Royal Gramma requirements??

[daninbc]

I have a 20 gal reef, which is still fishless because I can't decide what to
put into it. I want to keep a light bio load, so I think I'm going to stick
with one small fish. Are there any special requirements for keeping a Royal
Gramma? I've kept two different ones in the past, which both were fine for
4-6 months, and then suddenly died. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but
could someone give me some tips for keeping one alive? Specific diet?
Temperature? Water flow?

Thanks in advance

Dan

[Manuel Ful]

I understand they wear lots of hats, expect very proper behavior, and like
their tea with milk and honey.

I didn't know you were related to Andrew.

Alex (in jest)

[DefLizard]

Hi Dan: IME the reason they are short-lived is lack of proper diet.
They live in overhangs and feed on live foods, such as plankton floating
by in the water column. Since they come from the Atlantic Ocean,
they're not as tropical as Indo-Pacific fish, and require cooler water,
in the low 70's. They do take to aquarium fare very readily, but, as you
have experienced (myself included and probably have tried at least 20
individuals, with 2 years my best record), unless you have a tank with a
large copepod population, which would be ideal, you 'pays your money and
takes your chances'. If your just lookng for one small and colorful
fish, consider the pseudochromis or dottybacks, tough, hardy,
omnivorous, but quite nasty to other fish.
HTH John

Royal Gramma requirements??

Group: rec.aquaria.marine.reefs Date: Fri, Aug 17, 2001, 2:36pm (PDT+7)
From: dan...@home.com (daninbc)

http://community.webtv.net/deflizard/doc
regards, John

[Diana Bonham]

Mine eats like a pig! I feed tiny, chopped pieces of cooked shrimp,
"fake" crab, which is some sort of white fish, and spirulina-enriched
frozen brine. All is soaked in Selcon for more nutrition. So far he
seems in great health, but I've only had him 3 months or so. He has
never shown any interest in Nori, as even my clownfish do, so I suppose
he's a strict carnivore.
Diana
(Illinois)

[Ric Seyler]

Being a small reefkeeper (tank size, not stature),
I think a Redheaded Goby is a great little fish.
They're very small and very personable, fun to watch.
Mine eats just about anything and seems happy.

They're bio-load would have to be minuscule, I'd think.
Cool looking fish, looks like a candy "gummy fish".

http://www.pcola.gulf.net/~ricseyler/tank/Nano.htm

daninbc wrote:

--
Ric Seyler
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rics...@pcola.gulf.net
http://www.pcola.gulf.net/~ricseyler
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[Jack Greenhouse]

I've had mine for well over 6 years now. It eats anything I feed it. I find
him to be the *easiest* fish to keep in my tank. He gets along with
everyone, dosn't bother anyone, and is generally freindly(chubby too).
Jack

Diana Bonham <di...@fnal.gov> wrote in message
news:3B7D699B...@fnal.gov...

[Bill Silbernagel]

I have my Royal Gramma in a 40 gallon reef. He prefers to stay below
underhangs and in caves, looking out constatly for food that flows by,
then darting out for a quick bite. He finds small holes in the rock
caves so he knows every back door escape route. Why? Cause he doesn't
like to share a hole with my Yellow tang. So when the tang enters, he
escapes to another lair. If threatened, he has a cute way of opening his
mouth real wide to look like an angry predator, but its hard to take
seriously his toothless silent roar! Mine won't eat flakes, frozen
formula foods or nori. He eats copepods (just the stupid ones that
venture out too far, thus improving the gene pool). He also eats shrimp
pellets and my homemade frozen food (made from ground up shrimp, nori,
squid, clams, white fish, scallops). He will only eat from mid column,
nothing that floats or touches bottom. His knows instantly the
difference between my homemade frozen formula and the icky commercial
variety (won't even react to that if it hits him in the nose). If the
main tank light is off, and only actinic light is on, he will come out
for his favorite food, but he can not find it. He appears to be
essentially blind under actinic lighting. The temperatur in my tank is
80F to 81F. Water flow in my tank is pretty high and shifting. The
Gramma is protected by the surround rock cavern, and enjoys his food
swirling around in the water column.