Wow! Beautiful! Just got my first fish yesterday and all day I've been playing hide and seek, silly goby
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For what it's worth, Royal Grammas are not open water fish so this is a totally typical behavior. In fact, when I was snorkeling in the Caribbean amongst many Grammas, it was hard to get a picture of any as they would be in their holes faster than my camera's shutter could snap. I suggest that you have plenty of hiding places for him. Once he knows that there is safety for him where ever he goes, he will come out of the hole a bit more often but don't expect him to be out and about swimming around all that much.
If you are looking for fish to be in view all the time, I suggest NOT getting Gobies, Blennies, Basslets and other hole dwelling fishes.
Hope this helps
He already came out this morning for a bit.
He seems to like the smell of mysis and darker lighting.
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I'm not saying you are not going to see him ever, just that by nature, these are shy fish and seek shelter at the speed of light when alarmed. This is normal behavior. They come out to feed but will usually stay close to their protection. In the ocean, I also noticed that they were upside down in their holes more so than right side up. This is also a normal behavior of the ones from the lower Caribbean/ Brasil areas as well.
But compared to say, a clownfish or butterflyfish, surgeonfish or batfish for example, you will not see grammas as much in a tank as you will with those other species. Based on your thread title, you seemed surprised that the fish was hiding. That was all I was trying to explain.
What I did for mine was to put a large size piece of barnacle facing the front of the tank. Mine would all hang out in there or close to it so when he was inside a cup, I could still see him while he was feeling secure.
Hope this helps
I think I'm fine with him the way he is right now. Even though it has only been 2 days..
It kinda makes you appreciate the sheer beauty of the fish since you hardly see it.
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