![]() Even commercial aquariums usually stick to solo fish due to their destructive habits. It’s usually out of the realms of possibility for the average aquarist. You’d need a MAMMOTH aquarium to do so, though. In theory, you CAN keep a school of queen triggerfish. Attempting to keep a queen trigger in an aquarium that’s too small only exacerbates these problems. And they (inadvertently) wreak havoc as they rearrange rockwork. The sheer size of the fish turns them into a bully. It’s when you move the species into a captive environment that you see an aggressive streak emerge. If feeling threatened, they deploy the trigger and wedge into a crevice. And they start up that guttural sound with the pectoral membrane to divert other fish from getting too close. They usually dart out of the area when divers attempt to follow them. (Not to mention the stress it creates in the fish!) Queen Triggerfish Behavior and Tank Matesĭespite their terror among the hard-shelled invertebrate community, queen triggerfish are shy – in the wild. ![]() A queen trigger that can’t eat will need manual Dremeling. Algae won’t prevent the overgrowth of those teeth. But you also shouldn’t assume they’ve turned vegetarian. You may spot your queen triggerfish nibbling at the macroalgae growing in your tank. But if you have sponges and live rock available as “chew toys,” you can offer additional menu options: Mussels, shrimp, and clams will provide the protein your queen trigger’s hunting and wear down those fangs. The best way to do this is to offer food in a shell. So you need to come prepared to satisfy their craving for meat AND ensure you’re caring for their teeth. And they’ve perfected the art of flipping sea urchins over to get at the unprotected undersides. (Not when they don’t hesitate to bite divers during the spawning season!) The sharp teeth in their blue lips are designed to crush crunchy delights. It’s better if you keep this species in a fish-only tank. In no time, you’ll see your ornamental shrimp disappear from the tank. And those shells? Yeah, they work nicely for filing down queen triggerfish teeth. Crabs and shrimp make up some of their menu favorites. You also want to avoid mixing triggerfish and crustaceans. This includes clams, snails, and sponges. Actually, any hard sessile invertebrate is potentially at risk. Remember that chewing habit? Yeah, queen triggers have no problem filing down their teeth with your favorite corals. They’re the furthest thing from reef-safe! While divers and snorkelers often spot schools of queen triggerfish swimming over reefs in the Atlantic, you should resist the temptation to add one of these fish to your prize reef tank. ![]() (Offering plenty of alternatives will help, too) Are Queen Triggerfish Reef-Safe? And you don’t want to wake up one morning and find they gnawed through a filtration tube. They don’t particularly care WHAT they chew. Then you need to do your best to disguise or remove all of the wires and tubes from the tank. A top protein skimmer and an attached sump aren’t bad ideas, either. Without biological and mechanical filters to clean up after them, you’ll find yourself with failing water conditions. Queen triggers are messy eaters and carnivores, to boot. All of that room is necessary to provide the open space they need for swimming and the live rock they’ll explore and sleep in.Īs if that weren’t enough, you need to invest in STRONG filtration. You can start your youngster in a smaller aquarium, but you need an appropriate tank ready for when they grow. Queen triggerfish need a minimum of 500 gallons (1893L) – and that’s for ONE fish. ![]() It’s the easiest way to differentiate the two sexes. Males will show the most dramatic filaments and colors, especially during the spawning season. As they age, the tail develops long, trailing filaments. Juvenile queen triggers aren’t quite as flashy, though the color palette remains the same. Another blue bar picks up around the tail and down the median fins. And around the lips – sheltering sharp, constant-growing teeth – you’ll note a bright blue ring that sweeps back to the pectoral fins. Along the bottom, they’re a bright orangish-yellow. Across the top half of the body, you see a wide band of green transitioning to blue and then gray. Nope, it’s the flashy scales that do the trick. ![]() That doesn’t earn them a place at the top of the popularity list.
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