Titan trigger

[PhishMonger84]

What becomes of these fish?

who buys them? are their sizes in aquaria just grossly overstated?

recently i saw 3 tiny titan triggers on Divers Den. as someone who would love to raise a clown, blueline and golden heart but can't justify it. where do fish like end up?

 

[PhishMonger84]

Also, i see more starry & pineapple triggers at my LFS store then i do pink tails.

Whats the story with these beast?

@lion king what are your thoughts sir>?

Also my LFS got a 2" dwarf fuzzy that may end up in my 20L

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Just saw those on DD. LiveAquaria isn't overstating their size, these things are massive. They're also probably the worst aquarium fish a person could possibly keep.

This is one somebody caught on a fly rod. There is a bit of forced perspective, but look at the size of this guy's hands compared to the fish.

This isn't even a big one. They do get about 8" longer, which translates to absurdly big.

I don't know who's buying them, but I hope they know what they're doing. I wouldn't put one of these in anything less than a 12' 600 gallon tank. I suspect that feeding a titan trigger would get very expensive. Probably 1/4lb of frozen prawns every day for the 20 years it will live. That comes in at over 15,000$ to keep one of these things alive.

I don't think that there's such a thing as a good tank mate for this fish. Even large angels and puffers are half the size of this fish, they'd get eaten as surely as a picasso trigger gobbles up a clownfish. Maybe we've finally found a good tank mate for a tesselata moray, but even with one of those, I suspect the trigger would eventually come out on top.

Unfortunately, I suspect that the people who buy these have a 125 gallon and think it'd be "cool" to own a fish like this. They see the nature documentaries which show them cracking open urchins and chasing divers, and decide that they want such a cool and mean fish. It also doesn't help that they're so cute when they're little and have a shockingly affordable price tag.

 

[PhishMonger84]

You give ppl more credit than I do. i assume this is going in someones tank with a 55, wants everyone to think they're tough just like oscars dovii and red tail cats in the freshwater space.

Theres a few threads on here suggesting they aren't that bad aggression wise and they grow incredibly slowly.

As someone who wants a clown trigger and is back and forth for years about it, this fish blows my mind- I'd definitely rather have a fusco, queen, clown or goldenheart

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

You give ppl more credit than I do. i assume this is going in someones tank with a 55, wants everyone to think they're tough just like oscars dovii and red tail cats in the freshwater space.

Theres a few threads on here suggesting they aren't that bad aggression wise and they grow incredibly slowly.

As someone who wants a clown trigger and is back and forth for years about it, this fish blows my mind- I'd definitely rather have a fusco, queen, clown or goldenheart

Unfortunately, given that these are being sold by LA, I think that there's a solid chance it'll die in shipping. Might be better for the fish in the long run, sadly.

I don't believe that this fish isn't aggressive. I think that most people who've kept them and talk about how nice they are have only kept theirs as a juvenile. Once it hits the 12" mark and is an adult, I think that its attitude will change very rapidly. Sort of the same thing as with a queen/clown trigger, they're very friendly (even reef safe) as babies, but when they grow up, every fish less than twice its size had better run for cover.

As for slow growth, I bet it'd take a long time for it to grow to the full 30". However, it'd reach a foot within a few years, and that's when hell will start to break loose. I'd estimate that a growth rate of about 4" a year should be expected, slowing down to half that rate once it reaches a foot. The wild lifespan of these fish is about 8 years on average (longer in captivity), and if it's going to reach 30" in that time frame, it's got to be growing pretty fast.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

Some people have lagoons Some have Porsches. we have some large fish and eels, and triggers. Ya it’s not cheap. It’s easily 1500 bucks a month to,feed and water changes and power the big skimmers on our 8500 gallon lagoon

I don’t want a titan or a queen or an undulated trigger cuz I like everything in the lagoon alive

 

[PhishMonger84]

Some people have lagoons Some have Porsches. we have some large fish and eels, and triggers. Ya it’s not cheap. It’s easily 1500 bucks a month to,feed and water changes and power the big skimmers on our 8500 gallon lagoon

I don’t want a titan or a queen or an undulated trigger cuz I like everything in the lagoon alive

Are starry and pineapples just as bad? I find it odd that they show up more than pink tails and indian ocean black trigs, which are more appropriately sized

 

[Solasis]

I was very disappointed to see LA selling these fish.. I saw this video awhile back and gives a good idea of their size:

 

[PhishMonger84]

i feel as though i should state this very plainly, this is NOT a fish i want or am considering and like the rest of you I'm shocked they are available and so cheaply

 

[lion king]

Also, i see more starry & pineapple triggers at my LFS store then i do pink tails.

Whats the story with these beast?

@lion king what are your thoughts sir>?

Also my LFS got a 2" dwarf fuzzy that may end up in my 20L

The starry and pineapple triggers really would not be considered that beautiful in maturity, relatively speaking, compared to other choices, and will get rather large.

Golden heart is better choice than the queen, being in the same genus, they stay smaller and have a good disposition.

Hey @PhishMonger84 get a baby titan and clown and let them grow up together. But the real beauty of the titan won't show for many years. They will be milder because you started them at 2", and in 10 years neither will even be 10". Most hobbyist will kill them right away, and they are worried about the titan in the video above. The fusco's aggression can rival the undy, and the queen is on another level, mainly because of their size. Sizing you see listed is max size, not common size, and not captivity size.

