Bullying - Please Help!

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ChrisKSB

ChrisKSB

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I have another thread where I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my YMG - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/yw-goby-acting-strange-video.713088/

I'm 99% sure it is from bullying by my royal gramma. This is very upsetting! Everytime YMG even tries to swim around or get some food, the gramma attacks him. I don't have any dividers or tanks or anything to separate them. What can I buy quickly and where?

I've read that getting a pistol shrimp will help, is this true? If so, what would you get? Online and quick is what I'm thinking...

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
ChrisKSB said:
I have another thread where I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my YMG - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/yw-goby-acting-strange-video.713088/

I'm 99% sure it is from bullying by my royal gramma. This is very upsetting! Everytime YMG even tries to swim around or get some food, the gramma attacks him. I don't have any dividers or tanks or anything to separate them. What can I buy quickly and where?

I've read that getting a pistol shrimp will help, is this true? If so, what would you get? Online and quick is what I'm thinking...

Thanks for any suggestions!
Click to expand...
Gammas are jerks, the pistol shrimp might help but not much. I don’t see any options other than getting another small tank or mushroom box to put him in.
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
Deltec
ChrisKSB said:
@Robin Haselden - 32g biocube with 4 small fish and a CUC.
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Thats enough room. I have a IM 20g dropoff with a royal gramma, flame tail blenny, hi fin goby and a small ocellaris pair. Everyone gets along for the most part and everyone gets to eat at feeding time.

Try adding some caves or hiding places... generally the more hiding places fish have, the safer they feel. Royal grammas pick a hole and defend it vigorously tho... if anything gets near it will chase it off.
 
Hey I'm in Santa Barbara too! I have a 90g and if I am having a jerk fish (my coral beauty at first) I put him either in the sump or in a critter keeper that I've drilled holes into. I also stick a piece of pvc or something for them to hide in. The kritter keeper is nice because it basically puts him on time out while the other fish recover and they get used to each other. I'm taking a look at your video and it seems like you might be fighting the uglies. What's your maintenance schedule? I know they probably didn't enjoy how hot it got recently.
 
Deltec
Although grammas can be hit and miss they can be made easier to deal with in a couple of ways. Though they aren't really aggressive they are territorial, specially to other fish with the same body shape as them. Caves, overhangs and rockwork that breaks line of sight help greatly with aggression for just about any fish. Also new additions benefit greatly from an acclimation box. Once in the tank feeding plenty and often will help curb aggression but even so it will take weeks for everyone to settle in.

I recently added a chalk bass to my 29 that has a royal gramma, now 4 weeks later they are both playing nice following everything I did above. Wasn't always like that the first 2 weeks the gramma defended his territory until the bass was able to astablish some of his own. During those 2 weeks I fed heavy so the gramma wouldn't feel like his territory and food source was in danger with the new addition, seamed to had worked out pretty good.

So it's up to you if you want to get rid of it or try something else. I'll also add that aggression and territorial chasing are 2 different things, territorial actions rarely lead to a bite and are mostly just charging with no further action and are called off as soon as the other fish retreats. Aggression is chase and bite, sometimes going as far as following that fish around for minutes on end just to bite it. Identifying which one is going on is important to figuring out if it can be fixed or not. In my experience full on aggression bordering on hatred on sight cannot be curbed.
 
@Tbell805 - Yes, SERIOUS UGLIES! My sandbed is looking more like a lawn right now! :(
I don't have a critter keeper, I'll see if I can figure something out.
The heat was bad, I was floating ice packs because the temp was like 95.
I do a 5 gallon water change every week, skipped last week because I didn't want to put any extra stress on the little guy...

@Copingwithpods - The YMG had his little cave on one side of the tank and the gramma had a cave on the other side. The Gramma all of the sudden decided to take over the YMG's cave area it seems. I think this is agression as well as territory, the Gramma will go seek out and sneak up on the hiding YMG!

I'm going to move some rocks around and create some good hiding places and see what happens.

Thanks for the replies!
 
What's your filtration like @ChrisKSB? If it gets to the point that you have to get rid of the gramma I can take him for you, but I'd rather you try some of those tricks first to see if you can make it work. Rearranging the rockwork can work but if you kick up to much junk you can cause even more algae.
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
Filtration is a piece of filter floss then a bag of purigen and then a bag of chemi pure elite.
I think I'll make a couple very small rock changes...am doing a ~20% water change right now.

Thanks for the offer, I'll report back and will let you know if it comes to needing to rehome.

Thanks!
 
Right after the water change the gramma viciously attacked the YMG! He was biting him and tossing him... I created a make shift critter keeper out of an api test kit tote...held to the side of thank with cleaner magnet.
I can't catch the gramma and the YMG is barely alive, laying upside down right now. I put him in the critter jail, just to see if he can get well... :(

So much for the aquarium helping with my anxiety! :confused:
 
ChrisKSB said:
Right after the water change the gramma viciously attacked the YMG! He was biting him and tossing him... I created a make shift critter keeper out of an api test kit tote...held to the side of thank with cleaner magnet.
I can't catch the gramma and the YMG is barely alive, laying upside down right now. I put him in the critter jail, just to see if he can get well... :(

So much for the aquarium helping with my anxiety! :confused:
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I’m not trying to be cruel, but if it keeps killing your stuff and if you can’t rid of it via LFS or another reefer. You may need to consider the toilet if this keeps going on.

Edit: Apparently, this horrible advice, do what they say. Plus don’t say completely “awful advice” I’m not saying go flush your fish down the toilet, it was just an outlandish idea that flashed in my mind.
 
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Chewy.com
Pablopufferfish said:
I’m not trying to be cruel, but if it keeps killing your stuff and if you can’t rid of it via LFS or another reefer. You may need to consider the toilet if this keeps going on.
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I wouldn't even consider that an option, many here would be more than happy to take it I'm sure.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Copingwithpods said:
I wouldn't even consider that an option, many here would be more than happy to take it I'm sure.
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The problem is finding those people and keeping the gramma away from other fish during this time in which finding a buyer. Dire situations need dire solutions.

Edit: please see my other edit.
 
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Tidal Gardens

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
See comments…

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