Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Central Pacific Ocean: Hawaiian and Johnston Islands.
Size: 3 inches (7 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits caves and overhangs and often-found swimming upside down in depths between 85 to 200 feet (27 – 60 m) where it feeds on zooplankton.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade, and when so, very expensive. Quite attractive having a pale violet lower body, with the upper portion somewhat yellowish, and having violet/purplish dots.
Little aquarium husbandry exist for this species, yet would no doubt be best maintained in dimly lit aquariums as this is usually a deep-water collected species, along with some rocky caves and strong water movement that has a large unencumbered area for schooling in small groups. Tankmates should be peaceful species and those that prefer low light aquariums, and all tankmates should be the last to enter the aquarium.
If maintained in brightly lit reef aquariums, would no doubt be extremely shy, difficult to feed, with the acclimation timeframe lengthy, maybe not achievable.
As to diet, would probably 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.
If difficult to get feeding, 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: Can be maintained in male/female pairs.
Experience Level: Intermediate/Professional
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: 75 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 78°F (22 – 26°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
