got ethical husbandry?

Just busting your stones here, but weren't you the guy considering putting a Humu Humu trigger in a 120g?

Actually it's a 125g and any trigger will do.....

The next tank is going to be a FOWLR and I was hoping to mix triggers and butterflies.

1) will the butterflies hold there own? (introduce the triggers small and last?)
2) do butterflies do well with conspecifics? (would like an assortment)
3) are there any triggers that do in a 125g? I'm partial to the blue throat, pink tail and the niger....

-Gregory
 
Ok, when you said MIX, that made my "tang police" light go off.

Just because you're doing fish only with no corals doesn't magically give you more room.

Also, just for a stone busting instance butterflies aren't the best fish to keep as well for an assortment of reasons (yeah there are some exceptions but usually not the pretty ones that get people going "OOOH" ;))
 
sfsuphysics said:
Ok, when you said MIX, that made my "tang police" light go off.

Just because you're doing fish only with no corals doesn't magically give you more room.

Also, just for a stone busting instance butterflies aren't the best fish to keep as well for an assortment of reasons (yeah there are some exceptions but usually not the pretty ones that get people going "OOOH" ;))

Don't worry. I wasn't thinking a schoal of butterflies. :bigsmile: I do realize that there are size restrictions. I'm only thinking 2 maybe three butterflies (too many?)........as to the butterflies that make people go "OOOH" any suggestions would be welcome. Obviously I'd have to stay with the ones that don't require corals as a food source. I do like racoon, tinkerii, and blue cheek. I think these are doable.....

As to the other question...is a SINGLE trigger doable with these fish.....

-Gregory
 
I think the Niger Triggerfish would probably do well because they are one of the more peaceful triggerfish. I also think that 2 Racoon Butterflyfish would cooperate with each other, I have seen while snorkeling Racoon Butterflyfish together in groups of 2 or 3. I do not have very much experience with tangs and butterflyfish though so my advice is based off of books.
 
nudibranch said:
I think the Niger Triggerfish would probably do well because they are one of the more peaceful triggerfish. I also think that 2 Racoon Butterflyfish would cooperate with each other, I have seen while snorkeling Racoon Butterflyfish together in groups of 2 or 3. I do not have very much experience with tangs and butterflyfish though so my advice is based off of books.

Thanks for the thoughts.....hopfully other will also lend there opinions. There's still plenty of time as this project to down the pike a bit. I just like to explore options well in advance! It's just tough when you've got an empty tank just sitting in the corner of the garage winking at you....

-Gregory
 
tuberider said:
Triggers+Butterflies=bad idea

That's why I asked. I knew someone here would have experience. Then given a choice I'll go with the butterflies and some smaller invertabrate friendly fish. (don't want the clean up crew eaten! That was one BIG draw back on the triggers!)

Butterfly suggestions and stocking rates would be appriciated...

-Gregory
 
One thing I always wanted to do in a tank is dwarf angels. I've had flame, bicolor, and coral beauty ones before.. of which some LPS did get chewed up, however in my junky softy tank I had two of the angels and they did great, who cares if they ate the corals (they probably didn't) but man that was some nice color in the tank.
 
If anyone is interested here's a good site for info on butterflies. The info is based on Scott Michael's book. Looks like there are a couple of butterflies that can be kept and have that "OHHHHH" factor!

http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Butterflyfishes

-Gregory
 
I think there are a few triggers that would get along fine with butterflyfish (crosshatch, bluejaw, sargassum), but they all get too big to stick in a 120 long term due to their adult size and behavior (open water planktivores that need a lot of swimming room). Unfortunately there aren't really any dwarf triggers that are also friendly. A couple Sufflamen spp. (Bursa trigger for instance) stay relatively small and could do okay in a 120 as a full grown adult but they would terrorize any fish (and your hands as well).

There are a ton of b'flies that are easy to keep and also "wow!", especially if you are not keeping any corals. Racoons are very easy to keep, and all the "Tinkeri" species (Mitratus, Tinker's, Declivis, Burgessi) are easy to keep. All the Prognathodes spp. are easy. The Chaetodon are a mixed bag of very easy to very hard.

As far as how they will get along--some b'flies do well with conspecifics. Pyramids and Heniochus come to mind off the top of my head. I'd be very careful adding any two Chaetodon sp. together--they typically establish male-female pairs only and there is currently no known way to sex them. They MAY be hermaphroditic, but this doesn't necessarily mean you can toss any two together and expect a pair to form. You may want to check on the behavior of species you are looking to purchase once you know what you want. Mitratus b'flies for example can be very aggressive but closely related species like Tinker's are pretty passive, so it may help to get opinions from folks who have kept them.

Hope this helps...
 
Lots to digest....

When the time comes I'll put the purposed stocking list up for review and see what people have to say....

-Gregory
 
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