Groupers In A Reef Environment

[Derek]

I have been starting to think about what types of fish I will put in my 185 when I get it in a few months. It will be a reef environment. Today while I decided to go for a drive and ended up at AquaDome. They had a really awesome blue spot grouper. I was wondering if groupers can be kept in reef tanks. I know that they will eat small shrimp, but would larger shrimp like cleaner shrimp be okay?

[Brooks]

Groupers are aggressive fish. They will eat small fish if they're large enough. I believe they are safe as far as corals go, though.

Also, their really pretty fish as a juvenile, but when they get to adults, they're pretty ugly fish.

[Derek]

Groupers are aggressive fish. They will eat small fish if they're large enough. I believe they are safe as far as corals go, though.

Also, their really pretty fish as a juvenile, but when they get to adults, they're pretty ugly fish.

True, some of them get pretty nasty looking as adults. Some angels are like that as well, the French angel for example. I think I will stick to clowns, tangs, and angels. Thanks Brooks.

[Crab Rangoon]

May I suggest you look into Basslets, instead? Obviously you quickly realized that Groupers are sort of a no-no with smaller fish / reef environments, but if you like the shape & behavior, you should know that many of the Basslets behave much like tiny Groupers (Assessors & Grammas aside, that is).

[JamesL]

Some basslets can also be detrimental to shrimp... but they are a good alternative to groupers. I would say most groupers will eventually outgrown almost anyone tank.

That being said, I always loved the panther groupers, because they had that "waggle" like a clownfish. I had one many many moons ago. Was a cool fish, but yes, loved the shrimp