Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Philippines to the Solomon Islands, and south to the Great Barrier Reef and Palau.
Size: 4 inches (10 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits sandy to silty bottoms in lagoons and coastal bays and usually found at depths between 3 to 100 feet (1 – 30 m) where it feeds on tiny benthic invertebrates by sifting mouthfuls of sand.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade having a whitish body with numerous light brown blotches, a vertical narrow tan ban through the eyes, blue spots on the anal fin, and large a black eyespots on the front and rear dorsal fish.
Can be maintained in reef or fish-only aquariums having some rocky crevices for hiding, a sandbed of at least two inches (5 cm) in depth with some flat stones it can burrow under.
Should not be housed with aggressive fishes such as groupers, dottybacks, triggerfishes or aggressive angelfishes.
A sand sifter, picking up large mouthfuls of sand and expelling it through the gill covers, sifting out anything edible.
Requires a meaty diet, i.e., enriched brine shrimp, mysis, finely chopped fish or shrimp flesh, and other various frozen carnivore foods, with four feedings per day.
Small sinking enriched shrimp meal pellets may also somewhat help keep it well fed.
FYI: Best maintained in male-female pairs.
A difficult species to keep well fed as most slowly starve to death.
Will dig deep burrows.
Experience Level: Expert
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: Yes
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 82°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
