🐠 Two Striped Sweetlip (Plectorhinchus albovittatus)
A Striped Black-and-Yellow Juvenile • A Heavy, Mottled Grey Giant • A Showpiece for Very Large Tanks
 
📋 The Two Striped Sweetlip, also known as the Giant Sweetlips, Giant Thicklip, or Indian Grunt, goes through a dramatic transformation. Small juveniles show two to three broad black stripes with thin white-to-yellow lines between them over a pale belly, intermediate fish develop up to four dark stripes fading to pale grey, and adults become a heavy, dark, mottled grey with a broad pale bar and black-edged fins.
It lives on outer reef slopes across the Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea. Like all grunts, it makes an audible grunting sound by grinding its throat teeth, resonating through its swim bladder. It's a peaceful, shy, nocturnal bottom feeder that's best kept without others of its own kind, and every Two Striped Sweetlip we ship is feeding well, with live shrimp a great first food.
It's one of the largest sweetlips, reaching up to 100cm, and it eats well, so it's a showpiece for keepers with a big plan: at least 1,140L (300 gallons), and we recommend about 1,900L (500 gallons) for a full adult, with powerful filtration. It isn't reef safe, as it will eat small fish and crustaceans.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 A Dramatic Transformation: Striped black-and-yellow juvenile to a heavy mottled grey adult
🔊 It Grunts: Makes an audible grunting sound
🍽️ Ships Feeding Well: Every Two Striped Sweetlip we send is eating confidently
📏 Up to 100cm: One of the largest sweetlips
🪸 Not Reef Safe: Eats small fish and crustaceans