Coney

Care at a glance

Overview

A single coney does well in 400 litres or more with rockwork caves, kept at 23 to 27 C and pH 8.0 to 8.4. It ignores corals but will eat ornamental shrimp and any bite-sized fish, so keep it with tankmates too big to swallow. Feed chopped seafood, silversides and shrimp several times a week. House only one per tank, as they squabble with their own kind.

In the wild

The coney is a small Caribbean grouper that comes in several colour phases, from red-brown to bright golden yellow, all dusted with tiny blue and dark spots. It is one of the more manageable groupers at around 40 cm and settles quickly into captivity. It spends its time perched on rock waiting for a meal to pass.

Good to know

Cephalopholis fulva can change between colour morphs including a striking all-yellow xanthic form. Like other hinds it is a protogynous hermaphrodite that starts life female. It accepts frozen food readily, which makes it one of the easier reef groupers to feed.

Did you know

The coney can flip almost instantly between a red daytime pattern, a pale bicolour resting pattern and a bright yellow morph, and divers sometimes see all three colours in the same small area of reef.

Related species

• 

  Miniatus grouper

  Cephalopholis miniata

  17.7 in (45 cm)180 gal (680 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Peacock grouper

  Cephalopholis argus

  23.6 in (60 cm)251 gal (950 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Sixline soapfish

  Grammistes sexlineatus

  11.8 in (30 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Harlequin Bass

  Serranus tigrinus

  5.1 in (13 cm)53 gal (200 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Panther Grouper

  Cromileptes altivelis

  27.6 in (70 cm)300 gal (1,135 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Lyretail grouper

  Variola louti

  31.5 in (80 cm)291 gal (1,100 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)