Sunrise dottyback

Care at a glance

Overview

The sunrise dottyback is a hardy, colorful reef fish and one of the more even-tempered dottybacks. It is easy to keep.

Caring for the sunrise dottyback

Give the sunrise dottyback a reef tank of at least 29 gal (110 L), with rock crevices. Keep the water at 75 to 82°F (24 to 28°C) and a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. It accepts most frozen and dry foods, fed once or twice a day.

It is mostly peaceful, but keep only one per tank, since dottybacks fight their own kind. Pair it with gobies, blennies and other small reef fish.

The sunrise dottyback will not harm corals, but adult fish may pick off small ornamental shrimp. Treat it as reef safe with caution. Breeding it is rated medium.

Good to know

Pseudochromis flavivertex is a blue-bodied dottyback with a bright yellow back and face. That yellow-and-blue color gives it the sunrise name. It is regularly bred in captivity, which produces hardier, calmer fish and has made it widely available. It also goes by the yellow-headed dottyback.

In the wild

The sunrise dottyback comes from the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, where it lives on rubble and reef slopes. It stays close to rock cover and hunts small prey nearby.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Sankey's dottyback

  Pseudochromis sankeyi

  3.1 in (8 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  3.1 in (8 cm)29 gal (110 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Indigo dottyback

  Pseudochromis hybrid

  3 in (7.5 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  3 in (7.5 cm)29 gal (110 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Diadem dottyback

  Pseudochromis diadema

  2.8 in (7 cm) · 20 gal (75 L)

  2.8 in (7 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Orchid dottyback

  Pseudochromis fridmani

  2.8 in (7 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  2.8 in (7 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Springer's dottyback

  Pseudochromis springeri

  2.4 in (6 cm) · 20 gal (75 L)

  2.4 in (6 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Neon dottyback

  Pseudochromis aldabraensis

  3.5 in (9 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  3.5 in (9 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)