Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Not Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: East Africa to Tuamotu Islands, north to Southern Japan, south to New South Wales, Australia, Norfolk Island and Tonga.
Size: 9 inches (23 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits lagoon patch reef, reef faces, and fore-reef slopes at depths between 6 – 70 feet (2 – 20 m) and feeds on tunicates/sea squirts, polychaete worms and various benthic invertebrates.
General Husbandry: Quite attractive, somewhat hardy, yet rarely seen in the trade. Has a white body with two large black bands, one covering most of the face and through the eyes, white lips, with the second mid body. There’s yellow on the posterior of the body, with the caudal, dorsal, anal fins yellow.
Easily maintained in larger peaceful fish-only aquariums, especially those with lots of open swimming space, live rock to browse on, and having some micro and macroalgae growths.
As to diet, not a difficult species to get feeding in captivity as it will feed on a wide range of regular aquarium foodstuffs. Yet keep in mind its basically a meat eater in the wild, therefore begin with various frozen meaty foods such as mysis and enriched brine shrimp, and feed several times daily. And even though mostly a meat eater, flake foods/frozen herbivore foods, especially those containing Spirulina and/or Nori should also be occasionally offered.
Small human consumption clams/black mussels purchased in local grocery stores and placed on the half-shell in the aquarium, enriched live brine shrimp and live black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus) should be considered healthy additional treats!
Can be maintained with others its genus, or as a mated pair, yet all should be introduced at the same time.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Heniochus
FYI: Grows a hump on the forehead and a horn in front of each eye that is used in head to head combat for dominance in the aquarium among similar species.
Reported as reef safe by some aquarists, yet others say it nips various corals.
Pressing some soft foods into openings/crevices on a piece of old dead coral skeleton can sometimes encourage finicky eaters to begin feeding.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: With caution
Invertebrate Safe: No
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful or non-aggressive
Minimum Tank Size: 100 gallons
Temperature Range: 74 - 82°F (23 – 28°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 -1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
