Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Eastern Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, eastern Queensland, Coral Sea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Palau, and Micronesia.
Size: 5 inches (12 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits lagoons, reef flats and reef faces at depths between 3 to about 50 feet (1 – 15 m) and often found inhabiting the Entacmaea quadricolor anemone where it feeds mainly on planktonic crustaceans (copepods, mysis, and shrimp larvae), and only somewhat on algae.
General Husbandry: Rarely available in the trade, with adults having a dark red body with one white or blue vertical band just aft of the eye. Juveniles have one or two additional vertical bands. Females may have a whitish face.
Adults are quite hardy and best maintained in aquaria having live rock, hiding places, macroalgae, and semi-aggressive tankmates.
As to diet, will eat most regular aquarium foods, e.g., live fortified brine shrimp and/or finely chopped various frozen or fresh meaty foods such as mysis, squid, fish flesh, shrimp, clam, etc., and plant material, e.g., flake foods, especially those containing Spirulina and should be offered once or twice daily.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Labroidei
Family: Pomacentridae
Subfamily: Amphiprioninae
Genus: Amphiprion
FYI: In the wild, its hosting anemones are Entacmaea quadricolor, Heteractis crispa and Heteractis magnifica.
If maintained with a hosting anemone, aquarium size should be >50 gallons.
Do not house with other species in this family or with peaceful tankmates. Can be housed without a hosting anemone.
Females are larger than males.
If the female is removed, the male will change sex and one of the juveniles will become the new functioning male.
A member of the Tomato Complex.
Captive bred specimens available and are far hardier than wild caught specimens.
Experience Level: Intermediate
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Diet: Omnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Semi-aggressive
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Temperature Range: 74 - 82°F (23 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
