Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Eastern Indian Ocean to New Guinea, Coral Sea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Guam, and Southern Japan, and Australia coastal reefs.
Size: 3 inches (8 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabits deep rubble areas, rocky outcrops and sand channels in steep outer reef slopes at depths between 65 to about 200 feet (20 – 60 m) and mainly feeds on planktonic crustaceans (copepods, mysis, and shrimp larvae), and fish eggs.
General Husbandry: Rarely seen the trade, this quite attractive species is one of the better behaved members in this genus and usually makes a good addition to a peaceful community fish home aquarium. Has a yellowish body with a upper body bright blue horizontal streak edged in black from snout rearwards to the aft body.
This is also mostly a low light/deep water species; therefore a dimly lit aquarium would suit this species much more than a brightly lit reef aquarium.
As to diet, a meaty diet, e.g., live fortified brine shrimp and/or finely chopped various frozen or fresh meaty foods such as mysis, squid, fish flesh, shrimp, clam and plant material, e.g., flake foods, especially those containing Spirulina should also be offered several times daily.
Taxonomy:
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Labroidei
Family: Pomacentridae
Subfamily: Pomacentrinae
Genus: Chrysiptera
FYI: Even though quite peaceful, may annoy smaller more peaceful fishes, especially if those are introduced after it was added to the aquarium.
May be maintained in small groups if desired; yet best accomplished in larger aquariums, e.g., 50+ gallons, as they tend to pick on each other in smaller aquariums.
Experience Level: Beginner
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Diet: Omnivore
Coral Safe: Yes
Invertebrate Safe: With caution
Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+
Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium
Tankmates: Peaceful
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Temperature Range: 74 - 84°F (23 – 28°C)
Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026
pH: 8.0 - 8.5
