Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Madagascar to New Caledonia and New Zealand, and north to Southern Japan.
Size: 4 inches (10 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits very steep drop-off areas and sandy slopes covered with rock and boulders and some soft corals. Usually found at depths between 100 – 200 feet (30 – 60 m) where it feeds on benthic hard-shelled invertebrate.
General Husbandry: Occasionally seen in the trade having yellowish body and head with pale red horizontal lines, a black spot behind the eye, and a black to red spot on the caudal peduncle.
Can be maintained in fish-only or reef aquariums, which should provide hiding places and lots of open swimming area. Preferable tankmates are groupers, angelfishes, hawkfishes, and moderately aggressive triggerfishes.
Requires a meaty diet, including fortified brine shrimp, mysis, black worms and other meaty type marine-based frozen foods, including flake foods, and should be fed two or three times per day.
May be very difficult to get feeding in the beginning, and if so, try some live foods, such as black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus) or adult fortified brine shrimp.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Labroidei
Family: Labridae
Genus: Bodianus
FYI: Can annoy smaller peaceful species.
Since they mostly feed upon worms and crustaceans, they pose a danger in reef tanks.
Will disturb sandbeds by blowing jets of water into it to find buried prey.
Usually sleep under rock shelves, on or under a coral branch, in a crevice, or directly on the sand surface.
Hardy species.
Do not have any similar colored species in the aquarium, as this species will become very aggressive towards it. One per aquarium.
Juveniles may provide a cleaning service.
One of the better Hogfish, yet should be the last fish to enter the aquarium.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: With caution
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Moderately aggressive
Minimum Tank Size: 60 gallons
Temperature Range: 72- 82°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
