Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Palau, Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Size: 5 inches (12 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits rubble covered reef bottoms near deep drop-offs and is usually found in depths between 50 – 250 feet (15 – 75 m) and usually no more than 10 – 15 feet (3 – 5 m) above the bottom substrate where they burrow for protection. Generally lives in pairs and feeds on zooplankton.
General Husbandry: Occasionally seen in the trade and having a whitish body with a red stripe beginning from just behind the eye to tail.
Best maintained fish-only aquariums with subdued lighting, yet can also be maintained in reef aquariums, with both having low rocky crevices and caves to hide in when needing to do so. The aquarium should also have wide-open swimming areas and sandy areas to create burrows. A fast swimming fish that tends to dig under reef structures, live or inert.
If maintained with moderately aggressive tankmates, will remain in hiding during daylight hours and may not get its fair share of the food when its feeding time. If maintained with peaceful tankmates, will spend a good portion of its time in the aquarium open areas.
As to diet, products such as marine fish and crustacean flesh, clams, and other marine meaty foods should be enriched and finely chopped and fed several times daily.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Family: Malacanthidae
Subfamily: Malacanthinae
Genus: Hoplolatilus
FYI: Best maintained in pairs.
Requires covered aquariums, as they are excellent jumpers!
May undermine structures in the aquarium.
Best first introduced into a dimly lit aquarium.
Sometimes difficult to get feeding, and if so, fortified live adult brine shrimp, black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus) or glass/grass shrimp will be necessary to get it feeding.
Will eat smaller fishes and ornamental crustaceans.
Builds large rubble piles to live in.
Upon entering the aquarium, may hide for several days, maybe weeks before venturing out of hiding.
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: 50+ gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 81°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
