Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: East Africa to the Marquesas Islands, north to Southern Japan, and south to Australia, New Caledonia, and Rapa Islands.
Size: 9 inches (22 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits growths of branching staghorn corals and holes on reef flats and fore-reef slopes during daytime hours at depths between 3 - 65 feet (1 - 20 m) and feeds in evening hours mainly on crabs, shrimp, and worms.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade, having a mostly silvery-white coloration with thin red horizontal lines on the body.
Best maintained in aquariums with several caves/hiding areas large enough to house the adult-sized specimen, as those in this family grow to adulthood quite fast. The aquarium should also be dimly lit, as this is a nocturnal species, preferring to hide throughout daytime hours and feed at night. If maintained in a brightly lit aquarium, i.e., reef aquarium, it should also have sufficient caves as noted above, but will be far less visible in daylight hours. Tankmates must be large enough not to be eaten, as they will also consume smaller fishes.
Requires a meaty diet such as enriched chopped fish or shrimp flesh, mysis, frozen brine shrimp, and/or frozen carnivore foods with one or two feedings per day.
May be difficult to feed in the early days in the aquarium due to its nocturnal feeding habits, and if so, live foods, e.g., live enriched brine shrimp, grass shrimp, black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus), baby mollies and/or guppies should be offered. Over time, it will learn to accept frozen foods like mysis, krill and brine shrimp more readily when offered to others in the aquarium.
Taxonomy:
Order: Beryciformes
Suborder: Holocentroidei
Family: Holocentridae
Genus: Neoniphon
FYI: Best maintained in small groups.
Must have several caves/hiding areas.
Will eat ornamental shrimp.
Sensitive to tapping on aquarium side panels.
Has spines on their head and gills, which can come entangled in nets and also a large preopercular spine, which can inflict a wound if mishandled by the aquarist.
Makes clicking and grunting sounds at dusk and dawn.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: With caution
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 100 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 80°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
