Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Not Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-Pacific Ocean: Red Sea to Hawaii, Line, Marquesas, Tuamotu Islands, north to Southern Japan, south to New Caledonia and Rapa Islands.
Size: 20 inches (50 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits lagoons, reef flats, and fore-reef slopes at depths between 3 - 350 feet (1 – 105 m) and mainly feeds on small fishes.
General Husbandry: Rarely ever seen in the trade, and has several color phases with the juvenile yellow phase the most attractive and most often seen in the trade. Other phases include a dark yellow with grey markings and the adult with bluish markings..
Best maintained in very large fish-only aquariums with wide-open swimming and unencumbered substrate areas and with several areas to hide, as this is a shy species. As to diet, feed a wide variety of frozen and fresh meaty foodstuffs (chopped squid, scallops, fish flesh, shrimp, clam, etc.) at least several times daily. Will also consume any ornamental crustaceans and small fishes in the aquarium.
May need live glass/ghost shrimp and live black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus) to get feeding.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Family: Mullidae
Genus: Parupeneus
FYI: Mostly unsuitable for the average size hobbyist aquariums due to its physical size, and that it is not a sand sifter, but more a small fish eater/live crustaceans consumer.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Invertebrate Safe: No
Fish Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful or non-aggressive
Minimum Tank Size: 240+ gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 79°F (22 – 26°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 -1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
