Tropical Fish Species

Groupers

Picture Shown a beautiful Phanter Grouper - Cromileptes altivelis.

Some of the largest species available to marine fish enthusiasts belong to the Grouper family. Groupers are very stout robust fish that are found near rocky bottoms and coral reefs throughout the world.

They will usually hide in caves or use their camouflage to ambush their prey, quickly sucking fishes, lobsters, crabs, octopus, and other invertebrates into their huge mouths.

Most Groupers will reach a size of 1 to 2 feet but the largest member of the family, the Goliath grouper, can grow to over 8 feet and weigh 1,000 pounds! In general, they are solitary fish only coming together during spawning season.

Groupers require a very large aquarium with lots of rockwork and several caves for hiding. Although they are quite hardy and can tolerate less than optimum water quality, an efficient filtration system along with frequent water changes is required to deal with the large amounts of food consumed and waste produced.

Groupers should be fed a varied diet of fresh and prepared meaty foods such as fish, shrimp, squid, clams, etc. It is best to keep one Grouper per tank and it definitely should not be housed with other fishes small enough to fit into its cavernous mouth.

Groupers are hermaphrodites, with the ability to change sex from female to male. It is difficult to differentiate between the sexes and even more difficult to breed them in captivity. The fry go through a pelagic larval stage before transforming into the juvenile form.

TankConditions: 79-79°F; sg 1.020-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4; dKH 8-12

Compatibility: Foxface and rabbitfish, lions, scorpions, tangs and surgeons, live corals, live rock, sand.