i have one tank that is a saltwater pred tank. i had quite a lot of fish in there but they have been going fast. i added a blue line grouper to my tank yesterday and my panther has been beating his ass. he wont leave him be at all. they are both about the same size and the lady at the pet store said they would be fine. can groupers even really be kept togeather? i dont know a whole lot about salt water fish. i just take the ladies word for it. please help. should i return the blue line or is this like cichlids where they will just esatblish a pecking order and be alright?
grouper help
- Thread starter SiestaSkyy
- Start date
I have kept neither but have read that many groupers are very territorial, it is probably a risk ot keep them together. Even in species that normally get along you sometimes get a fish that won't tolerate another fish.
Short answer- no. I seriously doubt they will get along even though they are the same size. The panther already has an established territory, and he is going to defend it against newcomers. If you are lucky the fish will establish a pecking order and take up residence in opposite sides of the tank.
well as my signature says they are in a 60 hex right now. they are also all 3" when they get bigger ill get a bigger tank. i plan on getting anouther 220 and making it salt. dont worry i am not one of those people who dont think ahead. back to the issue though should i risk the pecking order thing? this isnt a 2 dollar cichlid i spent 40 bucks on this fish i dont wanna lose him.
they are actully starting to get along.. i think. they are at least ignoring each other. my panther just stays in the front and the blue line kinda stays back a bit. but... at least he isnt trying to kill him anymore.
I have kept panther grouper with other groupers many times sucsessfully. Panther groupers are differant enough that many times they will work out with "Blue line" and similar. You did this mix in the right order too, panther groupers are wusies and often times get beat up by other groupers. Since yours was established in the aquarium first, it most likley will be ok, I'd feel better if the panther was larger than the blue line though.(this will happen soon enough - panthers grow fast) It's normal to see some agression at first but it will pass I bet. Another part of the issue is your tank is so small, they have no where to get away from each other, I bet the aggresion would have been less in a larger aquarium. If these guys are the same size, I'd watch the blue line, as it settles in it might become dominate and could beat up the panther. I had a blue line kill a porkfish this week that was 25% larger than it was. THey got 'tude!!!
Not to beat a dead horse but......get that bigger tank!!!!! 60 gallon is way to small for these guys, it being a hex makes it even worse.
Joel
Not to beat a dead horse but......get that bigger tank!!!!! 60 gallon is way to small for these guys, it being a hex makes it even worse.
Joel
You might also want to add "stucture"like fake coral, to help them break up the tank into distinct territories.
it has fake coral and other decorations. i will get a bigger tank but it wont be right now. these fish are only about 3" long. i just spent 4600 dollars on my 540. im done spending on tanks at the moment.