Red Sea Sailfin Tang - Care | Size | Reef Safe

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The Red Sea sailfin tang or Desjardin’s sailfin tang, scientific name Zebrasoma desjardinii is a marine reef tang within the fish family Acanthuridae. In this article, I am going to talk about Red Sea Sailfin Tang care, vs sailfin tang, reef safe, size, bubble algae, etc.

Red Sea Sailfin Tang Description

Zebrasoma desjardinii grows to the most size of 40 cm (16 in), with sexual dimorphism producing males which can be bigger than females. This species shows the standard morphology of the family Acanthuridae.

The body is oval or disc-shaped, with erectile and far elevated dorsal and anal fins. The coloration could range from one particular person to a different and inside the identical particular person, relying on age.

In normal, the higher facet of the body alternates orange and darkish blue vertical bands, with a bigger blue band on the eyes, a spotted ventral area, and quite a few white spots on the top.

The dorsal and anal fins have a sample of horizontal alternate orange and blue bands. The caudal fin exhibits white spots and contours.

Like most surgeonfish on either side of the caudal fin, in the midst of the caudal peduncle, there’s a defensive darkish backbone surrounded by a blue zone. This spine is hinged and should unfold to 80°.

In comparability to Zebrasoma veliferum, the grownup Red Sea sailfin tang has fewer anal-fin rays (22-24 as a substitute of 23-26) and totally different markings on the tail. As a juvenile, the 2 species are nearly indistinguishable in shade and markings.

The Desjardini Sailfin Tang, often known as the Indian Ocean Sailfin Tang, Desjardin’s Sailfin Tang, or Red Sea Sailfin Tang, is darkish to very light grey in shade with light freckles on the nose and yellow freckles on the stomach.

The body has a number of, various sized vertical yellow stripes with intricate markings between the stripes on the face. It has a blue tail with white freckles. Its look can virtually double in dimension at will by elevating or reducing its sizable dorsal and anal fins.

A 180 gallon or bigger aquarium is critical to offer loads of swimming room. It is aggressive in direction of its personal species and conspecifics at occasions, however peaceable in direction of different fish, so hold just one besides in a really giant tank. It eats filamentous algae.

Although Tangs will eat meaty meals together with the opposite fish within the aquarium, it will be significant that they’re supplied loads of marine-based seaweed and algae. This will strengthen their immune system, cut back aggression, and enhance their general well being.

Offer dried seaweed tied to a rock or use a veggie clip, and feed at the least three occasions per week. Sea Veggies, Seaweed Salad, and Ocean Nutrition are all ultimate merchandise and are very straightforward to make use of.

Please Note: The Small Juvenile type of the Desjardini Tang could not have spots on the fins or body and are very comparable in look to a Sailfin Tang. However, with age, the spots will develop in addition to the daring striping on their fins and body.

Red Sea Sailfin Tang Behavior

Adults normally could be present in pairs, whereas juveniles are solitary. When threatened, these fishes display their giant ventral and dorsal fins. They feed totally on filamentous algae, varied macroalgae, and plankton.

However, people had been usually noticed feeding on jellyfish (Scyphozoa) and comb jellies (Ctenophora) within the Red Sea. They are pair spawners, a typical trait of different fish within the genus Zebrasoma. This differs from the group spawning typical of the household Acanthuridae.

Distribution

This species is widespread within the Indian Ocean from the northern Red Sea to KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa and as far east as India and Java.

Habitat

Red Sea sailfin tangs natively reside in lagoons and reefs in tropical local weather. The juvenile fishes reside within the interior reef areas.

They favor saltwater with a particular gravity of 1.020 – 1.025, a pH between 8.1 and eight.4, and a great temperature vary of 22 – 26 C (72 – 78 F). They could reside at water depths of two – 30 m (6.5 – 100 ft) or more.

Red Sea Sailfin Tang In the aquarium

The Red Sea Sailfin Tang is taken into account to be a reasonably troublesome fish to maintain in captivity. Most Red Sea Sailfin Tangs stored in private aquaria are wild-caught as it is rather troublesome to breed them in captivity. They require a minimum tank size of 125 gallons (473 liters) and huge quantities of reside rock. They usually reside for five to 7 years in captivity.

The Desjardin’s Sailfin Tang or Red Sea Sailfin Tang makes a beautiful addition to the marine aquarium, particularly a big community aquarium. It is comparatively peaceable and can get together with all kinds of like-minded tank mates, however, must be added last.

Keep it singly because it doesn’t combine with others of its identical genus. Bold in nature, it is going to rapidly adapt to aquarium fare and is straightforward to look after as soon as it’s settled. One of the hardiest of the surgeonfish, it’s extremely illness resistant and responds effectively to remedy.

There are some issues that the Zebrasoma species have in widespread with all of the surgeonfish and tangs. They like loads of water motion to offer an oxygen-rich atmosphere reasonably than a placid aquarium.

They are fast and agile swimmers so will want a lot of swimming area together with loads of crevices amongst corals/ rocks to retreat into and for sleeping in the night.

Being voracious algae eaters, an aquarium with good algae development will present for his or her dietary wants in addition to making them glorious candidates for a reef atmosphere.

The Desjardins Sailfin Tang, Zebrasoma desjardinii, is often known as the Indian Ocean Sailfin Tang, Desjardin’s Sailfin Tang, or the Red Sea Sailfin Tang.

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