), I have a 75 Gallon FOWLR (90 Lbs Caribbean LR to-be-cured) I am in the process of setting up. The tank still has a while 'till it's ready.Here's the link to my other thread with the specifics:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/vie ... highlight=
Right now I have a 3" Hawaiian Spotted Toby and a tiny (3/4") Yellow-Tailed Blue Damsel in QT awaiting their new home. Since the Toby is the reason I got into marine in the first place, the tank needs to be planned around him. Keeping that in mind, I have been researching different types of tank mates for him. I am the only fish-nut in my home, and as many of you have experienced this sad phenomenon, I'm sure you can sympathize with me. In order to get my husband more involved in my tank, I've asked him to pick out at least one fish that he finds really interesting so he will be more involved with the tank (i.e. not go crazy with all of the $$ I'm dropping into it!).
So, we went to my favorite LFS around here that has a lot of variety and about 6 reefs set up. We observed all sorts of angels, clowns, gobies, tangs, anglers, damsels, puffers, pilotfish, squirrelfish, etc. Of all of the fish we saw, the one that really got his attention was a 7" long Niger Trigger (Odonus niger). I had mentioned to him before that I thought they were pretty fish despite their large size, but he saw for himself how interactive and beautiful they are and he loved it. He didn't realize how large they get when he was falling in love with it in the store.
There begins my problem- the only fish my husband seemed enamored with was far too large for my system (oh the irony that he finally loves a fish, only for it to be one I can't keep!). So I've been doing my research, and found two Red Sea species that are rather small for triggers but are also 'peaceful' as far as triggers are concerned: the Blue-Throat or White Tailed Sufflamen albicaudatus, and the Melichthys indicus Indian Trigger.
The Albicaudatus is very pretty and is rather docile, its full size at a more comfortable 8" (not to be confused with the similar Xanthichthys auromarginatus). The Indicus is also quite handsome, more appealing to the Husband, but maxes out at 10" and I haven't been able to find much on its personality or availability and therefore I am much less likely to consider one. These were the only two that I found that seemed small-enough, the rest were 12" or more.
So, with the typically 'docile' Sufflamen albicaudatus in mind, and assuming it was a small & healthy specimen, would a trigger be an acceptable choice for a 75 gallon with a small Toby, a damsel, and hopefully: a tomato clown, a couple of clown gobies and a pygmy angel of some sort? Is this too heavily stocked?
The dimensions of the tank (48" x 21" x 18") seem very good for one of these triggers, but maybe I am mistaken. If a trigger is out of the question I need to try to find something else he will like just as much!
