Golden-spot Hogfish

 Quick Care Facts

• Care Level: Moderate   • Temperament: Semi-aggressive   • Maximum Size: 26"
• Minimum Tank Size: 450 gallons   • Water Conditions: 72-80° F, dKH 8-12, sg 1.020-1.025, pH 8.1-8.4
• Diet: Carnivore   • Origin: Indo-Pacific, Western Pacific
• Family: Labridae   • Species: Hogfish   • Aquarium Type: Fish Only

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Golden-spot Hogfish (Bodianus perditio) are widely distributed throughout the tropical oceans of the southern hemisphere. They can be found living around coral reefs and rocky outcrops from the eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of North & South America and most areas in between.

Despite their large size of close to 30 inches long in the wild and about 26 inches in the aquarium environment, Golden-spot Hogfish stay close to the reef throughout their lives. They generally inhabit shallow reefs and lagoons as juveniles and as they grow move out to deeper reefs and rocky outcrops as adults.

Golden-spot Hogfish stay close to the reef as their primary source of food is the benthic clams and mollusks found growing on the rocks throughout the reef. Coral reefs also give Golden-spot Hogfish cover from large open water predator fish who would see the Hogfish as a prey item.

Golden-spot Hogfish are only suitable long term for hobbyists with very large aquariums that are supported by a strong filtration system. Large bodied fish like the Golden-spot Hogfish need a significant amount of space to swim about and due to their size put a heavy biological load on aquarium filtration systems.

Being that the Golden-spot Hogfish feeds primarily on crustaceans and sessile invertebrates, they are not suitable for reef aquariums or mixed fish aquariums with invertebrate clean up crews and such. Golden-spot Hogfish are mostly found in larger fish only aquarium setups like tanks housing reef sharks or large aquariums found in restaurants, hotels and other larger aquarium installations.

Beyond a large aquarium, hobbyists seeking to keep Golden-spot Hogfish will need to employ a powerful filtration system that has excellent mechanical and biological capabilities. Large bead filters or large sump based wet/dry systems combined with a very large protein skimmer will be required to maintain proper water quality.

Once hobbyists begin keeping larger reef fish species like Hogfish, Groupers, Sharks, Rays, etc. it is generally recommended that they move away from filtration products designed for smaller ornamental aquariums and look more toward products designed for aquaculture. Filters, skimmers, sumps and tanks designed for the aquaculture industry have the capacity and flow rates needed to handle larger reef fish even when they reach their max size as adults.

Suitable tank mates for Golden-spot Hogfish should mainly be limited to larger community reef fish and semi-aggressive reef predator fish like groupers and reef shark species. Golden-spot Hogfish spend most of their time in the wild solo, but do pair up during breeding.

Given enough room they will tolerate others of their own kind, but in smaller environments they will become territorial towards others that they see as competition for food.

Wild Golden-spot Hogfish feed primarily on crustaceans and benthic invertebrates such as mollusks and clams. Aquarium specimens will consume a wide variety of marine based meaty foods ranging from commercial pellets and frozen foods to homemade preparations.

Being such a large fish, hobbyists will most likely find that it is more economical to feed them a homemade diet consisting of clams, mollusks, squid, chopped fish, shrimp, cockles and other similar marine based meaty items. Ideally they should be fed smaller meals multiple times per day, as this more closely resembles how they would feed in the wild.

Monitor the overall girth of the fish to make sure that they are receiving enough food and adjust feeding frequency accordingly. It is also recommended to vary their food items to ensure that they are receiving a balanced diet of minerals and vitamins that they require to maintain a healthy immune system.