Niger the culprit?

Congaken · Sep 7, 2017

This morning my 2nd chromie had his tail bitten...this time 1/2 off...I had gotten rid of my coral banded shrimp thinking that he was the culprit...now I'm pretty sure its those big teeth of my niger trigger in the 65 gal. tank...planning to rehome asap...opinion?;Pompus

DSC reef · Sep 7, 2017

I think re homing the trigger is a good idea. Plus it will save what tails are left!

eatbreakfast · Sep 7, 2017

It could very well be the culprit. Rehoming is a good idea, as 65g is not much space for a niger trigger.

Congaken · Sep 7, 2017

eatbreakfast said:
It could very well be the culprit. Rehoming is a good idea, as 65g is not much space for a niger trigger.

Could he have done it in the night?...I assume he is sleeping too...

HeteractisMagReef · Sep 7, 2017

Agree with finding a new home for the niger trigger--he will continue to do this. Only other option is to make sure he is always well fed, but this would have water quality implications and still may not work. Good luck!

Congaken · Sep 7, 2017

HeteractisMagReef said:
Agree with finding a new home for the niger trigger--he will continue to do this. Only other option is to make sure he is always well fed, but this would have water quality implications and still may not work. Good luck!

I do feed 3/per day...it happens at night...wouldn't he sleep too?

Mal11224 · Sep 7, 2017

I have the same issue. My niger trigger is nipping at the tail of my fox face and I am in the process of setting a trap to catch him and will rehome it. He is starting to get aggressive and making his territory larger. Sucks because it's a beautiful fish but must be done for the greater good of the tank.

DSC reef · Sep 7, 2017

Congaken said:
I do feed 3/per day...it happens at night...wouldn't he sleep too?

I'm sure he sleeps but as the trigger matures he will just get more territorial in a small tank and eventually it will be more than tails missing.

Congaken · Sep 7, 2017

DSC reef said:
I'm sure he sleeps but as the trigger matures he will just get more territorial in a small tank and eventually it will be more than tails missing.

According to Darryl Hey...who is my mentor...its not the trigger...he says that it would gut the fish, not nip the tail...its seems that the culprit may be the other chromies...it seems that when lights go out, they find their sleeping spot...that's when the nipping occurs...

eatbreakfast · Sep 7, 2017

Congaken said:
According to Darryl Hey...who is my mentor...its not the trigger...he says that it would gut the fish, not nip the tail...its seems that the culprit may be the other chromies...it seems that when lights go out, they find their sleeping spot...that's when the nipping occurs...

Maybe, maybe not. The nipping from the Niger would not have to be that often to do that kind of damage. I have seen many fish tails nipped by triggers without being gutted. Since chromis are significantly faster than a trigger, the tail is the most likely part of the chromis to get nipped.

Most chromis aggression and damage occurs during the day. That's when the hierarchy works itself out and is established, so that dominant fish can get the food and hiding spots they want without taking out a whole tail.

cracker · Sep 7, 2017

The plot thickens !

TheLadyCrash · Sep 7, 2017

I've got 3 chromies in my 45g for about 6 months now. I definitely see aggression between them (mostly body-slamming each other) and an occasional nip but never something as bad as 1/2 a tail missing. Just my experience with them.

Congaken · Sep 11, 2017

eatbreakfast said:
Maybe, maybe not. The nipping from the Niger would not have to be that often to do that kind of damage. I have seen many fish tails nipped by triggers without being gutted. Since chromis are significantly faster than a trigger, the tail is the most likely part of the chromis to get nipped.

Most chromis aggression and damage occurs during the day. That's when the hierarchy works itself out and is established, so that dominant fish can get the food and hiding spots they want without taking out a whole tail.

We have come to some kind of conclusion that it was either the chromies themselves or a tomato clown...but I have not seen the latter be aggressive to anyone but another tomato...I rehomed my cbs over this...now I'm looking for a mated pair of them...or one more blood shrimp (I have one in my 10)...to put in the 65...we may never know...