Royal Gramma biting green chromis - w/pictures

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

From the minute I introduced the green chromis my only ten days in the tank Royal Gramma started openening his mout hand charging. I saw no actual biting. I come home from the LFS today and find this brand new damage in the few hours I was gone.
I have no crabs.
-2 ocellaris
-1 midas blenny
-1 flame angel
-1 green chromis
-1 royal gramma

40g breeder, everyone else gets along well and they are fed 3x a day with a varied diet. The royal gramma doesn't pick on anyone else.

This is not normal behavior for a Royal Gramma is it??

I am undecided on which fish to remove as I don't want a death. I actually captured the royal gramma just now and have him in a bucket....

....what should I do?

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

I rearranged a tiny bit of rockwork and put him back in the DT. I had no other options right now as I don't have a QT setup currently and no extra heater either for the bucket.

I would still appreciate any reccomendations as I have a feeling this event will not stop him from attacking the gree chromis.

Everything I have ever read regarding Royal Grammas is that they are peaceful and even when they skirmish they are all bluff.

 

[detroit_fan]

I have read quite a few reports of aggressive royal grammas. Seems to be one of those hit or miss fish on whether you get a nice one or a jerk.

If you go to google and type in royal gramma aggressive you will get a lot of results, and a lot of experiences similar to yours.

 

[wmatt140]

Chromis

Chromis

I can't tell for sure but I'm not certain the Gramma did that. The first fish in my tank were three green chromis. They all developed what looked like an injury or bruising on their sides similar to yours and eventually died.

Did some research and found out a lot people had similar issues. I haven't tried a green chromis since. Unless you've seen the Gramma actually bite the chromis, I'd be skeptical that he is the culprit.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

I did not actually see the royal gramma bite the green chromis, but he is the only one showing any aggression towards him and I have no crabs and no big shrimp.
What else could tear open his body?
**Note that this took place in a ~3 hour window with all six T5 lamps on....there were no marks on him this morning when I fed before leaving for a few hours.

 

[username in use]

He could simply be showing aggression because the fish is in a weakened state from whatever is ailing it. I would remove the injured fish (the chromis) and enjoy the gramma.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

I think you may be right....there is just something about the sheen of a green chromis and then add to that its' high activity level, always swimming in the open, with relatively low bioload and it is a hard fish to replace.

If the chromis was ailing when I got him, now just three days ago, what sort of ailment/illness would cause that sort of tear in his side in such a short time frame?

 

[gr3]

I too have had similar experiences where my green chromis has developed the marks you see on it's side and it happened when they were in quarantine by themselves. Sometimes they recover, but not all of the time. I have had the best luck with green chromis that were adults and in good shape when I bought them from my LFS.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

What type of illness/ailment causes tearing like that in such a short time frame? (3 hours)

 

[shay]

I believe your green chromis may have a bacterial infection. The name of the infection`escapes me right now but if you research the symptoms you might be able to find out more about it.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

I will go check it out now....he must have had it prior to coming to me from LiveAquaria.
If you find it please send me a link on this thread.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Wow, I did a google search and I think I cam across two seperate bacterial infections!!
This seems like it could "possibly" be fish tuberculosis for the green chromis and possibly a case of Mycobacteriosis with my larger ocellaris...he had the chin abrasion.
I say had because he no longer has it. Now both the small(more so) and the large Ocellaris have the twitching behavior which I thought was a sign of submission but now may be a symptom of Mycobacteriosis. I hope he has rid himself permanently as the mark is gone and has been for about 10 days now.
What's up with the bacterial infections/diseases in my tank?? High flow, high skimmer, high light and pretty damn clean SPS tank.....

 

[gr3]

Not sure if it applies, but there was an interesting article in Aquarium Fish International Dec 2011 issue called "Mysterious Ich Deaths," page 48 by Charles Delbeek. It was about how a seemingly disease free tank actually harbors low levels of a disease and the resident fish are immune to it, but any new fish catches the disease and then soon dies. The resident fish are not affected. I know my tank is like that because I quarantine all of my fish for at least 30 days prior to putting them into my display tank. They will however end up with ich, some are able to fight it off and remain in the display. Others have to go back in quarantine. I medicate the fish with copper and they get well right away. I then use partial water changes from my display tank in my quarantine tank and the fish usually come down with Ich. It is usually low level and they are able to fight it off. If not, I treat and repeat until they no longer show symptoms. This can take up to three months, but I have been very successful in the past. I am not sure if this builds up an immunity or not but it seems to work for me. Just something to think about, even a crystal clear reef tank may carry pathogens. I always thought it was stress and the new fish causing the Ich but after reading the article, I am convinced that it is in my display tank.

 

[gr3]

Oh, I forgot to add that I was adding the partial water changes from my display tank to save money and time because I thought at the time that the water was pristine.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

The chromis has since fully recovered. There are zero squabbles in my tank.
The midas blenny does appear to be at the top of the pecking order as far as feeding time though. Every feeding, 2-3x daily, he eats ~25% of the food. He keeps eating even after the others actually swim away full.

 

[dixiedog]

I think you owe your gramma a very sincere apology.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

Haha