Advice on royal grammas

[Sharkbait19]

Hi,
So three times I’ve tried royal grammas, and all three times have resulted in their unfortunate deaths. While I was certain my third time was the one, it mysteriously vanished while I was on vacation (so sadly I have no sure way of knowing what happened). While the first one was due to a velvet outbreak, the other two were acting perfectly normal and eating a lot before their disappearances. Is there something wrong I’m doing that keeps leading to the same results? They’re my favorite fish, and I would love to keep one in my aquarium, but am scratching my head as to why they keep lasting only a few months before suddenly going away.

 

[jabberwock]

They sure are pretty, but they know it. I have not had any luck with them in smaller systems. They get themselves worked up and become susceptible to disease IMHO.

 

[Reef.]

They sure are pretty, but they know it. I have not had any luck with them in smaller systems. They get themselves worked up and become susceptible to disease IMHO.

My experience too, was fine for 3-4 months then totally freaked out and died from stress.

Hard to say what is going on with yours as disappearing could mean a few things, such as something eating them.

 

[Sharkbait19]

One stressful factor that could have been a problem was an aggressive coral beauty which I’ve removed. Assuming aggression is the issue, do you think another would fair well with a clownfish in a 40B tank, since the angel’s gone?

 

[blaxsun]

I've had 3, and out of that total 2/3 didn't live for more than a few weeks to a month (only one survived for more than a year). This could be due to the other reef residents, but they also have a habit of spelunking misadventures.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Too add, the only two things I can think of as far as predators go are the rooster Pygmy waspfish (too small to get more than ghost shrimp though) and the pitho crab (doesn’t seem equipped for killing), I’d hope I would have discovered a mantis or something similar by this point. Neither of the two were a presence for the previous grammas.

However, my second royal gramma died similarly—was doing well, then disappeared while I was away (could have died to my clownfish, both were in a Fluval 13.5 at the time)

 

[Jmp998]

Mine sometimes disappears for weeks at a time, once I did not see it for over a month and was sure it was dead. Then it popped back up unexpectedly, looks fat and happy. Maybe you will get lucky and see yours again too.

 

[jabberwock]

Clownfish = aggression

Just say no to clownfish.

 

[madlos123]

I have been keeping royal gramma for 5 years now. They need their hole caves to be happy. I have a use a sponge filter without the center plastic or weight, and they have laid eggs a few times inside them. Now at my bigger tank, i have used barnacles for their home.

They also need peaceful tank mates. Also tank mates that are not cave dwelling that compete the home space.

Heres my receipt

 

[FoolishWizard]

Does captive bred or wild caught make any difference? Im trying one for the first time that I got from @Biota_Marine so wish me luck. Arrives this friday.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I've had one in my 15 gallon softie tank for 2 years, but I just see rare glimpses of him, he's always behind the rocks.

Sorry, I have no secrets to share, I don't even test that tank. It has no filtration except a small hob to run carbon and weekly 5 gallon water changes. His mates are all tiny fishes; clown gobies, masked gobies, neon gobies, redhead gobies

 

[Biota_Marine]

Does captive bred or wild caught make any difference? Im trying one for the first time that I got from @Biota_Marine so wish me luck. Arrives this friday.

Thanks for your support!

We've found the grammas to be pretty dramatic if there's fluctuations within the tank. They also get very stressed out during transit because they're primarily a cave dwelling species so we actually ship them with a small mesh cave to help alleviate that. If you're getting one from an LFS ask if they can put a small 3/4 piece of PVC in the bag or something similar or if it's from us be sure to throw that mesh cave in the tank with them so they don't panic in the new environment.