Parupeneus crassilabris is a very cool fish with a lot of common names. Once upon a time, it was most commonly called the Two Banded Goatfish and nowadays it's more commonly called the Triple Bar Goatfish. Apparently, everyone's math got better, and we realized that it actually has three dark bars. In the interest of fairness, the band through eye is sometimes more of a large spot. This fish is also called all the variations of these names you can think of like Double Bar, Three Band, etc. On top of all these names it often gets called Panda, Thicklipped, and Yellow Stripe, these names are often in conjunction with one of the Two/Three, Bar/Band descriptors. In house, we call it the Triple Bar Panda Goatfish.
Where most hobbyists run into difficulty with Goatfish of all types is getting them enough food. These are very active fish, with high caloric demands and they eat all day long in the wild. Triple Bar Panda Goatfish will need a minimum of three meals a day, and we'd suggest more if you can work it out. They'll eat just about anything, and in house we feed them a mix of Gamma Foods that changes day to day, but will include Mysis, Krill Superba and Pacifica, Bloodworms, Chopped Mussel and Chopped Prawn. Once you can get your Goatfish to accept Nutramar Complete Pellets, getting them enough food is easier because you can automate a couple feedings. Larger fish won't need so many feedings per day, but when they're under four or five inches, they seem like bottomless pits. Feed them a lot, then feed them again. Click here to learn more
Where most hobbyists run into difficulty with Goatfish of all types is getting them enough food. These are very active fish, with high caloric demands and they eat all day long in the wild. Triple Bar Panda Goatfish will need a minimum of three meals a day, and we'd suggest more if you can work it out. They'll eat just about anything, and in house we feed them a mix of Gamma Foods that changes day to day, but will include Mysis, Krill Superba and Pacifica, Bloodworms, Chopped Mussel and Chopped Prawn. Once you can get your Goatfish to accept Nutramar Complete Pellets, getting them enough food is easier because you can automate a couple feedings. Larger fish won't need so many feedings per day, but when they're under four or five inches, they seem like bottomless pits. Feed them a lot, then feed them again. Click here to learn more
