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October 24: Arrival of New Fresh Water Fish.

October 24: Arrival of New Marine Water Fish.

 

Included colors

Lopez Unicorn Tang

Lopez Unicorn Tang

Scientific Name: Naso lopezi

Price: Upon Request

Origin: Indo-Pacific

Family: Acanthuridae

NOT AVAILABLE NOW

 

 

Technical Info

Temperature: 24 - 28 ℃

pH: 8.1 - 8.4

GH: 8 - 12

SG: 1.023 - 1.025

Max size: 60 cm

Min Tank size: 650 Ltr

Position in Aqua: No special swimming level

 

Description

Adults generally have an iridescent grayish-blue body color that becomes paler on the lower half. The upper half of the body and head have numerous small round dark spots. Like all of the unicornfish it has the ability to quickly and dramatically change its color from pale to brilliant to dark, depending on mood or environment. The body can be nearly black, sometimes a dark violet, or a pearl gray. The spots can be turquoise to dark gray and the head can have some yellows. The eye is edged in turquoise.

 

Food

The Lopez Unicorn Tang are primarily herbivores. Provide lots of algae, large chunk types of prepared frozen formulas containing algae or spirulina, freeze dried plankton, and flakes. Japanese Nori or other seaweed can be adhered to the aquarium glass with a vegetable clip. It will also feed on some frozen brine and mysis. An occasional live rock with micro and macro organisms will be greatly appreciated. Culturing macro algae like chaetomorphia in the tank is also a great idea. Feed at least 2 - 3 times a day in smaller amounts instead of a large quantity once a day. This will keep the water quality higher over a longer time.

 

Breeding

Not bred in the aquarium but in their natural habitat they are group spawners, this usually takes place aroung the new moon. Males will attract females that are ready to spawn by intensifying their colouration and displaying if front of them. They both swim towards the water surface releasing the eggs and sperm. The young will transform into larva feeding on plankton, it is believed that this stage lasts for up to 10 weeks before the larva settle in the reef rockwork and then transform into juvenile fish.

 

Compatible with

The Lopez s Unicornfish get along with most other marine fish and can be kept with a variety of tank mates including other genus of surgeonfish. However unless you have a huge (hundreds of gallons) system, it is best to house just one Naso tang to a tank. Being an herbivore it is a good algae eater, but is also a large energetic fish and may topple corals while swimming about in fast clips. Surgeonfish and tangs can be territorial, sometimes just with their own kind and sometimes with other species. Introducing a new surgeonfish into an aquarium that already houses one or more is usually a problem. It is best to initially introduce several species together rather than adding a new one later on. Though a large aquarium can help alleviate many problems, be aware of the social behaviors of any species you are considering to prevent compatibility problems. At times you may put surgeonfish and tangs together with different genus’ as long as there are no similarities. For example a large tank can house a Unicornfish, a sailfin tang, and a Hippo Tang without incident. Adding them together initially works best. When adding a new member to an established group, changing the rock work will often alleviate any aggression to the new fish. A little chasing will occur, but usually nothing detrimental.

 

Note

Once settled this Tang can become very tame, often they will feed from your fingers and make a great addition to any reef aquarium.