a few questions

[Robert]

redoing a large saltwater tank, and wandering about a decent cleaning crew for a FO tank with a few triggers, lion, and a snowflake moray. also wandering what type triggers would do best with the volitan and snowflake in a 265 gal. setup.

[VoodooChild]

I'll let Mono say on the best triggers for your tank, but I think that most cleaners would get eaten by something in your tank. Anything with a shell will be taken care of by the triggers, anything large will still fit into a lion's cavernous mouth, and stars, which may work, but probably eventually be caughten by the eel. I would rely on good water changes, a decent protein skimmer, and live rock and DSB for clean up. Perhaps crushed coral would work best here, since you may have to be siphoning often. Just a thought. You may want to look into a hang on back refugium or two. That you could have some caulerpa and what not. That will help a bit with excess food and wastes. It'll be an awsome tank though!

[OrionGirl]

Going to be tough--many eels eat small crunchy things, as will triggers and lions. Aggressive FO tanks really can't support a standard clean up crew of hermits and shrimp. Snails, if added before the fish, may have a chance, but be prepared for losses. A larger hermit crab--size of a balled fist--might survive as well. Many of the serpent stars that hitch hike in will remain too small for the fish to target, so can help out, but are not usually available for sale. Hitchkhiking limpets can help with algae also.

Bristleworms are really one of the best options--since they won't hurt the fish, and are fantastic detrivores. Amphipods and copopods as well--not as effective and larger inverts, but easy to maintain in force.

Triggers and lions can be a bad combination. Basically, you need to be carefully, and avoid some of the more aggressive triggers like clowns and queens. Lion fins can be snipped off easily by the sharp teeth of the trigger. Some triggers will intentionally go after them, while others might accidentally go after them during feeding. We have a humu in with our volitan, and the lion has lost one fin tip--it's growing back, and the trigger does not bother the lion otherwise.

[MonoSebaelover]

Agree with Orion, trigger/lion combos generally always fail. Some of the worst triggers are the Clown, Queen, Undulate, and any Rhinecanthus trigger (these are the worst at it, they will deliberatly kill a trigger while a Clown or Queen will do it because it is a game or they or bored). After keeping triggers for well over 3 years I have deduced that they are too smart for their own good. Predict the unexpected with them. As long as the eel is able to completly conceal its ENTIRE body in live rock or a decoration that the trigger can not get into the eel will be fine. If you are bound and determined to have a trigger/lion/eel combo then go with a Niger Trigger (Odonus niger) or any of the Xanthichthys trigger. Anyway hope this helps and good luck with whatever you decide.

[Robert]

thanks for the thoughts. would a huma trigger be a good choice, or would I be better off keeping the lion and eel and replaceing the triggers with something else?