Undulated Trigger

[AnakinReefWalker]

Undulated triggers are beautiful and inexpensive, but they really are best kept in solitary, if you put other fish in there, you could wake up one morning and find out that it's the last fish standing. If I had the space for a large tank where I could only keep one of these I would, but I don't

 

[eatbreakfast]

Lion fish move slowly and deliberately and have long flowing fins. A fish as aggressive as an undulate trigger is not a good match.

 

[vetteguy53081]

beautiful yet nasty. Not an ideal community fish and will eat the inverts meaning don't count on having many if any and is an eating machine ( have lots of meaty foods on hand).

 

[Mpal771]

Lets keep this simple as everyone's experiences differ. The lion fish has no natural predator-in the ocean or the tank. Having kept them with Undulated, Clown, Picasso, Blue line and Queen trigger fish (not all at the same time..lol) never had a problem. Regardless of family, trigger aggression is to close-in and perform a quick tail flash. If the other fish retreats, its history. The lion fish simply inverts its back so that the spine spikes face the aggressor. They do not back up and stay very calm. I had a blue line be stupid enough to brush the lion with its tail and boy did he have regret. Never went near it again.

The challenge with the undulated is they are very shy to begin with and the lion will establish alpha status within 1-2 days. Whereas the other trigger families will still swim about on their side of the tank, the undulated will retreat and bury itself. One thing is certain, the Undulated will not eat the lion. lol. It is typically reclusive in the tank without a challenge with a fish it fears.

The undulated is unique in that it lacks the personality of almost every other species of trigger. This and its aggressive issues are the reason its sells on the cheap. Its sheer beauty make it impossible to resist. Hope this was helpful. I cant offer with certainty any other tank mate that would co-exist with the undulated.

I saw a real nice 90 gal mangrove tank with a great rock scape and the only fish in it was a Picasso trigger. It was populated with torch coral and green star polyps. Something like this you may wish to consider if you have a true affinity for the undulated.....no crabs though

 

[vetteguy53081]

Lets keep this simple as everyone's experiences differ. The lion fish has no natural predator-in the ocean or the tank. Having kept them with Undulated, Clown, Picasso, Blue line and Queen trigger fish (not all at the same time..lol) never had a problem. Regardless of family, trigger aggression is to close-in and perform a quick tail flash. If the other fish retreats, its history. The lion fish simply inverts its back so that the spine spikes face the aggressor. They do not back up and stay very calm. I had a blue line be stupid enough to brush the lion with its tail and boy did he have regret. Never went near it again.

The challenge with the undulated is they are very shy to begin with and the lion will establish alpha status within 1-2 days. Whereas the other trigger families will still swim about on their side of the tank, the undulated will retreat and bury itself. One thing is certain, the Undulated will not eat the lion. lol. It is typically reclusive in the tank without a challenge with a fish it fears.

The undulated is unique in that it lacks the personality of almost every other species of trigger. This and its aggressive issues are the reason its sells on the cheap. Its sheer beauty make it impossible to resist. Hope this was helpful. I cant offer with certainty any other tank mate that would co-exist with the undulated.

I saw a real nice 90 gal mangrove tank with a great rock scape and the only fish in it was a Picasso trigger. It was populated with torch coral and green star polyps. Something like this you may wish to consider if you have a true affinity for the undulated.....no crabs though

YOUR THIRD PARAGRAPH DESCRIBED IT VERY WELL AND PRECISE.

 

[scottedontknow]

Fine I’ll take it off your hands, I have a 180 sitting with nothing in it haha. But honestly I’d get a lion fish as his companion as others have said. Maybe an eel could also be a possibility?

P.s. it’s such a beautiful fish!

 

[Eddie7144]

Have you looked into the sohal tang ? I had one and it was a killer, aggressive and feared nothing, might be able to hanf with tour trigger.

 

[lion king]

I have kept most every trigger with lions for many years, and never had an issue. But the undulated is a different animal all together, I would never trust one with any of my lions. Whatever positive reports of keeping an undy with most anything is when they are in tremendously large aquariums or when they are pretty small. I guarantee you with a 99.9% probability if you keep an undy at 5" or larger in an average large tank like a 180g, it will end badly. What size tank are we talking about? They do grow slowly and I have known guys keeping them in 75/90g as a species tank, and have enjoyed them immensely.

 

[CaptianPaulie]

Lion Fish makes an excellent tank mate for aggressive triggers

I might try it out thank you!

