Hi Leon,
Not all triggers are unsafe for reefs. I had 2 of them, a Male Blue throat (was my pride and joy) and a Niger trigger.
I got rid of the Niger as I felt it would outgrow the tank eventually. I didnt want a tank full of triggers as i wanted to add other large fish as the main showpiece to the tank so it was rehoused.
The Bluethroat died recently due to jumping fromthe tank.
I was (and still am ) devastated as this was my favorite fish. I had him from when he was very small and we had been through so much together, upgrading to larger tanks, whitespot outbreaks etc.. all of these he took with ease but the night he jumped out of the tank i was actually there in the room and couldnt find him. I turned the lights out and heard the splash, i turned tehm on again and searched high and low but no sign of him.. I decided he had landed back in the water and was hiding in the rockwork soi went to work. (I work nights) when i came home i found him though. He somehow managed to jumpe about 5 feet away from the tank and onto the sofa
(which is very similar in colour) Needless to say he was dead
I was so upset because i know i could have saved him if i just looked a little harder and didnt underestimate his power in jumping.
Anyway... As for their temperment. The Blue throat is among the smaller triggers and is largely a planktonic feeder that feeds on drop offs of reefs etc. (not like the clowns and picassos that munch no lobsters and crabs
). Not as colourful as the other more aggressive triggers but they certainly have character. Mine actually shared its cave with my 3 blood shrimps!
As for the clown photos...
No they are not doctored
) I have been asked a few times now (nearly each time i post a piccy of the clowns) if i have enhanced them at all. The answer is no, my camera is a Minolta Z1 and i do not use anything fancy to this either. Just stick the camer on auto and press the button!
Some ask me if the camera might be compensating the colour and not giving a true match but this also isnt true as they are truely this deep orange colour to the naked eye. I have a friend of mine who had never visited my tank (i got most of my acros from him) He has a pair of clowns and was forever boasting about how rich his colours were. I told him that mine were even richer and he didnt beleive me. He even drove 40 miles to visit me and see for himself. Well seeing is believing i guess
To be honest i waited a long time for clowns like this. I kept seeing such poor batches of clowns during the time of the Nemo film and they were being sold far to young and dieing off quickly (makes me mad when shops do this just to make a buck). My friends had 3 pairs and each died within a week or so of introduction to their tanks. I wanted a young pair but decided to wait as the tank wasnt ready at the time anyway. After weeks upon weeks of visitng my lfs each time they had a delivery, I finally found a batch of Clowns that had great colour and were very active! I waited afurther week to monitor them and see if any were dieing off unexpectedly and they didnt seem to be. I bought 2 pairs, 1 for me and 1 for my friends. Both pairs have done really well in our tanks. However my friends pair are not quite as rich in colour as mine (only ever so slightly.. they are still very bright fish). All i can explain for this colourisation is that i use different water and feed differently (more liekly the food to be honest).
I use natural sea water which might have something in it that feels a bit more natural to them but i doubt it. I also feed a large variety of food each day. The most important ingredient i feed them though is a food called Cyclopeeze. This is packed with nutrition and is a perfect food for keeping Anthias healthy. Its noted that it brings out the colours in anthias alot so this might also be true for Clowns.
Here is a piccy of my dearly missed Blue throat.
And finally my Niger
A word of warning about nigers though. Though they are considered "relatively" reef safe. These fish grow very large indeed! I have a 100 gallon (UK) setup and even this would have been pushing it a bit. The Blue throat however is very shy, very reef safe and only grows to about 5 or 6 inches. When purchasing a Blue throat make sure you get a male as the females are far less colourful. (they dont have the yellow fins or as much blue on the throat.
Hope this helps a little.
). I have a few cerith and IO snails in the sump and these help mix teh MM into the aragonite and give an even mixture to the tank. The sump is teaming with pods , bristelworms and all other forms of reef life l(like tiny brittle stars etc). I do have a stray crab in the tank that i havent identified. It will remain there until i can give a positive ID on how safe it is.
