Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Not Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean, and Indonesia to Fiji, north to the Philippines, and south to the northern Great Barrier Reef.
Size: 5 inches (12 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits shallow coral rich inshore reefs and seaward reefs and usually found at depths between 3 – 65 feet (1 – 20 m) where it feeds on algae, benthic invertebrates and small fishes.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade with the female having a whitish tan body with dark irregular stripes and spots, and the male quite dark with white spots on the belly area.
Best maintained in large fish-only aquariums having wide-open swimming areas and slow moving and very peaceful tankmates.
Requires a varied diet containing both meaty and vegetable matter, and should be fed several times daily.
Taxonomy:
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Suborder: Tetraodontoidei
Family: Ostraciidae
Genus: Ostracion
FYI: A slow moving fish, therefore, it should not be housed with fast moving and/or fin-nipping fishes.
Will eat snails, ornamental shrimp and possibly smaller fishes.
Do not offer floating foods, as this species may ingest air and cause buoyancy problems.
May consume cyanobacteria/slime algae and other types of macro and microalgae.
When excited or threatened can release a toxin (ostracitoxin) that may kill other fish.
Activated carbon will remove the toxin, however, it may be too late to save it or its tankmates once it happens.
Always remove a specimen if it's being picked on or in bad health.
Experience Level: Expert
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Omnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: No
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful, yet larger
Minimum Tank Size: 100 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 82°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
