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.