Sunrise Dottyback

Care at a glance

Overview

A 110 litre or larger reef with rock crevices suits it at 24 to 28 C and pH 8.1 to 8.4. It will not harm corals but adult fish may pick off small ornamental shrimp, so treat it as reef safe with caution. Keep one per tank, since dottybacks fight their own kind, and pair it with gobies, blennies and other small reef fish. It accepts most frozen and dry foods fed once or twice a day.

In the wild

The sunrise dottyback is a blue-bodied fish with a bright yellow back and face, from Red Sea rubble and reef slopes. It stays close to rock cover and hunts small prey nearby. It is hardy and colorful and one of the more even-tempered dottybacks. Captive breeding has made it widely available.

Good to know

Pseudochromis flavivertex reaches about 8 cm and comes from the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Its yellow-and-blue color gives the sunrise name. It is regularly bred in captivity, which produces hardier, calmer fish.

Did you know

It handles a wide pH range in the wild, part of why captive bred sunrise dottybacks are such forgiving reef fish.

Related species

• Sankey's Dottyback

  Pseudochromis sankeyi

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

• 

  Diadem Dottyback

  Pseudochromis diadema

  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)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Springer's Dottyback

  Pseudochromis springeri

  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)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Magenta Dottyback

  Pictichromis porphyrea

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