OK, so...72 gallon tank, 2 firefish and a sleeper goby. Everyone is happy, healthy, doing good things and living fishily, just as they should be. Haven't added fish in about 2 weeks, and all the levels are good, yadda yadda yadda.
So, I stopped by petco today to pick up some food for my son's rabbit, and happened to have a conversation with the new manager - they had some new, unusual (for petco) salt water stuff in the back and I was curious about the change (a haitian anemone and some clarkii clowns, both unusual for that location). Didn't have any interest in the livestock per se, but chatted with the guy who is a self proclaimed saltwater reef enthusiast.
So we get to talking about my tank, whats in there, whats not in there, what I want to add and so forth. And the conversation, at some point, goes like this:
Me: I have 2 firefish and am thinking about a royal gramma
Him: Don't do that, they're super aggressive and will go after the firefish
Me: Really? I picked gramma over dottyback because I was under the impression they were peaceful
Him: No way man, grammas are at least as aggressive as dottybacks
Me: Well...ok...anyway I'm waiting on adding more fish until I get the hang of feeding my open brain
Him: Why would you feed an open brain? You dont need to do that
Now I always tend to prefer experience over a website with a paragraph from someone I have no knowledge of...however this guy's advice appears to go against everything I've read, seen etc. Reefkeepers had a huge thread about open brains and how they'll LIVe without being fed, but to thrive need regular (2x a week at least) feedings - especially the red, deeper water ones (like the one I have...liveaquaria confirms). Liveaquaria also reports that the royal gramma is a peaceful fish except against its own kind.
So my question is this....is petco man full of doodoo? Is he trying to turn his store's reputation around with bad advice, or am I reading too much online?
What do y'all think about a royal gramma with a couple of firefish?
So, I stopped by petco today to pick up some food for my son's rabbit, and happened to have a conversation with the new manager - they had some new, unusual (for petco) salt water stuff in the back and I was curious about the change (a haitian anemone and some clarkii clowns, both unusual for that location). Didn't have any interest in the livestock per se, but chatted with the guy who is a self proclaimed saltwater reef enthusiast.
So we get to talking about my tank, whats in there, whats not in there, what I want to add and so forth. And the conversation, at some point, goes like this:
Me: I have 2 firefish and am thinking about a royal gramma
Him: Don't do that, they're super aggressive and will go after the firefish
Me: Really? I picked gramma over dottyback because I was under the impression they were peaceful
Him: No way man, grammas are at least as aggressive as dottybacks
Me: Well...ok...anyway I'm waiting on adding more fish until I get the hang of feeding my open brain
Him: Why would you feed an open brain? You dont need to do that
Now I always tend to prefer experience over a website with a paragraph from someone I have no knowledge of...however this guy's advice appears to go against everything I've read, seen etc. Reefkeepers had a huge thread about open brains and how they'll LIVe without being fed, but to thrive need regular (2x a week at least) feedings - especially the red, deeper water ones (like the one I have...liveaquaria confirms). Liveaquaria also reports that the royal gramma is a peaceful fish except against its own kind.
So my question is this....is petco man full of doodoo? Is he trying to turn his store's reputation around with bad advice, or am I reading too much online?
What do y'all think about a royal gramma with a couple of firefish?