Zebrasoma veliferum
| Common Names: | Pacific Sailfin Tang Sailfin Tang |
| Synonyms: | Acanthurus velifer |
| Family: | Acanthuridae |
| Category: | Acanthuroids |
| Distribution: | Indo Pacific; The Indo-Pacific region. |
| Main Ecosystem: | Reef; Reef |
| Temperament: | Aggressive; Agressive when kept in too small of a tank, when added to the tank first, with most tangs, and when acquired at an adult size. Can be sucessfully kept in a peaceful/semi-agressive community tank if the setup has no other tangs, lots of rocks and hidey holes, when the tang is added to the tank last, when there are plenty of things for the tang to continuously nibble on, and plenty of room to swim. Considered REEF SAFE when the fish is fed well. If not fed well will nibble on the corals and on inverts. This is not normal and only happens in under-fed fish. Territorial with most tangs and fish with an appearance similar to it, and possibly territorial with any species if added first to the tank. |
| Diet: | Ominvore; Ominvore |
| Care: | Micro and Macro marine algaes including hair/string algaes. Will nibble at the algae on the reef all day long. Other good sources of nutrition are live shrimps, spirulina, and nori. Nori is a good thing to always have a small amount of available clipped onto the tank. It will lesson agression and almost entirely prevent coral or invert nibbling. This fish requires a large tank of at least 125 gallons and up. They prefer rocky crevices and holes in addition to a large amount of swimming space. Wh |
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| Potential Size: | Male: 40cm (15.7") Female: 40cm (15.7") |
| Water Region: | All; All |
| Activity: | Diurnal; Diurnal |
| Gender: | Females grow larger than males. Otherwise there are no external ways to tell. |
| Breeding: | Breeding in the home aquaria is currently considered impossible for this fish. |
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| Comments: | This is considered a hardy marine fish. Should be added to the tank after all less agressive species planned for the tank. The color changes completely from juvenile to adult. This fish should be removed from the tank immediately when it dies as it is poisonous for other fish to eat. Sailfin Tangs naturally school, but should not be kept as a schooling fish unless you have a very large tank (300+ gallons) due to agression. |
| Main Colours: | Brown, White, Yellow |
| Markings: | Striped Vertical |
| Mouth: | Normal |
| Tail: | Flat |
| Search: | Show similar species Find compatible species |
| Image Credit: | ;Koi Keeper |
| Submitted By: | koi keeper |
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