Re: Red Sea aquarium fish selection... Trigger names, Id... Goatfish sys.,  - 7/2/08
I'm glad you agreed on the Blue Throat trigger idea, I think they are cool fish. Quick question for you though, I read on WWM that they are endemic to the Red Sea, yet sites like LiveAquaria sell them from Hawaii. What's up with that? No need to get too technical, I'm just curious, I want to make sure I purchase the correct version.
<Mmm, there are two species... of different distribution... with the same name. See here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/triggers/index.htm
The Sufflamen is the one you're looking for... from the Red Sea, western Indian Ocean... the Xanthichthys is the Pacific... including the Hawaiian Isles. An ex. of the difficulty, lack of clarity of common appellations>
The goatfish I mentioned, I'm glad you replied back positively about it, I'm looking forward to having one. Curious though, will they be ok in about a 1 inch crushed coral substrate?
<Mmm, I encourage you to not use this type, size, depth of material period... For the system and the mullid, look to very fine/soft coral sand... and read re on WWM>
I don't want the real small particle stuff because I'm afraid my water will just be too cloudy,
<Mmm, not so...>
I was thinking the next size up, the stuff that cant really float around in the water, but not much bigger than regular sand. If this is totally inappropriate for a goatfish I'll probably just stick to the small sand, I'd like to do whatever I can that will get me away from having to manually stir the sand myself from time to time.
Quick question for you that I just want your opinion on... regarding metal halides lighting. I'm planning on going with a 250w 13K MegaChrome Marine, double ended metal halide. But the more and more I read about Kelvin ratings, the more unsure I get of what I want... Basically, what lighting temperature do you feel looks best for a FOWLR?
<Mmm... for the Red Sea? A dear friend, Pablo Tepoot, of New Life Enterprises, asked me for images to make his spectacular photo montage that he has for his trade display booth as well as a large wall in his Homestead, FLA home... For the color of the water... Something in the 10-14k K range is about right>
If you recall, I'm going to have 3 or so bright yellow B/F but also a Purple tang and a Emperor angel, both of which are not yellow and much darker, I'd like their colors to stand out as well. I've been reading that you want low Kelvin ratings for making yellow stand out and high Kelvin rating to make the blues stand out, however, I'm just planning on one MH with no other light supplementation, so what would in your opinion be the best lighting to go with? I realize this is a topic for much debate, I'm just looking for your personal opinion on it.
<Understood>
This is the light I'm speaking of, by the way. http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~action~view~
idProduct~MB6612~idCategory~FILTBUMHDETW~category~Saltwater_Aquarium_Supplies-
Lighting-Bulbs-Metal_Halide-Double_Ended-250_Watts~vendor~.html
<I see>
So I just finished The CMA tonight, one of the other books I ordered was Reef Invertebrates by you and Calfo, I'll be starting that tonight. I'm especially interested in the part dedicated to refugiums.
<Heeee! The original idea for the work was to promote others success in our hobby interest by encouraging the use of these live sumps... I told Anthony (Calfo) that we'd never sell the work with this as the focus or... title (!)... so we settled on Reef Invertebrates (sans Cnidarians which we intend/ed to make another volume)... but did manage to sneak in about a quarter of the work as Refugiums... You will enjoy, gain by its reading. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Trigger ID C. maculatus or Sufflamen? 1/24/07
Hi I'm sure you guys are busy so thank you ahead of time for reading this.
Do you know what kind of trigger this is? Here's my photo bucket link- http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l96/RyumaDaddy/
and an RC link- http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=9067522#post9067522
<My inclination is to agree with the ID of Canthidermis maculatus, but in this extreme juvenile coloration, it is too hard to say. I would lean toward the genus Canthidermis, but seems to be very small, indeed.
GrahamT.>
Thank you very much
Nigel

Triggerfish ... what?    3/27/06
Your site is my main source for information, thanks for all you have done for my tank :) <You've done the work.>
I love triggerfish and have had Nigers and blue jaws previously. My question
is about the Picasso. I have seen a few Picasso's and seen <saw, seen only used with "have"> price tags in the
75 range. When I went into my LFS they had a Huma Huma for around 30. When I
started talking to the guy at the store he was telling me that Picasso is
another name for the Huma Huma. The fish we were looking at didn't have a very
pronounced blue streak around the eyes. He told me that was because this fish was
a juve and would get the blue with age. He also stated the reason this was was
less expensive was because of size. Before I go investing in a Picasso, are
they the same as Huma Huma?  The Picasso Triggerfish (Humu Humu) is Rhinecanthus aculeatus.
A similar species, but not identical, is the Humu Rectangle Triggerfish, Rhinecanthus rectangulus.  The
rectangulus are sometimes mislabeled as Humu humu's.  
Pricing depends on availability and the area from where it was collected or a salesman with deep pockets.>
Oh fish and their silly names...<Understand.  James (Salty Dog)>
Simms

HI biting triggerfish  9/19.5/05
Hello
<Hi, Adam J with you tonight>
On my first visit to Hawaii I was bitten on the right foot by a fish the lifeguard said it was a
triggerfish, it hurt a lot and I had teeth marks.
<OUCH!, sorry to hear that.> do they have teeth and how many and do they bite humans? Thanks
<they do have teeth, very sharp teeth in fact, many aquarists who keep triggers in aquariums have been bitten while cleaning the tank, and they leave a mark.  I don’t believe the trigger deliberately set out to attack you but it’s more likely you invaded his/her territory and it was defending itself.  Being in Hawaii it could have been a few different species of trigger that attacked you, see here for info on Triggers http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/triggers/>
<AdamJ>

Mono Argenteus Trigger?
Bob,
Have you heard of a Mono Argenteus Trigger? Do they have a more common name?
We have one in our tank and would like some facts on it for the wall posters. Please offer any information you have.
I appreciate your time. Thanks!
Pearl Hettwer
<Mmm, likely you're referring to Monodactylus argenteus... not a triggerfish. Do place this name in fishbase.org or WetWebMedia.com and see if this is the animal you have. More scientific and husbandry information will be found on these sites re this fish. Oh, and all the species of known triggerfishes (family Balistidae) are listed as well. Bob Fenner>