My Royal Gramma

nemosluckyfin · 06/18/2017, 05:01 PM

Hi everyone,
I recently got a royal gramma for my tank and everything seemed to be going well. I have had him for about 2 weeks now and for the first few days he hid like normal. However it seems the last few days he is starting to pick on some of my other fish. My flasher wrasse is the main target. My gramma constantly is going up to the wrasse and opening it mouth really wide, my wrasse responds by going vertical and flashing. The other fish hang by to see what is going on. It seems that the gramma really had an effect on my Coral Beauty. Since the gramma started doing this my coral beauty just started to hide all the time and just today she unfortunately passed away. She had looked pale in the face the past few days with really black eyes. I feel bad that my wrasse is hiding now and everytime he swims out, the gramma is right in his face. What is going on? Is the gramma trying to show dominance?

SuperSaltwater · 06/18/2017, 06:08 PM

Take it out and be done with it.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Half Vaped · 06/18/2017, 07:52 PM

How big is your tank?

Royal Grammas rarely turn super aggressive, especially when newly introduced. And they usually only take up a small amount of territory. But I can see it freaking out in too small of a tank, which sounds like might be the case, since it seems the other fish can't escape.

It's also possible that you have a Brazilian Gramma, which tend to get slightly bigger and meaner than the Royal Gramma, but looks very similar.

I agree that it's probably best to take it out.

nemosluckyfin · 06/21/2017, 08:56 PM

Thank you for the replies everyone. The tank is 37 gallons and they all seem to be fine now.

thegrun · 06/21/2017, 09:20 PM

Royal Grammas will stake out a territory and can get aggressive defending it, although that territory is typically small compared to the space a clown fish will stake out. Your tank unfortunately is too small for any of the dwarf angels; I suspect the stress of being in too small a tank took a toll on the Angel, which really need at least a 70 gallon tank.

ReeferNoob4ever · 06/22/2017, 12:39 PM

Although I agree with the above statements, I have a malawi african cichlid (for over a year now) in a 3 gallon tank. He's a rowdy bastard and healthy to boot. He stays pretty tiny so I think the fish only growing to the size of the tank is less of a myth than people realize.

PS: I am not suggesting this in any way!

All__talk · 06/22/2017, 03:09 PM

I have a Royal Gramma and a Coral beauty in a 46 Bowfront, these are my two oldest fish, the gramma is about 9 years and angel is about 5. At the introduction of the angel the two showed some posturing/threatening toward each other. But for the last few years they have become like frienemies, they occasionally show subtle posturing, but spend a lot on time casually swimming around together. Of the two I would say the angel is the dominant fish despite the gramma being slightly larger.

They have both shown aggression to new additions, sometimes in what seems like a tag team event. But after a day or two things settle down with no ongoing issues. Like they say, fish can be individuals and their behaviors may not be universal. In the un-natural closed aquarium system fish that would natural put distance between themselves cannot, you may have to intervene. Sometimes rearranging the auqascape and disturbing current territories will put them on more even footing.

Sidenote: this thread just made me aware that my tank is not large enough for a dwarf angel. But as my fish seem quite fat and happy I don’t plan on removing it at this point. Apologies in advance to the dwarf angel police.

Gary

C5Chad · 06/22/2017, 06:50 PM

My Royal Gramma has always been a little a-hole. I first had a 29 gallon tank with a clownfish, pajama cardinalfish, my gramma and a firefish in it. I believe the firefish and gramma were both competing for the same little cave in the live rock and my firefish was the victim of that battle, his fins had been bitten off. Unless a crab got ahold of him, I'll never know. But my gramma like others have said always showed a little aggression, chasing after a fish that gets too close, opening his mouth showing his teeth.
I later upgraded to a 75g tank and still had my remaining three fish but added a pink spotted goby. And sure enough, the goby and gramma would butt heads for about a week, opening their mouths, showing their teeth at each other. They now get along just fine and have had no issues.
But now I have added a torch coral in my tank and now my gramma keeps hovering near it, nipping at it, keeping it from opening up fully like it was in the store where I bought it.

My royal gramma has definitely been a little pain in the butt a-hole. But at the same time he's a very attractive fish to look at and very active in the tank which makes him nice for viewing so I've put up with him. Just always nervous with new additions.

