Royal Gramma Stressed out????

[Mwag]

Hello all, yesterday I naught a Royal Gramma from my LFS. I floated him for 15 mins and every 4 mins I put half a cup of water from my qt tank into the bag. By this time, the Royal Gramma was significantly stressed darting back and forth in the bag but he settled down. I added him to qt tank and he immediately went straight to the bottom of that tank and to the heater and rested on the bottom. Today I woke up and found him on the other side of the tank by the sponge filter breathing heavily. I tried feeding him pellets this morning but he didn’t eat at all. There is no ammonia or nitrite and pH is 8.0 and I know there is enough oxygen Bc if my sponge filter. I’m started to get really worried or is this type of behavior normal for Royal Gramma the first couple of days after being added to a new tank. I should also add that the Gramma has some torn fins from other aggressive tank members at lfs. I didn’t get to see him eat at lfs. I got distracted by all the other fish and I forgot to ask. Whoops. Is there anyway I can try and reduce stress on him?

 

[Kremis]

does he have plenty of hiding spaces? if not, they like to have them especially at the start. mine wasnt that confident for 2 weeks and would hide frequently

 

[Grey Ghost]

You can try adding a few pieces of pvc pipe as a makeshift cave. These fish spend lots of time near rock overhangs and caves in their natural environment.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Giving him places to hide, as the others have said, will help.

Also, it may take a little time before he accepts pellets, so be sure to have some frozen on hand to offer him.

 

[Mwag]

I had some pvc pipe in the tank from the beginning but he hasn’t gone inside it. I do have frozen mysis and brine shrimp on hand and was thinking of feeding brine with garlic extreme tomorrow

 

[reefndude]

Mine hid for a day or day when I put in qt. It did the same after adding to tank. They never took to pellets. Eat only frozen

 

[4FordFamily]

Giving him places to hide, as the others have said, will help.

Also, it may take a little time before he accepts pellets, so be sure to have some frozen on hand to offer him.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[CindyKz]

I like to use aquarium decorations, like fake plants and coral, as hiding places. It seems to ease stress better than plain pvc.

 

[jasonrusso]

How did this work out? I just got one and he is doing the same.