Grunts / Sweetlips

Grunts / Sweetlips

Grunts / Sweetlips belong to the Haemulidae Family. Grunts / Sweetlips produce a peculiar noise by grinding their teeth, with the sound vibrating in their Swim Bladder. Grunts / Sweetlips have thick lips and therefore the name. Fresh Marine offers an interesting range of Grunts / Sweetlips for your aquarium. Before skimming through them however, lets look at some of their key features.

Compatibility. Grunts / Sweetlips are Peaceful to semi aggressive in disposition. Do not keep Grunts / Sweetlips with aggressive tank mates such as, Damselfish, Hawk Fish, certain Angelfish, Triggerfish, Puffer Fish, Squirrel Fish, Soldier Fish, Groupers, Snappers, Goatfish, Large Wrasses, and Porcupine Fish. Instead, put them with peaceful tank mates, though they may prove a threat to Snails, Polychaete Worms, Ornamental Crustaceans, and Serpent Stars, present in a Reef Aquarium.

Habit & Habitat. Grunts / Sweetlips are found at a depth of 3 to 100 feet from islands in the Indian Ocean, East to Samoa, North to South Japan, and South to Australia. Though Hardy, these fish are shy in nature. Grunts / Sweetlips are Nocturnal in nature, that is, they hide in Sand, under Crevices, Ledges, among Branching Corals, between or under Coral Boulders, or at the bottom of an aquarium, during the day and come out at night for food hunt.

Morphology. Grunts / Sweetlips grow up to around 29 inches, and look colorful & cute as Juveniles.

Ideal Marine Aquarium Environment. Grunts / Sweetlips need high water quality with the Specific Gravity of 1.020-1.025, pH 8.1-8.4, and Temperature within 72°-78°. Owing to their big size, Grunts / Sweetlips require large aquariums so that they get ample unhindered swimming space.

Aquarium Feeding. Grunts / Sweetlips are Carnivores and prefer to eat Mysis & Grass Shrimps, Worms, Small Fishes, Mollusks, and Crustaceans. Any lack of key nutritional ingredients may lead to the death of Grunts / Sweetlips.

Care. Grunts / Sweetlips are difficult to maintain and only Experts should handle them.

Now let us look at the Grunts / Sweetlips options from the Genus Plectrohenchus, available at Fresh Marine. Clown Sweetlips (Plectrohenchus chaetodonoides). Also known as, Grunts Sweetlips and Harlequin Sweet lips, Clown Sweetlips grow up to 29 inches and require a tank of minimum 150Gallons. These Grunts / Sweetlips occur in White color with Brown Spots over their Fins and the Anterior Body part. Their swimming resembles to that of Clownfish, therefore the name Clown Sweetlips. These Grunts / Sweetlips roll their Body and paddle their Fins to prevent themselves from their predators. These Grunts / Sweetlips look repulsive and bad tasting, which keeps their predators off.

Dogfish Orientalis (Plectorhinchus lineatus). Also popular as, Yellow-banded Sweetlips, Lined Sweetlips, Oriental Sweetlips, these Grunts / Sweetlips can be found on Coral Reefs and the Inshore Tropical Areas of the Eastern Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific. They have a unique feature of changing colors with their age. Growing up to 33.9 inches, these Grunts / Sweetlips require a minimum of 150 Gallons tank capacity. These creatures are Silvery White in color with Black Bands all over their Body. They have Yellow Lips and Yellowish Median Fins, with Black Spots or horizontal stripes, extending from Head to Tail.

Stripe Sweetlips (Plectorhinchus albovittatus). Also known as, Yellow-Lined Sweetlips and Silver-Banded Sweetlips, these Grunts / Sweetlips grow up to 20 inches and require a tank of minimum 75 Gallons capacity. Striped Sweetlips have a Silver Body with four horizontal Dark Brown Stripes and Yellow colored Fins. Striped Sweetlips have 13 Dorsal Spines, 17 to 18 Dorsal Soft Rays, 3 Anal Spines, and Anal Soft Rays up to 7.

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