Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-Pacific Ocean: East Africa east to Samoa and the Line Islands, north to Southern Japan and south to the Great Barrier Reef.
Size: 5 inches (12 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits reef faces and slopes/drop-off areas where they form small loose aggregations along current swept areas and usually found in small groups at depths between 30 to about 300 feet (9 – 90 m) where it feeds on zooplankton.
General Husbandry: Fairly common in the trade, and quite attractive and hardy. Males have pinkish body with a short vertical red bar mid body, and a red tail. Females have a pinkish orange body with red-tipped tail lobes.
One of the more hardy species in this family and best maintained in aquaria with some rocky caves and strong water movement that has a large unencumbered area for schooling, which will occur in the upper third of this area. Tankmates should be peaceful or at least not overly aggressive, and all should be last to enter the aquarium.
As to diet, will eat most regular aquarium foods, e.g., finely chopped various frozen or fresh meaty foods such as mysis, squid, fish flesh, shrimp, clam, etc., and should be offered at least twice daily and dispensed upstream so water currents carry food to their location.
Sometimes difficult to get feeding, and if so, fortified live adult brine shrimp may be necessary until they accept other types of aquarium foods, e.g., frozen foods and fresh marine fish and invertebrate flesh.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Family: Serranidae
Subfamily: Anthiinae
Genus: Pseudanthias
FYI: Best maintained in small groups, with one male and several females.
Can jump out of the aquarium, therefore some sort of cover may be necessary.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: Yes
Invertebrate Safe: Yes
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 100 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 78°F (22 – 26°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
