Royal Gramma Behavior

[hotimportknight]

Lately my Royal Gramma has been acting really strange. I swear he died the other day, then made me say "What the F@*K" when i was feeding and he showed back up... He used to be the first to disappear after the lights go out, the last few days hes been around roaming around in the dark, that night i thought he died he was floating with my clowns, when i grabbed my light to investigate he didnt move, so i touched him and he sank, curled up next to a rock sideways against the glass and rock, stopped breathing as far as i could tell. It was 3 in the morning and I didnt want to deal with it then, so I left him for the star fish to play with kinda... He showed up a few hours later after the lights came on, I couldnt find him anywhere, then i was feeding and he shows up out of no where. Then for the last 2 days hes been out at night again, I avoid shining the light now, because when I do he "plays dead"?? If thats possible. He has been eating voraciously and acting like himself during the day, whats going on? Any one else ever see a gramma play dead? Or change its habits and swim around the tank randomly at night (like he is while im typing this...) Hes out more at night than during the day now. He doesnt appear to have ick, or velvet or any parasites I can see, the tang is clearing up, almost no visible signs any more...

 

[reeffreak]

Never heard of them doing that.When I had a RG,it was the most timid fish I ever had,even more so than firefish.If its eating,I wouldn't worry to much.I would make sure there is enough ambient light so it can see in the dark.

Did this happen after adding another fish?

 

[hotimportknight]

No new adds since the tang a while back, I wake up this morning to find the gramma laying on the substrate appearing to be dead again... Like 2nd or 3rd day now i get bummed cause hes dead, i even snapped a pic, does this look like an appropriate sleeping spot to you guys??

the lights are on now, hes moving around a little bit, but he doesnt seem to be doing so hot as of now... No visible sings of anything. Water tested A-OK... Even my hair algae is almost completely gone. Oh, as im typing this the gramma emerges and starts swimming around with the clowns... what a wierdo... Anyone know what is up with him?

 

[hotimportknight]

Since I took that picture hes out hogging up all the food... what is his deal? Hes dead at night and fine during the day....

 

[Bifferwine]

...Maybe he's sleeping.

 

[hotimportknight]

Like that? he used to sleep in a hole in the rockwork, i could see him snuggled in there, now he swims around all night and i find him laying in the corner every morning, it takes him a while to get up too once the lights come on. I guess he could be sleeping, just appeared to be weird to me.

 

[reeffreak]

Maybe it outgrew its hole and needs a bigger bed to sleep in.

 

[yote]

Thats probably just where he feels safe.As long as he's eatting,dont worry about it.

 

[hotimportknight]

Alright, hopefully he finds a new place and stops freaking me out when he shows up dead floating around the tank only to spring back to life when food is introduced. Maybe I should put another small rock over the top so he feels safer, and its darker there at night. The outgrowing his home theory could be true, because he has been roaming around at all hours of the night lately, maybe thats the best unspoken for place for him to sleep.

 

[Doc]

if you spend too much time looking at your tank, you will find a lot of things that just don't make sense. Don't try to reason with it - they are fish and don't try to piss you off. if they eat, you are fine. leave it alone. if it stops eating, it will die, then you buy something else. stop trying to understand it

-Doc

 

[reeffreak]

if you spend too much time looking at your tank, you will find a lot of things that just don't make sense. Don't try to reason with it - they are fish and don't try to piss you off. if they eat, you are fine. leave it alone. if it stops eating, it will die, then you buy something else. stop trying to understand it

-Doc

Remind me to never send my kids to you.
I laughed and laughed some more.

 

[Doc]

Yeah, so did I. I don't take quite the same approach to therapy, unless I lose patience with them, then I can get a bit snappy

-Doc

 

[AZT3K]

hey i just started a salt water aquarium in january and i have some questions my gramma did something strange today it was hidding in a hole upside down only showing its tail he did this all day. I would get the net and try to get it close to him but he only went into the hole and would come out into the same position ten minutes later im still worried, do any of you guys know if this is normal behavior for a royal gramma.

 

[reeffreak]

Perfectly normal for Grammas to hang upside down in a cove/cave or hole.

 

[Piggy]

I've noticed some strange stuff with mine. When I first got him he slept in this nice hole in one of my rock. Then one night my serpent star decided he wanted that spot. So my RG decide the sleep between two rocks upside down. The funny thing is he's too big for the spot but he makes himself fit. When he does this he looks dead. During the day he swims upside down. It's hilarious when he runs into something.

 

[Altohombre]

maybe he thinks he is an astronaut.

 

[Doc]

Please read previous sarcastic post from December 13th on this thread to answer your question.

-Doc

 

[RyanG]

Doc that is the best "this is how is" talk that Ive ever heard from a shrink. I cant stop laughing.

On that note have you see the show In Treatment on HBO what an arogant poor excuse for a therapist, one inappropriate action after another.

 

[Doc]

Doc that is the best "this is how is" talk that Ive ever heard from a shrink. I cant stop laughing.

On that note have you see the show In Treatment on HBO what an arogant poor excuse for a therapist, one inappropriate action after another.

Glad I could entertain you. As for HBO and things like that, I tend to avoid the dramatized hollywood depictions of therapy. They tend to irritate me. Real therapy is kind of boring to watch, unless you are in the psych-ward. Then it can be kinda funny. I have seen a few clips on HBO, but it drove me nuts.

-Doc

 

[RyanG]

Yeah Doc if it bothers me Im sure you would smash your TV or have the Psycho-therapist guild boycot or something.