 

[CaptianPaulie]

One of my friends has the same trigger as you, and she has a predator tank. She put a lion fish in there and they do not bug each other. She the also put in a porcupine puffer fish and still had all three. It may be just her luck, but I would get the larger lion fish. They won’t attack the trigger unless the trigger attack’s him first. Now, I’m sure this is not always the case, but it has proven to work for her.

The guy at the LFS also said i should try a puffer and he also mentioned a lion but i would be so upset if the lion got killed. Ive always wanted a lionfish so if i go that route im taking serious precation like buying it after work on friday setting up a camera facing my tank and watching via video vhat because my undulated trig knows that i watch him like a hawk especially when experimenting with adding a fish. Thank you very much for your post!

 

[CaptianPaulie]

Undulated triggers are beautiful and inexpensive, but they really are best kept in solitary, if you put other fish in there, you could wake up one morning and find out that it's the last fish standing. If I had the space for a large tank where I could only keep one of these I would, but I don't

Hes only about 2 inches right now swimming around my 55 gallon like he owns the place. Im getting a larger tank eventually but i guess its a very slow growing fish so i have a little time before i need to upgrade tanks

 

[CaptianPaulie]

Lion fish move slowly and deliberately and have long flowing fins. A fish as aggressive as an undulate trigger is not a good match.

So far the common blue damsel that i stuck in there the day i started this post has done awesome with him hes smaller then the trigger and much faster and more evasive so i think he might actually be perfect but i dont think much else would make a good match. I might get one of those tank dividers for the purpose of finding a capable tankmate im very determined lol. Im in love with this trigger and i really want to figure something out so im gunna carefully experiment over the next few months with different things and if it doesnt workout im setting up a whole new tank just for professor snipe "triggers name" haha

 

[CaptianPaulie]

beautiful yet nasty. Not an ideal community fish and will eat the inverts meaning don't count on having many if any and is an eating machine ( have lots of meaty foods on hand).

Yea when i put him in the tank all i had was an emerald crab that i havent seen im months and still havent seen it. And a serpent snake thats always so deep in my porous live rock thst i have to look for an hr to find him. But he found the serpent and took him out within 2 days. But i try feeding him often i have a small 20 gallom setup in my bacement where i keep rosie reds and ghost shrimp and i feed him mysis shrimp too. The guy at LFS said to start feeding him tilapia because its good for him and very cost effective so i might start doing that instead of the rosie reds. Im trying to make him less aggressive if possible feeding him fish to hunt is butt backwards lol

 

[CaptianPaulie]

Lets keep this simple as everyone's experiences differ. The lion fish has no natural predator-in the ocean or the tank. Having kept them with Undulated, Clown, Picasso, Blue line and Queen trigger fish (not all at the same time..lol) never had a problem. Regardless of family, trigger aggression is to close-in and perform a quick tail flash. If the other fish retreats, its history. The lion fish simply inverts its back so that the spine spikes face the aggressor. They do not back up and stay very calm. I had a blue line be stupid enough to brush the lion with its tail and boy did he have regret. Never went near it again.

The challenge with the undulated is they are very shy to begin with and the lion will establish alpha status within 1-2 days. Whereas the other trigger families will still swim about on their side of the tank, the undulated will retreat and bury itself. One thing is certain, the Undulated will not eat the lion. lol. It is typically reclusive in the tank without a challenge with a fish it fears.

The undulated is unique in that it lacks the personality of almost every other species of trigger. This and its aggressive issues are the reason its sells on the cheap. Its sheer beauty make it impossible to resist. Hope this was helpful. I cant offer with certainty any other tank mate that would co-exist with the undulated.

I saw a real nice 90 gal mangrove tank with a great rock scape and the only fish in it was a Picasso trigger. It was populated with torch coral and green star polyps. Something like this you may wish to consider if you have a true affinity for the undulated.....no crabs though

Thank you very much for all that information. I really appreciate it. I think that will be my next purchase along with a tank divider just in case things get heated. Its alot crappier when you come home to a 40$+ fish who got his butt kicked while you were at work then when you come home from school and your goldfish is floating. Like i said in a past reply im gunna watch that tank like a hawk when i try the lion. Like i have with the others. The LFS is pretty good about returning fish. They have a 7 day return policy and you really only need 2 or 3 to see if its gunna workout or not. When i had the panther grouper i heard the undulated dart at it and hit his beak on the glass and knew it was time to bag him up before an unfair fight really started.

