Oriental sweetlips

The oriental sweetlips is a large, striking reef fish whose juveniles wear bold black-and-white stripes that fade into the yellow-and-grey lined adult pattern. Native to the Indo-West Pacific, it inhabits coastal reefs and lagoons where it hides in caves by day and forages over sand at night. Peaceful toward other fish, it needs a very large aquarium with open swimming room and rockwork retreats; it suits fish-only or FOWLR systems rather than small reefs. Maintain stable salinity of 33-35 ppt, temperature 24-27 C, pH 8.1-8.4 and strong biological filtration. It is a carnivore that must be fed several meaty foods daily, such as mysis, shrimp, squid and marine flesh. Reaching about 40 cm, it is best left to experienced marine keepers.