Common Name: Paradise Whiptail

Species Name: Pentapodus paradiseus (Günther, 1791)


Range: Western Pacific Ocean: Northeastern Australia to the Arafura Sea


Size: Up to 12 in (30 cm)


Natural Environment: Inhabit sandy and muddy bottom areas near coral reefs


General Husbandry: Has a temperature range of 72 - 83°F (22 - 28°C) and has a natural diet of benthic invertebrate, small fishes and larger zooplankton. Should be housed in a tank where the majority of the sandbed is exposed. May require live foods to initiate feeding in the aquarium. Requires a meaty diet such as enriched finely chopped fish or shrimp flesh, mysis, frozen brine shrimp, and/or frozen carnivore foods with at least one feeding per day. It will, however, attempt to eat small ornamental shrimp and snails, so may not be desirable in some reef aquariums. Do not house with aggressive tankmates. Rarely seen in the trade.


Aquarium Suitability: * * *


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* - Suited for the reef aquarium;
** - Better suited for the fish-only aquarium;
*** - Better left in nature;
**** - Needing an aquarium larger than 125 gallons; and,
***** - Needing their own private environment/special tankmates.