Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Red Sea, Maldives, Thailand, and north to Southern Japan and south to Australia.
Natural Environment: Lives singly attached to stones and inside rocky crevices and found in shallow coastal waters at depths between 3 - 20 feet (1 - 6 m) where it tends to be a zooplankton feeder.
General Husbandry: Best placed in an aquarium having large somewhat rounded stones, about 3 - 6 inches (8 - 15 cm) on the bottom shallow sand bed/coral gravel where it will attach and spread out between the stones.
Pedal column has rows of small bumps that can be white, orange or yellow and have lines and spots on it. Disc is usually quite colorful, with inner and outer tentacles different colors, such as blue and grey, pink and yellow, grey and purple, or brown and green. Central mouth is also usually a different color than tentacles, possibly a yellow, green, violet or white.
Has extremely sticky tentacles!
Requires several feedings per week with chopped silversides, fish flesh, fortified adult brine shrimp, and/or bloodworms.
Should be the first animal in the aquarium and allowed to roam/find its preferred place before adding other fixed location corals, as it will sting anything it comes in contact with.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Order: Actiniaria
Family: Thalassianthidae
Genus: Cryptodendrum
FYI: Will eat small fishes in the aquarium that come in contact with it!
Anemone Shrimp Periclimenes brevicarpalis and the Sexy Shrimp Thor amboinensis commonly associate with this species anemone in the wild.
It depends upon whom you speak with, but have never found it an easy anemone to maintain.
Only species in this family.
Reported to host only one species of Anemonefishes in the wild - A. clarki, yet also Dascyllus trimaculatus (three-spot damselfish).
Experience Level: Intermediate
Diet: Photosynthetic/Carnivore
Temperament: Aggressive
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium
Coral Safe: No
Fish Safe: With caution
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Hardiness: Reasonable
Calcium (Ca): 380 - 430 mg/l
Alkalinity: 2.5 - 3.0 meq/l
Phosphate (PO4): <0.05 mg/l
Magnesium (Mg): approx. 1350 mg/l (relate to specific gravity)
Temperature Range: 74 - 82°F (23 - 27°C)
Minimum Tank Size: 50 gallons
Lighting: PAR 300 - 450+
Water Movement: WM 2
Specific Gravity: 1.023 - 1.025
pH: 8.0 - 8.4
Iodine/Trace Elements Monitor/as necessary to maintain quality seawater.
