Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Not Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Southern Red Sea and East Africa, east to Papua New Guinea, north to Southern Japan, and south to New South Wales, Australia.
Size: 30 inches (75 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits coastal muddy and sandy slopes near sea urchin spines as juveniles, and migrating to deeper water rocky and coral reefs as adults at depths between 15 – 600 feet (5 – 180 m) and feeds on crustaceans, crabs, worms and various other benthic invertebrates and small fish.
General Husbandry: Quite an attractive and hardy snapper species as a juvenile, and the most common in the trade. Has a body that is basically white, with its head deeply sloped, and having several wide brown to red bands, one passing from the mouth to the top of the head, another mid body, a third angled forward on the dorsal to its base, then rearward across the body to the lower tail, and a fourth that crosses the upper aft of the tail fin. Adults are quite drab!
Very hardy, and quite attractive when small, however, grows fast and will outgrow most hobbyist aquariums quite rapidly and can easily weigh in when fully grown at about 60 pounds (27 Kilo’s)!
Requires very large fish-only aquariums with wide-open swimming areas, and also caves and overhangs to take shelter when feeling threatened.
As to diet, will eat a wide variety of frozen and fresh meaty foodstuffs (chopped squid, fish flesh, shrimp, clam, etc.), including any ornamental crustaceans and small fish in the aquarium, and should be fed at least once per day.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Family: Lutjanidae
Genus: Lutjanus
FYI: One per aquarium, simply because it needs a lot of open swimming area.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Active/aggressive
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Invertebrate Safe: No
Fish Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Aggressive
Minimum Tank Size: 400+ gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 84°F (22 – 29°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 -1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
