Royal Gramma, food/fdg.  10/5/10
Hi
<Hello Dean>
I have purchased a Royal Gramma 3 days ago. It is healthy and in good condition but it is not wanting to eat any food, I feed frozen brine shrimp and pellets. It looks like it's interested when I put food in the tank but it doesn't go at it. I thought it might be because of it's tankmates- 2 Ocellaris clownfish which are quite boisterous feeders but when a piece of food was right in front of it it didn't eat it. I know this is probably
normal and it's still settling in but I thought I'd check with you first.
Could you recommend to me any ways to entice the Royal Gramma.
<Has this fish been properly acclimated as in drip acclimation? If not, a sudden change in pH could cause this behavior and/or sub-par water quality.
I would suggest keeping the lights off for a few days, see if this doesn't help. Grammas prefer low illumination and plenty of rocky nooks and crannies. May want to read here and related articles/FAQ's found in the header.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/grammas.htm
Thank you,
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Dean

help, Gramma hlth., env.   1/12/10
Hunter sent crew@wetwebmedia.com a message on Facebook.
<Oh? Didn't know we were there>
I have a royal gramma that won't eat. I do know that there was an ammonia spike but we are taking care of it.
<This could be the root cause... Toxic>
It only sits in the live rock and watches the food float by and only if a small piece of Mysis shrimp floats by real close to its mouth, it might eat it. I have a 30 gallon tank with an orange false percula clownfish, a black false percula clownfish, a valentini puffer, and the royal gramma.
<Fix the ammonia anomaly and this fish will likely be fine. Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/ammmarcontr.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Royal Gramma Not Feeding - 12/12/05 Hello guys, I have had this Gramma for over a year now and just recently he has been venturing out of his cave and sitting on the sandbed in several places.  It was only at night ,but now during the day also. He doesn't come to the top anymore to feed like he used to.  His tankmates are a Coral Beauty and two cardinals in a 100 gallon tank with 75lbs live rock.  Should I be concerned? Thanks, Mike <<If this fish is not eating at all then yes, there is cause for concern.  I have seen this types of behavior before with other fishes where there are no "obvious" problems/injury...but they stop feeding/rest on the rocks/substrate...not much you can do in my experience.  EricR>> Glass and Grammas Dear Anthony, <Salutations to Greece!> just for your info, the EHFI SUBSTRAT is an EHEIM product, a specially-designed sintered glass with an enormous surface area of 450 m2 per liter and ideal for the colonization of nitrifying bacteria colonies. I already use it in my biological filter in one of its compartments. In the other compartment I use the so called "stars" , I do not remember the type and brand. <yes... thank you for the clarification, my friend. I am familiar with the sintered glass products after all. The have advantages and disadvantages over bio-balls. They seem to have more surface area, but subsequently require more oxygen for the biological colony. They also clog easier if the prefiltration is not adequate. Since you are experienced with this product already, you may use it instead of bio-balls if you like it well enough. I prefer the extra gas exchange of the open media like bio-balls and am willing to trade a little of the bio-load for it. But that is largely just a personal preference> For the history, I have taken out the Loreto and it quite o.k. The only problem is that there was a fight with the damsel and the Loreto put the entire head of the damsel's mouth into its mouth (!) causing a small wound to the damsel (hope to be better soon!). <initial disputes are sometimes inevitable...the damsel will likely be OK> The Gramma does not come to the surface to eat,  <correct.. a cave dweller and not likely to do so> so I try to let some food come close to the bottom, and then he gets it. The problem is that the other fishes do not the food come down! They are aggressive eaters! I hope to find the solution soon... <you may need to use a feeding tub> "Kalinichta", Thanassis <"Good night", my friend. Anthony>

Royal Gramma I have a small tank with a 4-5 inch Gramma, a Blue damsel, and a percula clown in it.  I know that the Gramma is a shy fish, but I worry that the food I put down by his hideout for him is not enough, or that he is not eating it.  Is there a better time of the day to feed him than the morning (such as night) or is he probably getting more food than I realize?? <he probably is getting more food than you realize. if he starts getting really thin is when I would take action. Good luck, IanB> I would appreciate any input you have.<I used to have one and I fed him once in the morning and then another time in the late afternoon>
Thank you,
Mariah H.