Acanthurus tristis
Acanthurus tristis naturally inhabits the eastern part of the Indian Ocean: the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, west to the Maldives and Chagos Archipelago, and east from the islands of southern Indonesia to Bali. These fish live among coral reefs in places with mangroves and seaweed at depths from 2 to 26 m. In general, these fish are not difficult to keep, but require large living space in the aquarium.
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The body of Acanthurus tristis is colored grayish or yellowish. The tail plumage is fan-shaped with white edging. Gill covers are darker at the edges. In general, the coloration of these surgeons varies quite widely, and there are almost black specimens with white edging on the tail. The coloration of young fish is light with transverse stripes of red-orange, with a dark spot on the tail plumage and another near the dorsal fin. The maximum size of these fish in the wild is 25 cm, while in an aquarium they will not exceed 20 cm.
Only young fish should be kept in the aquarium, as adults are difficult to adapt to aquarium life. Acanthurus tristrius is totally indifferent to the fish of other families, but in relation to other surgeon species is very aggressive. The aquarium needs to be large enough for one fish to hold at least 300 liters. A volume of about 1000 liters is best for these fish. In order to somewhat moderate the aggressive zeal of the fish, they need to be fed regularly and placed in an aquarium with plenty of different shelters. Ensure there is enough space for them to swim freely.
Water parameters: temperature 24-28°C, pH 8.1-8.4, salinity 1.020-1.024. Water filtration is required.
Acanthurus tristis should be kept in an aquarium with a sufficient number of live rock. If there is not enough algae on the stones, fish should be fed with spirulina. It should be noted that if the fish do not feed systematically, they begin to damage the corals.
Although they eat a variety of frozen foods, algae should always be present in the aquarium, as they are the main food. You can feed the fish shredded spinach leaves and lettuce as well as dried food intended for herbivorous fish. Artemia, minced shrimp, squid and mussels can be fed occasionally.
Reproduction
Acanthurus tristis does not breed in an aquarium. All fish are imported into the domestic market from their natural habitat.