 

[CaptianPaulie]

Fine I’ll take it off your hands, I have a 180 sitting with nothing in it haha. But honestly I’d get a lion fish as his companion as others have said. Maybe an eel could also be a possibility?

P.s. it’s such a beautiful fish!

If i cant make it work i will def consider it i would attempt setting him up with a tank on his own but if it wasnt possible i would love for him to go to someone who can accommodate him!

 

[CaptianPaulie]

Have you looked into the sohal tang ? I had one and it was a killer, aggressive and feared nothing, might be able to hanf with tour trigger.

The only tangs the LFS around me ever have are powder blue, yellow, blue hippo, achilles, and powder browns. I just looked up the sohal and im thinking they dont get them because of the price but that is a very pretty fish i wouldnt mind trying down the road! Thank you

 

[CaptianPaulie]

I have kept most every trigger with lions for many years, and never had an issue. But the undulated is a different animal all together, I would never trust one with any of my lions. Whatever positive reports of keeping an undy with most anything is when they are in tremendously large aquariums or when they are pretty small. I guarantee you with a 99.9% probability if you keep an undy at 5" or larger in an average large tank like a 180g, it will end badly. What size tank are we talking about? They do grow slowly and I have known guys keeping them in 75/90g as a species tank, and have enjoyed them immensely.

Its just a 55 gallon FOWLR im running it with a canister filter, heater and i have a bubbler but havent hooked it up yet. I know its a tiny tank for the undy but since hes still only 2 inches i figured i could get away with it for a while. I wouldnt mind doing a species tank but i also heard that he would attack other undies because of territorial issues. Or did you mean a species tank like other triggers??

 

[lion king]

Its just a 55 gallon FOWLR im running it with a canister filter, heater and i have a bubbler but havent hooked it up yet. I know its a tiny tank for the undy but since hes still only 2 inches i figured i could get away with it for a while. I wouldnt mind doing a species tank but i also heard that he would attack other undies because of territorial issues. Or did you mean a species tank like other triggers??

I mean alone, if you have other tanks, keeping a fish like an undy in his own tank can be alot of fun. At 2" he could hang with one or two other aggressive fish for a couple/few years, even in a 55. As I stated earlier, they do grow slow; I would highly recommend against the lion. Another trigger around the same size from the Rhinecanthus genus could also be fun for a couple/few years, they grow slowly as well. Eventually he would need to be alone, I've never seen it work long term in anything other than huge tanks. If you got him into something like a 90g, I would think a small fang tooth eel like a jeweled or fimbriated would be interesting. My jeweled has no problem fighting with my blueline, some say the blueline can be almost as dangerous as the undy. The eel can always retreat into his cave and be protected, and are nasty enough themselves. Every time this subject comes up, it kills me; because I still toss around the undy/fimbriated tank and actually have an empty 90g.

 

[CaptianPaulie]

I mean alone, if you have other tanks, keeping a fish like an undy in his own tank can be alot of fun. At 2" he could hang with one or two other aggressive fish for a couple/few years, even in a 55. As I stated earlier, they do grow slow; I would highly recommend against the lion. Another trigger around the same size from the Rhinecanthus genus could also be fun for a couple/few years, they grow slowly as well. Eventually he would need to be alone, I've never seen it work long term in anything other than huge tanks. If you got him into something like a 90g, I would think a small fang tooth eel like a jeweled or fimbriated would be interesting. My jeweled has no problem fighting with my blueline, some say the blueline can be almost as dangerous as the undy. The eel can always retreat into his cave and be protected, and are nasty enough themselves. Every time this subject comes up, it kills me; because I still toss around the undy/fimbriated tank and actually have an empty 90g.

So if you were in my current situation what would you do? Keeping in mind that im getting a tank thats bigger in the future

 

[lion king]

So if you were in my current situation what would you do? Keeping in mind that im getting a tank thats bigger in the future

If I were thinking of a year, I'd likely get a small fang tooth eel and keep the two of them together. I'd add an algae reactor, because that would add greatly to the filtration and a trigger and eel in a 55 would create quite a mess. If I were thinking more of two to three years I'd consider a humu, rectangulus, or bursa. I would be pretty shy to add more than one, for me the biggest thing I've learned from keeping aggressive fish...is to not over crowd them. See I've got 6 triggers and 2 eels so I'm biased.