huma huma triggers

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phatrob37

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Mar 1, 2005
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well, i love the huma huma's. at the shop where i work they have em and i just think they are the coolest things. they are one of the main reasons i got into marine aquariums. but i really dont want to have to give up the help of snails and cleaner shrimps.

so i was wondering. in most average cases i know that huma huma triggers are supposed to eat all your inverts. so do you think that conches and bumblebee snails and other stuff such as that would have trouble with the huma huma. ive been geting diffent info from diffrent people. some say they cant get to snails cuz of the shell, some say they arnt very interested, because they know that the snails and cleaner shrimp benifit them and some say nope they'll just eat em right up. so what do you guys think? and what kind of other inverts go cew with huma huma's, if any?
 
A lot depends on the temperment of the individual. My picasso kills snails and limpets for fun, but ignores a few hitch hiker corals, defines ghost shrimp as fast food, but has no interest in the urchins. I dump nassarius snails in from my reef (they breed), and he'll have fun hunting them down. Triggers hunt by shooting jets of water at the invert to tip it over and make it vulnerable--they are good at it. In short--it can work, with a few fish. In the long run, though, instinct will usually overcome them and they'll go after the inverts.
 
****, well the one im looking at has been in a tank with a grouper for a while, but theres no telling what he will do to a snail. thats awsome, the jets of water thing, im gona get some snails just to see that. hahha. but anyways. all i can do is test it out and see what happens. but as for shrimps, someone told me that the huma huma sees them as benificial and is less likely to eat em. is there any truth in this?

what kind or inverts have some of you other people had with your picasso's?
 
My picasso likes....everything he's tried! Shrimp, rocks, damsels, gobies...if it isn't fish shaped (or is but its annoying like a damsel) and it's smaller than him, its fair game! I had a little anemone come in on a piece of live rock, and he made quick work of that too. I've even seen him go after my eels over a piece of shrimp, but a quick snap from them and he is subdued. He's about 4 inches long....he doesn't mind tangs though, he'll school with them. Definentely the funniest fish I've ever owned!
 
so you think that they would go after hermits? im pretty sure yall will say yes, but no harm in asking. i can go without shrimps, but i think that i would definatly need snails and hermits though. and a white sand sifting star would be nice too, but im sure he would mess with a star.

well, if the picasso is gona kill all my clean up crew it just wont be possible to have one. i was also looking at the angler frogs. i know they eat pretty much anything, but only if its messin with em. they are freakin awsome though. i was at work one day and it lounged at a damsel about 3/4 it size and swallowed the sucker. plus there "fishing pole" is so freakin awsome.

so what you guys think about them?
 
Yes, triggers will go after hermits, snails, and limpets. I tore down my 10 and put some of the rock in the FO--there were 3-4 limpets, all over an inch in diameter. The trigger had them torn off the rock (not an easy task--I can't do it without using a lever) and consumed within about 5 minutes.

I have a frog fish in with my trigger. He's about 5 inches long currently, and is fed chunks of raw shrimp and gut-loaded ghost shrimp. He can't compete for the food, so has to be target fed. I wouldn't trust him with anything mobile (ie, any kind of crab or shrimp) or fish that mass less than he does (ie, a 6 inch goby will be eaten and coiled up in the tummy). You also have to avoid animals that will pick on the angler (I don't recommend them with triggers--it's worked for the last 8 months, but I have a tank to put the angler in if there's a problem down the line), or pose a threat to them if the angler does try to consume them. Ideally, most keep them as the sole specimen in a tank, which gives them the chance to hunt for mobile prey, and is small enough that you can find them to target feed as needed. Mine is trained--we tap on the hood and he makes his way to one of three ledges where he gets fed. The point of the lure is to bring prey items in, so other animals in the tank are not safe, even if they won't actively nip at the angler. Snails and stars are likely safe--the angler was quarantined with several and never looked at them at all.
 
cool. i definatly think he will be one of my tank mates. i plan on puting in an angler,bi color angel, antenatta lion, and a yellow tang. i know its kinda pushin it with my tank size, but ive seen much worse do fine. in fact i might not even do the tang cuz those suckers are supposed to need a 75 which sucks. but if all fails i can take em back to the place i work at and get something smaller.

so as for stocking. my tank is pretty well on its way and i currently 6 turbos a conch and 2 bumbelbee snails in there and their all going to work on algea and seem to be very active so im guessing my water is cew to go. so out of those fish what should i put in first? i was thinking the frog would be best to be put in first so he can establish territory and so i can try and train him to eat. then i was thinking probally the bi coloo or the tang because i know they are both semi-aggressive, and then the lion last even though he is just as aggressive as the others i just would think it would be best to let him in last.

any opinon on that?

and thank you so much for all your help thus far oriongirl, youve been great :) and im sorry if im starting to get annoying with all my stupid questions :p
 
Make sure you identify the angler before buying him--many will get large enough to eat the angel, and some will be small enough that the lion might eat it--likely killing it, since the angler will inflate and potentially choke the lion.. I would go with the angler first, give it a few weeks to learn to eat, then the angel and then the lion--and plan on spending some time getting the lion onto prepared foods. I would not add a tang--they really need big tanks to thrive, and may introduce diseases that will be tough to treat in the angler and lion. The angel will also benefit from the live rock--they tend to pick all day, feeding on algaes and micro crustaceans.
 
sweet, yea the only reason i was thinking of the tang was because of its vibrant yellow color, and for algea. but yea the one we got at the shop has been there for a while, it eats all right and its about a 6 incher full grown. so i dont think it would be able to fit a 7 inch lion or a 6 inch angel in there. and im just curiouse why you say the lion would get so huge? im gona get an antenatta which i believe gets to about 7-8 inches i think, now originally i was gona get a volitan but i decided that i wanted more than one fish haha. so are you saying that a 7 or 8 inch lion could eat a 6 incher? im not trying to be insultive sorry if i sound that way. im just curious if you mean that they have huge mouths or something. the one in our shop is pretty snall now, but i dont know how big he will get.


cool man, thanks again for all the help
 
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