# regal tang & picasso trigger?



## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

hello all, I have a fairly new (~2 months... cycled for one month before adding livestock) 90 gal FOWLR. 4' x 2' x 1.5', 60 lbs liverock & 65 lbs base rock. Currently have an overflow wet/dry sump filter, Coralife 18W UV sterilizer, and a reactor connected to/from the sump with phosban and carbon. I'll be adding a protein skimmer soon, but I didn't want to over-filter while the tank was cycling.

The first group of fish I added consisted of 2 tank-bred clownfish, 1 midas blenny, and 1 small regal tang. They have all been doing great, the water quality is doing well, and they happily eat when I feed them. The tang and blenny spend their day grazing on algae on the rocks and occasionally playing with each other, and the clownfish pair swim around continuously and randomly 

I would love to add one more fish to the tank, and I'd love for that fish to be a Picasso Trigger... I've read some about the PT, but I wanted some advice from you guys on whether or not thats even a compatible matchup. If so, any significant pros/cons to owning triggerfish? I've read about their teeth growing, so maybe I would need to feed it specific food types (e.g. shelled animals) to keep its teeth down? Would I ever be able to keep cleaner shrimp or things such as emerald crabs in the tank?

Thanks for any help, this site is great!


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

The addition of the trigger would be a toss up, and if it did work, it would be temporary in a tank that size. A full grown picasso trigger averages about 14 inches long, and 90 gallons with other fish would not be possible once that fish began to mature. PT's also can be agressive once they've matured to adults, so mixing them with clowns depends on the species of clowns (ok for maroon or tomato clown, not ok for percula and ocellaris). 
As for shrimps and crabs, it's almost a guarantee that the trigger would eat them as soon as he's capable. Shrimps and crabs are a natural food source for the PT, and the teeth or "beak" on a trigger is strong enough to bite right through rock to get at the inverts hiding inside. Even in a massive tank of 200 - 300 gallons it would only be a matter of time before a trigger found and consumed all inverts.

There are a lot of other options for your tank, but triggers of any species are not going to be a good mix.
What about a dwarf angel?


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

thanks for the info  I'll stay away from the triggers. I was worried about several of the points you mentioned, they're just such beautiful fish. I'll wait until I get another, larger tank then before I go for a trigger.

The dwarf angel suggestion is a good one... I'm going for bright colors, so what about the flame angel or the coral beauty? Thanks again for the help, this site is great! I'm glad I found it.


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

There's no reason you can't do either of those, but only one. 
If you need other suggestions, let us know...


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

so here's another quick question: could I perhaps go with additional tangs?

At first I didn't think so, for a number of reasons, but upon looking through one of the other member's pics of his 125gal (the 125gal inwall), I noticed he has several (I believe 2 regals, a powder blue, and a sailfin). I really like tangs, and would love to be able to safely (and not cruelly) keep as many as I can.

I've read that they can be aggressive towards one-another. Plus, I guess I'm pushing it with the minimum sized tank for even a single tang, so maybe its too small for multiple, independent of aggression concerns? The other member's 125gal looks like its 6' long, whereas mine is only 4' long, so maybe thats the killer?

Thanks again for any help


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

Yes, and even in that 125, when all of those fish are full grown there is likely going to be water quality and aggression issues. Most tangs get too large to keep multiples in less than 200 - 300 gallons long term.


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