Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Not Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Western Pacific Ocean: Maldives to the Tuamotu Archipelago, north to Southern Japan, and south to Great Barrier Reef.
Size: 10 inches (25 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits coral rich lagoon patch reefs, fringing reefs, and fore-reef slopes having collections of rubble at depths of about 6 – 80 feet (2 - 25 m) and feeds on tunicates/sea squirts, and various benthic invertebrates.
General Husbandry: Quite attractive as it has a yellowish body with horizontal lines of black dots, a black eye band, small amount of black on the trailing edge of the body, black band at the caudal peduncle, and yellow dorsal, anal, pelvic, pectoral fins, with a trailing filament on the upper rear edge of the dorsal.
Best maintained in larger peaceful fish-only aquariums, especially those with lots of open swimming space and lots live rock hiding places and areas to browse. As to diet, a meaty diet of live fortified brine shrimp, black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus), and/or various frozen meaty foods such as mysis should be offered several times daily.
Usually an easy species to get feeding in the aquarium, however, should there be a problem; small human consumption clams/black mussels purchased in local grocery stores and placed on the half-shell in the aquarium may help entice it to begin feeding. Over time, frozen foods like mysis and brine shrimp may be more readily accepted.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon
FYI: Not safe with soft or stony corals and anemones.
May lose its colorful appearance in captivity.
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: No
Invertebrate Safe: No
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful or non-aggressive
Minimum Tank Size: 125 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 82°F (22 – 28°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 -1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
