Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Philippines north to Southern Japan.
Size: 3 inches (8 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits outer steep reef slopes and usually found in and near caves in small groups at depths between 65 to about 400 feet (20 – 120 m) where it feeds on zooplankton.
General Husbandry: Occasionally seen in the trade, with the male having an reddish-pink body with red edged pelvic fins. Females are overall the same color, but have yellow on the snout and lack the red edged pectoral fins. (Colors vary somewhat from different collection areas.)
Best maintained in dimly lit aquariums, as this is usually a bottom collected deep-water species (feeds along bottom areas), along with some rocky caves and strong water movement. Tankmates should be peaceful species and those that prefer low light aquariums, and all tankmates should be the last to enter the aquarium.
If maintained in brightly lit reef aquariums, will be extremely shy, difficult to feed, with the acclimation timeframe lengthy.
As to diet, will eat most regular aquarium foods, e.g., finely chopped various frozen or fresh meaty foods such as mysis, squid, fish flesh, shrimp, clam, etc., and should be offered at least twice daily and dispensed upstream so water currents carry food to their location.
Sometimes difficult to get feeding, and if so, fortified live adult brine shrimp may be necessary until they accept other types of aquarium foods, e.g., frozen foods and fresh marine fish and invertebrate flesh.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Percoidei
Family: Serranidae
Subfamily: Anthiinae
Genus: Pseudanthias
FYI: Can be maintained in small groups, with only one male and several females.
Can jump out of the aquarium, therefore some sort of cover may be necessary.
Experience Level: Intermediate/Professional
Temperament: Peaceful
Diet: Carnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Fish Safe: Yes
Invertebrate Safe: Yes
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 100 gallons
Temperature Range: 72 - 80°F (22 – 27°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
