2 Royal Grammas?

[AndySmithers]

Following what many people think is "iffy" advice I bought 2 Royal Grammas from The Marine Center for my 90 reef. (Other fishy inhabitants = 1 yellow tang, mated pair of perculas, 4 reef chromis, lawnmower blenny).
Some people said they would fight to the death, others that they would simply "stake out" opposite ends of the tank and fight to defend their territories. But, no-one suggested what actually has happened - the two are inseperable! They swim together, sleep together and feed together. Could I have got real lucky and got a male/female pair? I've read on-line that it's impossible to tell the sexes apart.

Just wondered if anyone else has seen this....

Andy.

 

[lziarek]

awesome! Its good to hear stories that are counter to all the fish incompatability advice constantly being thrown around =)

 

[lando]

Funny you bring this up. I have the same problem. I bought one and it went through QT. I put it in the tank and it just disappeared, gone for like 4 days. I looked everywhere, behind the tank, in the sump, under rocks, it was just gone. I really wanted one of these so off to the LFS I went. Got a new one, brought it home and put it in QT. Immediately after I finished the aclimation I looked in my display tank and saw the royal gramma swimming around. What are the odds? So I decided to try it with both. From the research I have done, it is not a good idea to put two males in the same tank. A male/female pair will work fine and they may even "hook up". I have no clue how to sex this fish but my first one is very bright in color and small. The Second one I got is quit a bit larger and not as vivid. I will let everyone know how it goes after the QT is complete.

 

[scuba_steve]

i bought 3 and found two hung out together and the 3rd one stayed on the other side of the tank but they never had issues with each other

 

[Biggen]

Thought you guys might enjoy this link which talks about the Grammas:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/hcs3/

I didn't know they were hermaphrodites. No wonder they are hard to tell apart.

 

[scuba_steve]

nice biggen thanks

 

[scuba_steve]

found one thing untrue on the list !! i had mine with a fiji devil and a yellow tail damsel with no issues but have alot of rock so mabe that helped !!

 

[Biggen]

My Gramma lives with a Yellow Tail too, and the Gramma absolutely hates the Damsel. He always chases him around when he sees him. The same thing goes for my Lyertail Anthias. The Gramma will chase him around as well, although to a lesser degree than what he does with the Damsel.

The size of the tank and the amount of rock has a huge impact on compatibility.

 

[lando]

Very interesting. Thanks for the link Biggen. I am excited to see how things will go. I figure about a week left in QT.