Weird for a Royal Gramma?

[msuburg]

Hello,

I noticed when I first got my Royal Gramma, but didn't ever see it in action, that I was finding substrate on some of my live rock, and that the substrate was just being moved around in general. Then this stopped. Fast forward about 2 months to now, and in the past few days, I noticed that my gramma is taking gravel in his mouth, and spits it out at different spots on the tank. He seems to get most of it from one corner of the tank. Is this abnormal? He's been healthy for the 2 months I've had him, eats well, etc.

TIA,

Matt

 

[phases99]

A lot of fish exhibit this behavior, completely normal and nothing to worry about. Unless you have a DSB and they are digging deeper than an inch or so.

 

[OneBowl]

Yes, this is quite normal. Royal Grammas are superb little excavators, especially from the tank area they call home. They often took my crushed coral right down to the UGF back in those days. Note that if this is causing you concern, you can "entice" the little guy to move elsewhere in the tank.