The Harlequin Bass

[LukFox]

I see this fish (Serranus tigrinus) listed as getting either 4" (LiveAquaria, other small profile sites) or just under a foot (fishbase, bluezooaquatics, and WWM).

Does anyone keep this fish or seen one in captivity get above 4"?

[Crosby]

I have one and they grow to 4 inches in captivity.

[Gem Tang Rider]

I have a friend who tried them many times. All ended up carpet surfing.

[Jeffrey Porter]

picked one up at MACNA. so far so good. really fat, and pretty much just stays near the bottom. egg crate top on the tank

[ssavader]

How aggresive is towards you other fish and are current fish dossile or dominant?

[Jeffrey Porter]

so far he doesn't seem to bother anything. fish or hermits, but later on it may eat the smaller gobies.

[20reefer]

Few months ago I got one and are very hardy, they are like dwarf groupers almost the same behavior. Mine was 3'' but I have see thems 7''.

[LukFox]

Ah so they -can- get big :}. Do you know if they were caught at 7" or grew to that size in captivity? I think they're a really cool fish, and a bigger one would only be that much more awesome.

[20reefer]

Was caught at 7", but Im sure if you feed him very well will grow fast because they eat almost everythng.

[Jeffrey Porter]

mine is just under 2 inches now, and i hope it stays small or it will have to go.

[Crosby]

I have him with a occelaris clownfish, longnose hawk, flame angel and a yellow tang. He does not go after my nassarius snails. He is very peaceful towards other fish. I never seem him get into one fight. He even let's my juvenile flame angel clean him. The harlequin bass is a drawf bass. I bought mine at 3-4 inches and 8 months later he hasn't grown much. If you buy them small they will not grow large in captivity. They need lots of caves and live rock to be happy.

[20reefer]

They do not eat hermits or snails but their main diet are shrimps and very small fish when they are big.

[LukFox]

It's weird a fish like this wouldn't get full size in captivity... It's not like it's a huge active swimmer where stunting would more likely happen. How odd. Thanks for the info guys.