Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Not Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Red Sea to Line Islands, north to Southern Japan and south to New Caledonia and Cook Island.
Size: 18 inches (45 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits open areas on outer reef slopes and is usually found in depths between 65 – 200 feet (20 – 60 m) and usually no more than 10 – 15 feet (3 – 5 m) above the bottom substrate where they burrow for protection and feed on small fishes and bottom dwelling invertebrates.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade with this species having a slender elongated body with an overall darkish body with a black lengthwise stripe edged with white on its top and bottom lengths.
Best maintained fish-only aquariums with subdued lighting having wide-open swimming areas and large flat rocks on the substrate for it to burrow under. 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: Malacanthus
FYI: Requires covered aquariums, as they are excellent jumpers!
May undermine structures in the aquarium.
Best first introduced into a dimly lit aquarium.
Will eat smaller fishes and ornamental crustaceans.
One per aquarium.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: With caution
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Larger, yet peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 200+ gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 81°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
