Balistidae (Triggerfishes)

Triggerfish (Balistidae) are distinguished by their strong jaws which are used for crushing rock, shells or corals in its hunt for food.

It is hard to give a general discription of Triggerfish, as they vary much in behaviour, not just between species, but also from specimen to specimen.

These fish are generally not reef safe and are a challenge to keep in a coral aquarium. Those that fit best, are the Melichthys, Odonus and Xanthichthys species as they live mostly of zooplankton. They will therefore often leave corals and for the most part crustaceans alone, if they are well fed. The more space available to these fish the smaller the problems tend to be.

These fish are generally very aggressive towards other fish, they should be given a lot of space to minimize their aggressivel behaviour. Generally speaking, it is difficult to find fish which live together with Triggerfish. It is obvious that small fish would fall victim to them, but also Lionfish, for example, would not survive the Triggerfish.

Triggerfish need a larger amount of food than many others, so it pays to be well prepared when acquiring them. At the same time it is important to provide a varied diet, consisting of krill, Mysis, shrimps, crabs, mussels, small fish, octopus, snails as well as algae based foods.

They have a great personality compared to other fish, some owners have taught their Triggerfish tricks using little titbits.
They have been known to swirl sand about, in order to find food. They are also known to spray water from the surface, therefore care must be taken when placing electrical equipment.

One must also realize that they can sometimes bite fingers or arms, so one must take all precautions neccessary.

Orangelined Triggerfish
Balistapus undulatus

Balistidae (Triggerfishes)

Balistapus

Balistes

Balistoides

Melichthys

Odonus

Rhinecanthus

Xanthichthys