Rare Fish Spotlight: The Poor Man’s Candy Basslet, Liopropoma swalesi

The Swalesi basslet, Liopropoma swalesi, is a very attractive fish which is hardy and a perfect, calm-mannered citizen of reef aquariums. Although it’s a beautiful fish, the swalesi basslet has been mostly overshadowed by more exotic species of basslets, most notably, the…

Liopropoma fasciatum takes the title of 2014’s fish of the year

At the close of each year we religiously run through the stories of months past and gather up our favourites, condensing some of the best stories from various categories for a year in review. Although it is pretty standard to put…

Will you stop hiding from me! Lonesome Liopropoma

Today’s post is c0-contributed by Mr. Tay, a friend of ReefBuilders and one of my best fish buddies in Singapore. Mr. Tay is known online by his alias “Digiman”, and has an extensive collection of deepwater and unusual fish, many…

Liopropoma olneyi “discovered” thanks to a lucky larval catch

Liopropoma olneyi is a “new” species of the popular deepwater basslets which has actually been making it into the aquarium trade for some time now. If you recall the exciting deepwater collections being undertaken in the manned submersible in Curacao…

Digiman is back with a breathtaking new Liopropoma latifasciatum as well as a charismatic Sailfin Jawfish

Familiarity has made us jaded with the beautiful and charismatic genus – Liopropoma. L. carmabi and L. rubre were once the creme de la creme species that everyone were dying to own, but in recent years they have become more widely…

Liopropoma collettei re-appears in the aquarium scene

Liopropoma are a group secretive fishes which makes them elusive and uncommonly found in the aquarium trade. Collette’s Reef Basslet (Liopropoma collettei) is a species that closely resembles the Pinstripe Reef Basslet (Liopropoma susumi), however the former has a more…

Liopropoma rubre, the Swissguard Basslet, confirmed as captive bred!

Last time we wrote about Todd Gardner’s success being the first to breed and rear a Liopropoma sp. Reef Basslet, the jury was still out on which species he actually had.  Eggs from both L. rubre, the Swissguard Basslet, and…

Approaching the Event Horizon for captive bred Liopropoma

Reef Builders is elated to bring you this news – the Liopropoma Event Horizon is within sight!  43 days post hatch!  Check out those INSANE dorsal extensions, the first one like a string of weather balloons providing for buoyancy presumably!  …

Red Candy Basslet is an even rarer color of the holy grail Liopropoma

The red candy basslet is the latest mystery surrounding Liopropoma carmabi, a fish which is arguably the most highly sought after reef basslet. Although we have seen several images of reddish colored candy basslets in the past, we usually chalked…

‘Vivid’ Candy Basslet Forgot Its Black Accents

Besides the common royal gramma, the rare candy basslet is one of the unquestionable jewels of the Caribbean sporting one of the nicest combinations of colors and patterns. However one particularly vivid candy basslet decided it was going to outshine…