Undulated Trigger and Panther Grouper

[HildebrandRarity]

Good afternoon, Has anyone had experience keeping these 2 fish together? I introduced them and seem to be getting along so far with the Undulated being more shy and grouper swimming around freely

 

[Soren]

Good afternoon, Has anyone had experience keeping these 2 fish together? I introduced them and seem to be getting along so far with the Undulated being more shy and grouper swimming around freely

I cannot answer your pairing directly, but I have a somewhat relevant experience.
I got my current 75-gallon FOWLR from a co-worker a little over a year ago. It already contained three triggerfish: an undulate (Balistapus undulatus), a Picasso (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) and a rectangle (Rhinecanthus rectangulus). All were around 3-3.5" long.
At first, the Picasso was the largest and most bold/dominant, the rectangle was smaller and mostly peaceful while being chased occasionally by the Picasso with no major aggression and no damage, and the undulate was smallest and hid most of the time.
Within the first few months, I noticed the undulate growing faster than the other two and becoming a bit more bold over time. I knew this may eventually become an issue with 3 triggers, especially since the undulates are known for aggression.
About a month ago, I noticed the Picasso hiding and the undulate out a lot more. Within 2 days, before I separated them, the undulate killed the Picasso due to aggression and scared the rectangle into hiding. There were a few bite marks on the Picasso and it had tattered fins. At this point, I had a quarantine tank setup and cycling with a piece of live rock, but I could not catch the undulate that night.
The next night, when I got home from work, I found the rectangle dead as well from aggression. I immediately did anything necessary to remove the undulate before it killed any more of my fish (purple tang, chromis, and snowflake eel). I rehomed the undulate to another co-worker's tank and it has been doing fine since.

I am now (and was before, though I acquired the tank with those occupants) a firm believer that undulate triggerfish are a great risk in a tank with other occupants and there is valid reason for the warnings I have read about their disposition in my saltwater reference books and online.

Maybe they can be peaceful, but they seem to be a high risk.

 

[HildebrandRarity]

I cannot answer your pairing directly, but I have a somewhat relevant experience.
I got my current 75-gallon FOWLR from a co-worker a little over a year ago. It already contained three triggerfish: an undulate (Balistapus undulatus), a Picasso (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) and a rectangle (Rhinecanthus rectangulus). All were around 3-3.5" long.
At first, the Picasso was the largest and most bold/dominant, the rectangle was smaller and mostly peaceful while being chased occasionally by the Picasso with no major aggression and no damage, and the undulate was smallest and hid most of the time.
Within the first few months, I noticed the undulate growing faster than the other two and becoming a bit more bold over time. I knew this may eventually become an issue with 3 triggers, especially since the undulates are known for aggression.
About a month ago, I noticed the Picasso hiding and the undulate out a lot more. Within 2 days, before I separated them, the undulate killed the Picasso due to aggression and scared the rectangle into hiding. There were a few bite marks on the Picasso and it had tattered fins. At this point, I had a quarantine tank setup and cycling with a piece of live rock, but I could not catch the undulate that night.
The next night, when I got home from work, I found the rectangle dead as well from aggression. I immediately did anything necessary to remove the undulate before it killed any more of my fish (purple tang, chromis, and snowflake eel). I rehomed the undulate to another co-worker's tank and it has been doing fine since.

I am now (and was before, though I acquired the tank with those occupants) a firm believer that undulate triggerfish are a great risk in a tank with other occupants and there is valid reason for the warnings I have read about their disposition in my saltwater reference books and online.

Maybe they can be peaceful, but they seem to be a high risk.

thanks for your message, ill be monitoring them closely anything can happen

 

[HildebrandRarity]

Panther

 

[HildebrandRarity]

Best buds? they love each other

 

[HildebrandRarity]

Undulated and la their grouper tank buds

 

[HildebrandRarity]

Predator tank

 

[minus9]

Undulated triggers are super cool and beautiful fish, but keep a close watch on it. They can and will turn on a dime. History and experience has taught me that he/she will be the only fish in your tank at some point.

 

[alton]

Brother in law had a 4 - 5" Niger Trigger, I was taking my trigger tank down and he wanted my undulated which was quite a bit smaller than the Niger. It only took two weeks for the undulated to kill the Niger. What happened next was amazing. He got so mad he quit feeding the undulated and for six months the undulated only ate the algae that grew in the tank and remained fat when I picked it up and traded him in at the LFS

 

[Shufflepig]

Only good tankmate for an undulated trigger is a rock!!!

 

[HildebrandRarity]

Only good tankmate for an undulated trigger is a rock!!!

I heard that one before mayby this will be an exception let you guys know

 

[HildebrandRarity]

My Undulated is extremely shy and all he does is hide in his caves, thought having a friend would make him less shy but he still hides all the time but seem to be getting along well the past few days as you can see from the video they swim right next to each other with no problems

 

[minus9]

My Undulated is extremely shy and all he does is hide in his caves, thought having a friend would make him less shy but he still hides all the time but seem to be getting along well the past few days as you can see from the video they swim right next to each other with no problems

They are always shy at first, hopefully it plays nice, but keep a close watch.

 

[HildebrandRarity]

 

[HildebrandRarity]

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