06/18/2017, 05:01 PM	#1
nemosluckyfin Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Posts: 81	My Royal Gramma Hi everyone, I recently got a royal gramma for my tank and everything seemed to be going well. I have had him for about 2 weeks now and for the first few days he hid like normal. However it seems the last few days he is starting to pick on some of my other fish. My flasher wrasse is the main target. My gramma constantly is going up to the wrasse and opening it mouth really wide, my wrasse responds by going vertical and flashing. The other fish hang by to see what is going on. It seems that the gramma really had an effect on my Coral Beauty. Since the gramma started doing this my coral beauty just started to hide all the time and just today she unfortunately passed away. She had looked pale in the face the past few days with really black eyes. I feel bad that my wrasse is hiding now and everytime he swims out, the gramma is right in his face. What is going on? Is the gramma trying to show dominance?

06/22/2017, 12:39 PM	#6
ReeferNoob4ever Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: NM Posts: 523	Although I agree with the above statements, I have a malawi african cichlid (for over a year now) in a 3 gallon tank. He's a rowdy bastard and healthy to boot. He stays pretty tiny so I think the fish only growing to the size of the tank is less of a myth than people realize. PS: I am not suggesting this in any way! __________________ Get a life! Current Tank Info: 20gL mixed reef, 10g mixed reef w/nem & clown, 5g NPS & harlequin

06/22/2017, 03:09 PM	#7
All__talk Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Thorp, WA Posts: 124	I have a Royal Gramma and a Coral beauty in a 46 Bowfront, these are my two oldest fish, the gramma is about 9 years and angel is about 5. At the introduction of the angel the two showed some posturing/threatening toward each other. But for the last few years they have become like frienemies, they occasionally show subtle posturing, but spend a lot on time casually swimming around together. Of the two I would say the angel is the dominant fish despite the gramma being slightly larger. They have both shown aggression to new additions, sometimes in what seems like a tag team event. But after a day or two things settle down with no ongoing issues. Like they say, fish can be individuals and their behaviors may not be universal. In the un-natural closed aquarium system fish that would natural put distance between themselves cannot, you may have to intervene. Sometimes rearranging the auqascape and disturbing current territories will put them on more even footing. Sidenote: this thread just made me aware that my tank is not large enough for a dwarf angel. But as my fish seem quite fat and happy I don’t plan on removing it at this point. Apologies in advance to the dwarf angel police. Gary __________________ One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Current Tank Info: 46G Bowfront

06/18/2017, 06:08 PM	#2
SuperSaltwater Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 154	Take it out and be done with it. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

06/18/2017, 07:52 PM	#3
Half Vaped Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Posts: 401	How big is your tank? Royal Grammas rarely turn super aggressive, especially when newly introduced. And they usually only take up a small amount of territory. But I can see it freaking out in too small of a tank, which sounds like might be the case, since it seems the other fish can't escape. It's also possible that you have a Brazilian Gramma, which tend to get slightly bigger and meaner than the Royal Gramma, but looks very similar. I agree that it's probably best to take it out.

06/21/2017, 08:56 PM	#4
nemosluckyfin Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Posts: 81	Thank you for the replies everyone. The tank is 37 gallons and they all seem to be fine now.

06/21/2017, 09:20 PM	#5
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	Royal Grammas will stake out a territory and can get aggressive defending it, although that territory is typically small compared to the space a clown fish will stake out. Your tank unfortunately is too small for any of the dwarf angels; I suspect the stress of being in too small a tank took a toll on the Angel, which really need at least a 70 gallon tank.

06/22/2017, 06:50 PM	#8
C5Chad Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Cincinnati,OH Posts: 109	My Royal Gramma has always been a little a-hole. I first had a 29 gallon tank with a clownfish, pajama cardinalfish, my gramma and a firefish in it. I believe the firefish and gramma were both competing for the same little cave in the live rock and my firefish was the victim of that battle, his fins had been bitten off. Unless a crab got ahold of him, I'll never know. But my gramma like others have said always showed a little aggression, chasing after a fish that gets too close, opening his mouth showing his teeth. I later upgraded to a 75g tank and still had my remaining three fish but added a pink spotted goby. And sure enough, the goby and gramma would butt heads for about a week, opening their mouths, showing their teeth at each other. They now get along just fine and have had no issues. But now I have added a torch coral in my tank and now my gramma keeps hovering near it, nipping at it, keeping it from opening up fully like it was in the store where I bought it. My royal gramma has definitely been a little pain in the butt a-hole. But at the same time he's a very attractive fish to look at and very active in the tank which makes him nice for viewing so I've put up with him. Just always nervous with new additions.