Adding a group of royal gramma

[HiImSean]

I'm thinking about adding a group of 4-5 royal gramma to my 90g. Do you think this many would work? I currently have a pair of clowns, melanurus wrasse, starry blenny, and a one spot foxface. I kind of have minimalist rock work but I have extra that I've been adding every few months.

 

[pinnatus]

I have tried groups of 6 twice now, only to end up with 2 after 6 or so months. I have a 240 gallon tank with tons of rocks and caves etc. The grammas all stay together no matter how much room they have but over time seem to dwindle down. Not sure if they are killing each other or not, all I know is they have dwindled down to two for me, two separate times.

 

[humaguy]

lol, I could not get 2 to get along in a 125, I should have tried 3...they can be brutal towards each other...

 

[albano]

I had 3 in my 450g...within a few months there was 2, then a few more months there was 1...

 

[Grkgod36]

I have a bunch and they are fine and all hang out together , the key is you have to get them all together at the same time , qt at the same time , and they should be about the same size too..
And make sure they are from the Caribbean cause I have read they have some from Brazil area that are very aggressive .

I have to say they are some of my favorite fish when I go close to my tank all of them come right up to the glass.

 

[lifeoffaith]

How long have yours been together Grkgod36?

 

[albano]

I have a bunch and they are fine and all hang out together , the key is you have to get them all together at the same time , qt at the same time , and they should be about the same size too...

Glad that it worked out for you, but usually not true... I've gotten them all at the same time, same size, from same diver, that were collected the same day, in the Florida Keys, went into QT without a problem...and they slowly disappeared, after 'hanging out' together in the DT, with no major problems/fighting...

 

[pinnatus]

Glad that it worked out for you, but usually not true... I've gotten them all at the same time, same size, from same diver, that were collected the same day, in the Florida Keys, went into QT without a problem...and they slowly disappeared, after 'hanging out' together in the DT, with no major problems/fighting...

Same here. Last time I tried, I ordered them and gave strict instructions to not let them be separated. Ever. And yet, still down to 2 at the moment.

They all hung out together in the tank, I figure if they didn't like each other they would spread out, which they had the room to do. But nevertheless, they slowly dwindle away.

 

[ThRoewer]

You guys must be doing something wrong.
Little over a year ago I got 3 small ones (that's important) from a local store, just hours after they came in. By now they are grown up and still doing fine together.
For the first 6 months I had them all together (with some other fish) in a 10 gallon QT. There was some showing off who had the bigger mouth and some chasing but never any fights or injury, not even a torn fin.
Later I moved them into a 40B where they are all still doing fine.
The male is by now fully grown (they can get big!) while the two females are significantly smaller. If there is some showing off now it's usually between the females. The male just does the mating dance with them.

I don't know if the key is to keep them in close quarters for the beginning, but I know for sure that it is important to get small juveniles so that they are all immature or at the most all female.

I have a bunch and they are fine and all hang out together , the key is you have to get them all together at the same time , qt at the same time , and they should be about the same size too..
And make sure they are from the Caribbean cause I have read they have some from Brazil area that are very aggressive .

I have to say they are some of my favorite fish when I go close to my tank all of them come right up to the glass.

I think the Brazilian may be a different species - at a minimum a different subspecies. So mixing them with Caribbean may turn out badly.

 

[Deinonych]

And make sure they are from the Caribbean cause I have read they have some from Brazil area that are very aggressive .

The Brazil variety are actually a different species (G. brasiliensis).

 

[ThRoewer]

Is Brazil actually still exporting fish? I heard they put what's left of their reefs under strict protection (not that it will help much).

 

[Grkgod36]

How long have yours been together Grkgod36?

about a year and half, they live in the rock under my green digi.

they have never showed any agression towards each other no chasing no nothing.

i dont know why you guys havent had any luck keeping them together. i know a few people who keep harems .

 

[Deinonych]

Is Brazil actually still exporting fish? I heard they put what's left of their reefs under strict protection (not that it will help much).

I don't believe they are, no. I agree it probably won't help much. Their reefs are in pretty bad shape.

 

[el aguila]

I tied a group of 6 juvis all from the same diver in a 190 with plenty of good hiding places to curb aggression. While I never saw real aggression, it didn't take long to end up with just 1.

I've heard of it working for some. I wonder if tank mates have anything to do with it?