Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Sri Lanka to Vanuatu, north to Hong Kong and Southern Japan, and south to western Australia and southern Great Barrier Reef.
Size: 4 inches (10 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits crevices and ledges among corals in subtidal lagoons and seaward reefs and usually found between depths of 10 to 100 feet (3 – 30 m) where it feeds on small worms and crustaceans/zooplankton.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade and has several color forms, e.g., overall yellow, brown or grey, all with small blue dots on the central area of each scale.
Can be maintained in reef or fish-only aquariums having some rocky hiding places/crevices to take shelter, as this species is initially secretive, however will become bolder and develop into a fairly good tankmate with other tankmates if they are slightly larger and moderately aggressive. Yet will annoy/pick on smaller fishes.
As to diet, products such as marine fish and crustacean flesh, clams, and other marine meaty foods should make up the majority of their diet. Therefore a meaty diet such as enriched chopped fresh fish or shrimp flesh, and/or frozen carnivore foods should be fed once daily.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Family: Pseudochromidae
Subfamily: Pseudochrominae
Genus: Pseudochromis
FYI: Since they are extremely fast moving, if having to remove it from a reef aquarium with many hiding areas, it would be a major task!
One per aquarium.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
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: Larger/moderately aggressive
Minimum Tank Size: 30+ gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 81°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
