All fish / Haemulidae

Painted Sweetlips

Plectorhinchus picus

Also known as spotted sweetlips, dotted sweetlips, sieve-patterned sweetlips, painted rubberlip, no, ヒレグロコショウダイ, ikan bibir tebal, 斑胡椒鲷, 花尾胡椒鲷

Juveniles are boldly marked in black and white blotches and swim with an odd wriggling motion, which makes them popular in the trade. As they grow they turn pale grey or white with many small dark spots and thick, fleshy lips. It is kept mainly by public aquaria and owners of very large reef or fish-only systems.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Peaceful

Adult size

50 cm

Temperature

23 to 28 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

1500 litres

Keep as

Singly, or a pair in a very large system

Diet

Carnivore: meaty frozen foods such as mysis, krill, chopped shrimp, squid and fish, plus sinking pellets

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

10 to 15 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Indo-West Pacific, from East Africa and the Seychelles to Australia and the western Pacific islands

Breeding

It is a pelagic egg scatterer that spawns in open water, and it has not been bred in home aquariums.

Good to know

Sold as small, cute juveniles but can grow beyond 80 cm in the wild, so only buy it if you have a very large tank. Young fish often refuse food at first and do poorly in tanks with aggressive tankmates.