My Royal Gramma is kind of a jerk (new tank)

[jbaty]

I'm new here, and new to reef tanks.

I have a BioCube 32 and after cycling I added a Clownfish and Bi-color Blenny. A few weeks later I introduced a Royal Gramma. The Gramma immediately attacked the Blenny, but they mostly sorted things, with occasional scraps, after a day or two. Three days ago I added a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. And the RG has been terrorizing it since. Any time the shrimp shows himself, the RG starts nipping at its antennae. The poor shrimp never leaves his cave now.

I've always heard that Grammas are peaceful and spend a lot of their time hiding. Not mine. He is nearly always in "open water" in the center of the tank, and postures and opens his mouth at anything that leaves the rocks. (Except the Clown. He ignores the clown).

You can see the layout in the attached photo (I didn't realize the glass was so dirty!). The shrimp is in his cave to the left of the center purple rock, and the RG is busy owning pretty much the rest of the tank. Could this just be a "getting used to each other" phase? It's only been a couple days with the shrimp. I'm not sure if he's afraid to come out or if that's just what they do. Most things I've read suggest they are more mobile than this. If it's the former, I'd be tempted to be rid of the RG. Who knows how he'll react to the next fish (probably a firefish or goby).

Thanks for any advice. I'm having so much fun with this new hobby I can hardly stand it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm new here, and new to reef tanks.

I have a BioCube 32 and after cycling I added a Clownfish and Bi-color Blenny. A few weeks later I introduced a Royal Gramma. The Gramma immediately attacked the Blenny, but they mostly sorted things, with occasional scraps, after a day or two. Three days ago I added a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. And the RG has been terrorizing it since. Any time the shrimp shows himself, the RG starts nipping at its antennae. The poor shrimp never leaves his cave now.

I've always heard that Grammas are peaceful and spend a lot of their time hiding. Not mine. He is nearly always in "open water" in the center of the tank, and postures and opens his mouth at anything that leaves the rocks. (Except the Clown. He ignores the clown).

You can see the layout in the attached photo (I didn't realize the glass was so dirty!). The shrimp is in his cave to the left of the center purple rock, and the RG is busy owning pretty much the rest of the tank. Could this just be a "getting used to each other" phase? It's only been a couple days with the shrimp. I'm not sure if he's afraid to come out or if that's just what they do. Most things I've read suggest they are more mobile than this. If it's the former, I'd be tempted to be rid of the RG. Who knows how he'll react to the next fish (probably a firefish or goby).

Thanks for any advice. I'm having so much fun with this new hobby I can hardly stand it.

View attachment 2752859

While mine is a model citizen, there are many horror stories of them on this site
Changing their scape and hiding spot May change their attitude

 

[jbaty]

While mine is a model citizen, there are many horror stories of them on this site
Changing their scape and hiding spot May change their attitude

Thank you. I'd read some of the tales, but I hope mine doesn't end there. If things don't improve after some time, I may try moving things around a bit.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Thank you. I'd read some of the tales, but I hope mine doesn't end there. If things don't improve after some time, I may try moving things around a bit.

A part of the hobby is finding that right mix. Good luck.

 

[OfficeReefer]

I'm new here, and new to reef tanks.

I have a BioCube 32 and after cycling I added a Clownfish and Bi-color Blenny. A few weeks later I introduced a Royal Gramma. The Gramma immediately attacked the Blenny, but they mostly sorted things, with occasional scraps, after a day or two. Three days ago I added a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. And the RG has been terrorizing it since. Any time the shrimp shows himself, the RG starts nipping at its antennae. The poor shrimp never leaves his cave now.

I've always heard that Grammas are peaceful and spend a lot of their time hiding. Not mine. He is nearly always in "open water" in the center of the tank, and postures and opens his mouth at anything that leaves the rocks. (Except the Clown. He ignores the clown).

You can see the layout in the attached photo (I didn't realize the glass was so dirty!). The shrimp is in his cave to the left of the center purple rock, and the RG is busy owning pretty much the rest of the tank. Could this just be a "getting used to each other" phase? It's only been a couple days with the shrimp. I'm not sure if he's afraid to come out or if that's just what they do. Most things I've read suggest they are more mobile than this. If it's the former, I'd be tempted to be rid of the RG. Who knows how he'll react to the next fish (probably a firefish or goby).

Thanks for any advice. I'm having so much fun with this new hobby I can hardly stand it.

View attachment 2752859

@jbaty My understanding of basslets are they are generally semi-peaceful at best and is also why they are kept generally in isolation in pet stores. It's also possible it sees its reflection too as a Betta fish would. The biggest issue though, is your current tank lacks a lot of hiding places for the fish and the basslet is likely fighting your clown for the same or similar space. I recommend adding more cover and rocks with nooks, to about 50-65% of the tank height if you're not going with SPS corals.

 

[cdnco2004]

@jbaty My understanding of basslets are they are generally semi-peaceful at best and is also why they are kept generally in isolation in pet stores. It's also possible it sees its reflection too as a Betta fish would. The biggest issue though, is your current tank lacks a lot of hiding places for the fish and the basslet is likely fighting your clown for the same or similar space. I recommend adding more cover and rocks with nooks, to about 50-65% of the tank height if you're not going with SPS corals.

Basslets are better described as Semi Aggressive than Semi Peaceful. All the ones I ever saw were more aggressive than most fish in the tank who were not purely aggressive and close to the same size.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I agree with the others. Your rock space is too open so he is trying to claim a large territory. My Royal Gramma has a specific cave that he claims and guards it. He will only go after the other fish if they bother it or get ahead of him for food. When I built my scape, I used some oyster shells to create hiding places. I encourage you to rework things so he has his own home.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

Add more rock.

 

[kevgib67]

Definitely odd behavior. I have one in a 32 Biocube with a skunk cleaner shrimp and a blood red cleaner shrimp. My RG is a model citizen. I have way more rock work though.

 

[jbaty]

Thank you all for the additional advice. I may try adding more rock to see where that gets me. I've been a little nervous about introducing too much change, since my few corals seem to be settling in and I don't want to disrupt them. Perhaps that's not a big issue, since they're small yet and I've only had the tank for around 4 months.

 

[cdnco2004]

Thank you all for the additional advice. I may try adding more rock to see where that gets me. I've been a little nervous about introducing too much change, since my few corals seem to be settling in and I don't want to disrupt them. Perhaps that's not a big issue, since they're small yet and I've only had the tank for around 4 months.

The coral will not care about more rock work or not. But the fish will very much care for more. You need to try to make sure you account for all your fish when designing your aquascape. Royal Gamma's like to have a cave which is theirs and they will try hard to keep others out of it. Even getting a few small rocks at your LFS will let you make a small cave for him. The clown will not care as much. The skunk cleaner shrimp will want his own area as well. Not that he will try to keep others out of it, he will try to invite them to come in to get cleaned. But he will like to have a spot an underhang to call his own. If there is only one real arch or cave type setup there will not be enough for them all.