Help... royal gramma biting anthias....

[emcmilla]

I just purchased 4 new fish for my 150G. Currently they are all in a 55G QT. I have pvc pipes for hiding spots. The RG seems to have claimed a small space behind a pvc pipe at the back of the tank. My anthias was near the RG and the RG started charging at the anthias, biting him with his out wide open. Anyone experience this??? I thought RGs were peaceful. It is a true RG it has the black spot and the colours fad into on another....

Please help!!!

 

[CoralNerd]

Maybe try a mirror, the rg can take out his aggression on it.

 

[Coelli]

He's probably just posturing. My RG will do the same thing; it's being territorial and as long as the anthias backs off they'll figure it out without too much damage.

 

[emcmilla]

Hmm would it still be called posturing if he actually had the anthias' mouth in his?

 

[emcmilla]

Maybe try a mirror, the rg can take out his aggression on it.

Thanks for the idea. If he's still doing it tomorrow I'll try that. Right now house is dark so he should be sleeping....I hope

 

[Coelli]

Hmm would it still be called posturing if he actually had the anthias' mouth in his?

Haha! I didn't realize it had gone that far. Did he let go quickly? What did the anthias do? Did the gramma chase the anthias very far afterward?

I have a gramma and anthias in a 65g tank, but it's a 65 tall so the footprint is only the same as a 40 breeder, just taller and with a rock wall in the back. The fish do occasionally scuffle but it's brief and never serious.

 

[emcmilla]

Well he let go. The anthias just kind of sat there and after the gramma did it a couple times the anthias moved. I could understand opening his mouth as a defence mechanism but I didn't think he'd actually latch on to him. Didn't chase him far. Maybe an inch.

 

[RobTheReefer]

My Royal Gramma is very mean to newcomers. My hippo had teeth marks running down both of his sides. Now they are friends.

 

[ThRoewer]

Add another gramma - that will keep him busy.

 

[ThRoewer]

Well he let go. The anthias just kind of sat there and after the gramma did it a couple times the anthias moved. I could understand opening his mouth as a defence mechanism but I didn't think he'd actually latch on to him. Didn't chase him far. Maybe an inch.

That's the way grammas interact with each other - who has the bigger mouth wins. My grammas do that all the time but there is never any actual violence.
I think the issue is that the anthias doesn't know the secret handshake (they come from different oceans after all ).

 

[emcmilla]

Lol this is true. They seems to be not too bad today. Maybe he was grouchy from his long journey. I was surprised to see this behaviour since my old gramma was so shy it wasn't even funny

 

[mountainraised]

Have your Anthias had time to figure out their pecking order between themselves?

 

[Betta132]

Royal grammas are peaceful with anything that stays away from their territory. They're highly defensive of their spot, though. Thing is, they don't actually cause any damage, they just lunge and posture and shove. Give him space in the main tank and he'll be fine.

 

[bat21]

My gramma has gotten more and more paranoid over the past year. He used to venture out of his cave all the time. But now he seems to only come out to lunge at fish who come near it. He never does any damage, and the other fish barely even react to him, but it's a shame because he used to add so much color to the tank, and now he rarely comes out for more than a second or two.