Liopropoma Swalesi is a small deep water basslet commonly found around the waters of Indonesia. As with other members of the genus, it has a body that resembles an arrowhead, sleek and streamlined. It rarely tops 4 inches while most specimens come at 2 to 3 inches in size. They are not as popular as other marine basslets such as the royal gramma.

Orange stripes line its faded purple body horizontally while its snout is a dark gray. Their dorsal and anal fins both have a single black spot.

It is reputed to be the shyest member of the genus. Common names include the Pacific Candy Basslet, Swalesi Basslet, Swale's Swissguard Basslet and my favorite, the poor mans Candy Basslet. That last description is in reference to Liopropoma Carmabi, the candy basslet.

Differentiating the two is an easy enough task. Liopropoma Carmabi lacks a black spot on the anal fin, costs ten times as much as Liopropoma Swalesi and has colors that are very striking. So striking that they're the probably the most wanted fish among liopropoma enthusiasts.

They are an expensive fish as far as ornamental marine fish go, expect to pay between $80 to $120 USD for one. Not a common fish, getting your hands on one maybe a bit difficult. Sadly, the Swalesi Basslet is one of the more difficult deep water basslets to keep, mainly because it is a very shy fish.

In a nutshell, rearing of the swalesi basslet is either going to be nearly impossible or very easy. Throughout this guide i will touch on various factors that will make or break your effort to keep this elusive creature.

The Swalesi Basslet is one of the shyest fishes you are likely to get. It will get along just fine with other fishes in the saltwater aquarium as long as they aren't aggressive. Very small tank mates (Neon gobies, Sexy Shrimp) run the risk being eaten.

I mentioned earlier how this basslet would be very easy or nearly impossible to keep. 3 things of great importance to take into consideration :-

* The size of your aquarium * Tank mates * Available caves

A 15 to 30 gallon tank is better suited to these shy fish. This is because in smaller aquariums they have fewer tank mates (well at least they should) and you have more control over the tank. Changes to the rock scape as well as removal of tank mates can be done with ease. Which is difficult in a 150 gallon aquarium. In tanks that size, removal is nearly impossible without a total tear down. It is very likely that you will hardly see the basslet either.

"Quiet" tanks are a important if you want them to do well. By quiet i mean an aquarium with very little daily activity. Housing them in an aquarium with too many active fish will mean slow death for them. They should be in smaller aquariums that were designed just for them or tanks with very few tank mates. The genus Liopropoma are made of deep water cave basslets. As such, the rock scape in your saltwater aquarium MUST contain at least a few caves for them to take refuge in. These fishes do not do well in tanks with "open" scapes and will surely die in such settings.They may refuse to feed if they are constantly being harassed by an aggressive fish. Which is a commonly reported case i might add. They retreat to a shaded area and refuse to come out to eat.

Since they come from deeper water, they aren't used to lighting levels as intense as is normally seen in aquariums. Don't worry if you don't see them too often after introduction. Give them time to slowly adjust.

All cave basslets are carnivores. They actively scan the rock work in and around their shelter for small crustaceans. They do not take dry foods. They will spit out just about every type of pellet you can offer. I;ve also tried dried krill, dried shrimp, basically dried anything won't work. Stick with frozen foods.

They should be offered a wide range of meaty foods. Offer frozen foods like Krill, Mysis shrimp and Prime Reef (A good blend of raw seafood). Don't be worried if they don't feed right away, they require up to a week to adapt to their new environment. When feeding initially, turn off the pumps and put frozen mysis shrimp in their cave. Wait 10 minutes, then turn the pumps back and look for any floating pieces of mysis, there should be none. I have found that they are very receptive to mysis shrimp, probably because they recognize the shape.

Despite its beauty, this fish isn't for everybody. This fish isn't for you if you want a fish that you can see swimming out in the open everyday.

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Written by Roman Veaila using tags: deep-cave-basselet-for-sale, Royal Gramma, swalesi-basslet-dosent-come-out, turks-and-caicos-rock-iguana