Leather Grouper

Dermatolepis Groupers should only be added to very large well established aquariums with plenty of rockwork with caves and crevices to hide in. Groupers are very secretive and will hide until food is presented. They have low metabolism's and only require feeding every other day. Groupers are usually very friendly fish except to fish or crustaceans they can fit in their mouth. Should be housed with larger peaceful tank mates and only one grouper per aquarium. Provide a diet of meaty enriched foods. If not eating offer live foods such as enriched Brine, Glass/Grass shrimp, black worms and fiddler crabs to entice a feeding response. Groupers emit large amounts of waste ensure the filtration system can handle the waste.

Leather Grouper are also sometimes known as the Leather Bass. Not often seen in the aquarium trade. Juveniles and adult Leather Groupers may have slightly color differences. Juveniles are black with thin white stripes and a white caudal fin with black spots. Adults are gray to brown with alternating gray to black and white to light gray mottled stripes and fins are edged in yellow. Leather Groupers can grow to almost 28".

We recommend a minimum aquarium size of 300 gallons or larger for this species.

Water conditions: Salinity 1.020 - 1.025, Temp (F) 72 - 78, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Alkalinity 8 - 12 dKH