Royal Gamma bullying yellow Goby

Cas

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 18, 2019
Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hello, I am having an issue with my Royal Gramma bullying my yellow Goby. I’ve had Royal for just over a month and bought my Goby a week later.

Royal and the other fish in the tank, a pink streaked Wrasse who I’ve had for months, have both been showing hostility (raising fins and opening mouths), but it’s gotten worse recently.

Royal has started buffing Goby and has been opening its mouth far wider than used to. There have been no mouth attacks yet, but I am worried there will be.

I have heard of the partnership between a Pistol Shrimp and Goby, and believe that if they would be able to partner, Goby would be much safer and happier?

Would you suggest I purchase a Pistol Shrimp and what would you suggest I do to make the pair happy?

Any help would be appreciated,
Thank you
 

P-Dub

The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
View Badges
Joined
Sep 30, 2017
Messages
5,455
Reaction score
23,499
Location
West Pacific
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Well, it's a Royal Gramma and are known to be territorial. Sounds like it has a large territory or your tank is small. So, how big is your tank, for starters?
 

Cell

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 20, 2019
Messages
14,116
Reaction score
21,727
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would not recommend adding a pistol simply to make the goby feel better. Only add a pistol if you want a pistol and are prepared to accept the good and bad.
 

WMR

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 27, 2019
Messages
511
Reaction score
2,238
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
How big is your tank? Grammas are mostly bluff, they usually settle down after a couple of days, unless it’s another gramma or fish that’s similar in size, color & habit that occupies same niche as itself. Since they don’t for either, should be ok, but, if they do attack it, put aggressor in sumo, acclimation box(timeout) for a few days to give goby time to settle in, hope this helps
 

suta4242

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
70
Reaction score
39
Location
Sydney Australia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Royal has started buffing Goby and has been opening its mouth far wider than used to. There have been no mouth attacks yet, but I am worried there will be

The coral goby is probably still settling in, does it have a piece of acro to feel comfortable (even if it’s dead)? Once it settles in it will ignore the gramma who is usually all talk IME.


Would you suggest I purchase a Pistol Shrimp and what would you suggest I do to make the pair happy?

There are pairings between various watchman gobies and shrimp. In these relationships the shrimp is very fussy about the fish it pairs with.

Is this what you mean? They won’t pair with random gobies so it won’t make a difference here.
 
OP
OP
Cas

Cas

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 18, 2019
Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Well, it's a Royal Gramma and are known to be territorial. Sounds like it has a large territory or your tank is small. So, how big is your tank, for starters?

I have a 94L tank with lots of rock with places to hide. I used to have the same breed of Goby but had a tank crash a few months ago which killed it with only Wrasse and a few corals left. There were no issues before with Wrasse and my previous Goby.
 

P-Dub

The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
View Badges
Joined
Sep 30, 2017
Messages
5,455
Reaction score
23,499
Location
West Pacific
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Every fish has a unique personality. Let it ride and hope they fgure it out.
 
OP
OP
Cas

Cas

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 18, 2019
Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The coral goby is probably still settling in, does it have a piece of acro to feel comfortable (even if it’s dead)? Once it settles in it will ignore the gramma who is usually all talk IME.




There are pairings between various watchman gobies and shrimp. In these relationships the shrimp is very fussy about the fish it pairs with.

Is this what you mean? They won’t pair with random gobies so it won’t make a difference here.

The closest to an acro is my tree coral, but that’s the sexy shrimps’ coral. Would you suggest I buy another with a form similar to an acro? There are a large amount of rocks and holes for it to hide in. I am trying to stay away from hard corals at the moment as I had a rank crash a few months ago and the tank is just becoming stable again.

And yes, the pairing is what I mean. I have heard that some will completely ignore each other if they weren’t paired earlier, and some will pair almost immediately. Just depends on the personality of each animal from what I have seen
 
OP
OP
Cas

Cas

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 18, 2019
Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
How big is your tank? Grammas are mostly bluff, they usually settle down after a couple of days, unless it’s another gramma or fish that’s similar in size, color & habit that occupies same niche as itself. Since they don’t for either, should be ok, but, if they do attack it, put aggressor in sumo, acclimation box(timeout) for a few days to give goby time to settle in, hope this helps

My tank is 94L with lots of rock and places to hide. And my three fish are just about the same in size which I assume is one of the reasons why they are showing hostility
 

WMR

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 27, 2019
Messages
511
Reaction score
2,238
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My tank is 94L with lots of rock and places to hide. And my three fish are just about the same in size which I assume is one of the reasons why they are showing hostility
Question, is your goby a yellow watchman or clown(coral) goby? I could see them threatening the coral goby because it will inhabit the same areas as the gramma and the wrasse, I’m assuming you have a watchman goby because you mentioned pairing it with a pistol shrimp, initially, they’ll harass him because he’s new, but, he inhabits the bottom of the tank, which shouldn’t be an issue
 

WMR

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 27, 2019
Messages
511
Reaction score
2,238
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My tank is 94L with lots of rock and places to hide. And my three fish are just about the same in size which I assume is one of the reasons why they are showing hostility
Question, is your goby a yellow watchman or clown(coral) goby? I could see them threatening the coral goby because it will inhabit the same areas as the gramma and the wrasse, I’m assuming you have a watchman goby because you mentioned pairing it with a pistol shrimp, initially, they’ll harass him because he’s new, but, he inhabits the bottom of the tank, which shouldn’t be an issue
 

Pbh-reef

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 16, 2018
Messages
1,391
Reaction score
2,206
Location
Paris
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
One more question - are you sure it is a royal gramma and not a bicolor dottyback? I mean no offense by asking it’s just that the dottyback looks similar enough to sometimes be mistaken for the gramma and is much more aggressive so just wanted to
Rule out this possibility.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 68 52.3%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 67 51.5%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 33 25.4%
  • None.

    Votes: 29 22.3%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 6.9%
Back
Top