Raising baby triggers is alot of fun.

 

[PhishMonger84]

The starry and pineapple triggers really would not be considered that beautiful in maturity, relatively speaking, compared to other choices, and will get rather large.

Golden heart is better choice than the queen, being in the same genus, they stay smaller and have a good disposition.

Hey @PhishMonger84 get a baby titan and clown and let them grow up together. But the real beauty of the titan won't show for many years. They will be milder because you started them at 2", and in 10 years neither will even be 10". Most hobbyist will kill them right away, and they are worried about the titan in the video above. The fusco's aggression can rival the undy, and the queen is on another level, mainly because of their size. Sizing you see listed is max size, not common size, and not captivity size.

Raising baby triggers is alot of fun.

Thanks for jumping in!

And your anecdotal experiences.

I’m not interested in a titan but I do want to source a tiny or small clown and grow it out.
Fuscos and golden heart seem out of reach but are stunners

The captive vs common vs max size is always a hot debate on any forum, so it’s hard to get a consensus of experiences and outcomes.

I do have a response on clown triggers from biota a few years back stating that in high density 300 gal tubs they achieved about 7” in a year but that’s with continuous water changes and other things hobbyist cannot recreate

 

[lion king]

What becomes of these fish?

who buys them? are their sizes in aquaria just grossly overstated?

recently i saw 3 tiny titan triggers on Divers Den. as someone who would love to raise a clown, blueline and golden heart but can't justify it. where do fish like end up?

I usually just stay in my lane these days, although I do have a ton of trigger experience. My 1st tank more than 35 years ago now was an undy, picasso, and niger. Since then I've kept most available triggers at one time or another, and always have had 2-3 in every tank I've run. I've raised several baby triggers, at one time did it for a maintenace company to place in customers tanks after I grew them out.

Sadly most fish will have a very short life. Most of those titans are going to die pretty quickly. But a decent, caring, hobbyist can keep one in a 180g plus for 10 years. And that's going to be the best life that fish could have had.

 

[bluemon]

I was very disappointed to see LA selling these fish.. I saw this video awhile back and gives a good idea of their size:

Thanks for the video. What's funny is the title makes it seems like the trigger is a reefkeeper killing these coral killers.

When really it's just a hungry boi

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

What becomes of these fish?

who buys them? are their sizes in aquaria just grossly overstated?

recently i saw 3 tiny titan triggers on Divers Den. as someone who would love to raise a clown, blueline and golden heart but can't justify it. where do fish like end up?

Well, I can tell you public aquariums won't house them! I just ran a global inventory search that covers about half of the world's public aquariums, and there are only four of these fish currently in collections, and two of those are at Two Oceans Aquarium in Durban.

Jay

 

[PhishMonger84]

Well, I can tell you public aquariums won't house them! I just ran a global inventory search that covers about half of the world's public aquariums, and there are only four of these fish currently in collections, and two of those are at Two Oceans Aquarium in Durban.

Jay

That’s pretty telling!

I know I’ve seen clowns, nigers and huma’s in the mixed reef display at the New England aquarium. Can’t imagine most go to aquariums to view a “wet pet” in lieu of a community

 

[jda]

Jay is right - I had one of these in the 1990s and St Louis or any of the reasonably close aquariums/zoos wanted nothing to do with it. One told me to fillet and grill it with some pineapple and make a sandwich - they are supposed to be quite tasty.

They are not quite as nasty when you raise them from young, but if you want any chance with tank mates they need to fed a lot of food and growing.

Mine was able to be housed with some other triggers, puffers and large tangs and eventually went to a very large plywood setup of about 4000 gallons where it was doing OK a few years later when I checked. The biggest issue that I had was that it constantly wanted to move around the substrate. It was only 10-12 inches.

The sad thing is that most of them just end up dead like most other captive fish. Even if they are well cared for at times, the size eventually leads people to sell or give them away to well-meaning folks who do not know how to care for them and they live short lives. I know that some of us on this board can keep fish for 10-20 years, but this is the exception, not the rule.

 

[PhishMonger84]

Jeez, now there’s a 5.5” one on the DD and a gorgeous blueline of the same size

 

[antmoney480]

What becomes of these fish?

who buys them? are their sizes in aquaria just grossly overstated?

recently i saw 3 tiny titan triggers on Divers Den. as someone who would love to raise a clown, blueline and golden heart but can't justify it. where do fish like end up?

So I actually bought one and they are not titans they are pineapple triggers! He’s doing just fine in a 500 gallon now and will go to a 2000 gallon when he can hang with the big boys! But it’s was not a titan it was a pinnapple trigger!

 

[antmoney480]

Also, i see more starry & pineapple triggers at my LFS store then i do pink tails.

Whats the story with these beast?

@lion king what are your thoughts sir>?

Also my LFS got a 2" dwarf fuzzy that may end up in my 20L

Where are you located I would love a starry trigger but have only ever seen one and that was on a instagram account!

 

[PhishMonger84]

Where are you located I would love a starry trigger but have only ever seen one and that was on a instagram account!

Metrowest Massachusetts

Did you buy a lil one or the 5.5” one? That one looked titan to me, the smalls no idea