From Aqua Guide, the free encyclopedia
Sailfin Tang
Zebrasoma velifer
- Temperature
- 24–27 °C
- Salinity
- 1.02 – 1.026 SG
- Min. tank size
- 600 L
- Lifespan
- 10-20 years
- Diet
- herbivore
- Care level
- moderate
| Scientific classification | |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name: | Zebrasoma velifer |
| Family: | Acanthuridae |
| Origin: | Indo-Pacific reefs |
| Care Characteristics | |
| Care Level: | moderate |
| Diet: | herbivore |
| Max Size: | 40.00 cm |
| Water Type: | marine |
| Temp Group: | tropical |
| Reef Safe: | Reef Safe |
| Temperament: | semi aggressive |
| Min Group: | Can be kept alone |
| Varieties: | Traded as the wild form only. Zebrasoma velifer of the Pacific is the fish usually sold as the sailfin tang; the Red Sea and Indian Ocean species, Zebrasoma desjardinii, is very similar, often confused with it in shops, and is sometimes called the desjardini or Indian sailfin tang. Care is comparable; the two are separate species rather than colour forms of one. |
| Lifespan: | 10-20 years |
Quick Tips
- Bioload:High
- Min Tank:600 L
- Substrate:Live rock with caves; lots of open swimming space
- Plant Safe:Yes
- Filtration:High (strong flow; clean water)
Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma velifer) is a species of fish in the family Acanthuridae. It is native to Indo-Pacific reefs. With its fins fully extended, a sailfin tang is almost as tall as it is long. That is the whole animal in one sentence. It is brownish, crossed by wide greyish-brown bars separated by narrower yellow ones, with a white head spotted in yellow and dark bands running through the eye. Juveniles carry more yellow than adults. It reaches 40 cm and lives down to 45 metres on lagoon and seaward reefs, from Christmas Island and Indo-China east to Pitcairn and Hawaii — though not the Marquesas. It grazes leafy algae, occurs singly or in pairs, and spawns in the early afternoon on an ebbing tide. Unusually for a tang it tolerates copper-based medication, which makes treating it considerably simpler than treating most of its relatives.
Compatibility
- Temperament
- semi aggressive
- Keep in
- Can be kept alone
- Swims
- middle
- Fin nipper
- No
- Delicate fins
- No
- Reef
- Reef Safe
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