Margined coralfish is a stunning silvery white butterflyfish with two narrow orange bars on the head and anterior body...
Margined coralfish, also know called as Western beaked butterflyfish, Margined Butterflyfish and its scientific name Chelmon marginalis, is a stunning silvery white butterflyfish with two narrow orange bars on the head and anterior body, and a broad yellowish or yellowish-orange band near the tail base.
MARGINED CORALFISH DESCRIPTION
Margined coralfish is distributed throughout the western coast of Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. They are found mainly on coastal coral and rocky reefs, including outer reef slopes and drop-offs, and near shore islands at depths of 1 to 30 meters.
Chelmon marginalis can grow up to 18 cm in length. They are silvery white in colour with two slender orange bars on the head and front part of the body, and a wide yellowish or yellowish-orange band close to the caudal peduncle.
Adults lack a false eyespot or ocellus on the dorsal fin. The juveniles have a bar towards the tail and an ocellus on the dorsal fin, these fade and eventually disappear as the fish matures.
This species, like other butterfly fish, has a long narrow snout used to search crevices for food and highly resembles the Copperband, except it does not contain a middle body vertical band as does the Copperband. Although uncommon in the trade, it cannot be considered rare, and can be obtained from time to time at fairly reasonable prices.
MARGINED CORALFISH CARE
Margined coralfish is a moderately hardy fish that tends to fare much better in captivity than the closely related Copperband Butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus). Even though it can be maintained in reef aquariums with most soft and stony corals, it's not fully trustworthy as its been known to nip soft corals, crustaceans, and occasionally clam mantles. It’s also often purchased because it will decimate Aiptasia anemones, yet that does not always prove to be correct, especially if more suitable/preferred foods are available. It will also consume small decorative tubeworms and other useful small worms.
Chelmon marginalis is a very active fish, so provide plenty of swimming room. This fish needs a minimum tank size of 65 gallons with water temperature of 24-26 °C, pH level of 8.0-8.4 and specific gravity of 1.020-1.026.
Only one Margined Butterflyfish should be housed per tank unless a male - female pair is obtained, and not with any other butterflyfish species. They are otherwise very peaceful towards other non related tank mates, but be sure not to keep them with aggressive feeders that may out compete them at feeding time.
They can be very shy on arrival and may take a few days to settle in and start feeding. As these fish can be difficult to acclimatize and get feeding, it is important to buy healthy fish, to avoid having to deal with more problems. Make sure to check that they do not have parasites or any visible infections.
In their natural habitat, they preys on benthic invertebrates such as crabs, shrimps and polychaetes from reef structures. In the aquarium their diet should consist of finely chopped meaty seafoods including shrimp, clam and mussel. They will accept frozen and live brine and mysis shrimp and will need to be fed in small amounts several times per day (Young specimens will need more frequent feeding).
This species thrives best when there is a sufficiently large amount of micro life (copepods, amphipods or similar) in the aquarium, so that the it can always find their own food.
They can be susceptible to lymphocystis which is a viral disease that will clear up over a few weeks by improving water conditions and providing a stress free environment.
MARGINED CORALFISH SPAWNING:
Margined Coralfish has not been bred in the home aquarium. In the wild, this egg-scattering species is said to form distinct pairs.
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