he has been in a bad mood for the last week or so anyway.
 
What are you housing with the trigger and what kind of trigger is it? They can be extremely aggressive, I wouldn't have had him in a tank with a butterfly.
i knew it might be a ganble but the butterfly fish came first,..and after a rough start ,they settled in and seemed to be compatible....then one dark and drury nite,.........
 
We have established that the triggers are aggressive, but now the question is what else is in the tank with them. There is nothing to stop them from killing any other docile fish he has. Please research before you purchase a fish moving forward. Triggers are among the most aggressive fish that you can keep.
 
I am trying to determine if it would be easier for him to remove the triggers, or other docile fish. I don't know if the butterfly was just an out of place fish in an aggressive tank or if he has put two triggers in an otherwise peaceful system.
 
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how do you handle any tank maintenance dont they try to nip your hands when you reach into the tank?
 
I am trying to determine if it would be easier for him to remove the triggers, or other docile fish. I don't know if the butterfly was just an out of place fish in an aggressive tank or if he has put two triggers in an otherwise peaceful system.


Check his 'about me' on his profile, he lists his tank specs/livestock
 
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All Off Topic posts have been deleted. Please keep this thread on topic. In case anyone is mistaken, this thread is not about dogs... it's about fish ;)
 
I'm on my phone, with a bad signal. I'm having a hard time opening profiles. I hope the butterfly is the only victim here, I have friends with triggers that will kill anything in their tank.
 
That yellow tang may be next on the menu, he can better defend himself than the butterfly, but its no match for a trigger if it comes to that.
 
I would advise that you remove the triggers. I am reading your profile, it appears you were building a reef and then threw in two triggers. They are not compatible with corals, and your system is too small for the yellow tang. They need a ton of swimming room, despite being relatively small by tang standards.
 
I would advise that you remove the triggers. I am reading your profile, it appears you were building a reef and then threw in two triggers. They are not compatible with corals, and your system is too small for the yellow tang. They need a ton of swimming room, despite being relatively small by tang standards.

Nah,..the whole idea of setting up this tank was to have a trigger or two,...everything else was a add on,....the few corals I have were by trial and error to see if the mertensi butterfly would eat it or not,..the triggers have had no interests in any of them,....
 
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