Nasty Strawberry Gramma

[Georgina]

Hi,

I have a marine set up housing a common clownfish, regal tang, cleaner wrasse, dragon wrasse, strawberry gramma and boxer shrimp. All is going well (touch wood!!) but yesterday I tried to introduce a firefish and the strawberry gramma does not like it at all. I know that the strawberry fish is territorial and every now and then it will have a go at the other fish but the other fish a renot too bothered and this has never been a problem.The firefish is hiding in the corner and every time it tries to come out the strawberry chases it around until it hides again. Is this likeley to pass? Are there any other fish I can introduce to calm the strawberry down? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[SkiFletch]

When a gramma or dottyback decides it doesnt like another fish its tough to chang its mind . The behavior is likely to continue until the firefish is either A removed or B dies so I'd try and get the firefish out if possible. Try to avoid adding fish of similar size and body shape as the gramma will probably react the same way to any fish that looks remotely like itself.

 

[Georgina]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your advice - the firefish will be going back to the shop today . I will avoid other fish that look like the strawberry - he really thinks he rules the tank!
I am also a little concerned about the cleaner wrasse. I have had him for about two weeks and when we saw him in the shop he was happily swimming around and cleaning the other fish. For the first week in our tank he lied on the bottom hardly moving (I heard that they can take a while to settle in) and now he just swims close to the top (but not putting his head out of the water) or round and round in circles in the middle of the tank He has not displyed any cleaning tendencies and to be honest looks a little like he is 'not all there' Couold it be that the other fish are not big enough for him to feel the need to clean them? Again, any help would be appreciated!

 

[SkiFletch]

Ooh a cleaner wrasse, yikes. The problem is more likely that your fish are too healthy and dont have any parasites for the cleaner wrasse to clean off of them. When you feed the tank, does the cleaner wrasse eat any of the meaty foods you give? Most cleaner wrasses do not take well to meaty foods, and if yours is like most, it may slowly starve to death . If he's not taking foods, I'd highly advise bringing him back and scolding your LFS for selling him without telling you of their eating habits. Cleaner wrasses really only belong in big tanks with lots of large parasite-prone fish like tangs, and even then they may not fare well.

 

[Georgina]

Thank you. He doesn't really show any interest in food at all but has been like this for two weeks. We have a regal tang and she does go over to him but he does not appear interested. Is there anything else we can try and feed it? We feed the other fish a variety of frozen stuff like octopus and misys. Would introducing some slightly larger fish help? I am thinking about getting a French Angel (have decided to return the strawberry gramma instead of the firefish as I do not want an aggresive tank and have to worry every time I want to introduce new fish) Shame because I love the colour and character of the strawberry but he's just a bit too nasty
Thanks!

 

[SkiFletch]

Wow, how big is the tank if you're considering a fullsize angel? You could try krill, brine, silversides, maybe he'd like those. But if he hasnt eaten in two weeks and you have just one larger parasite-prone fish in there, I'd worry about him longterm. Is his belly sunken?

 

[Georgina]

The tank is quite small at the moment but so is the angel and I will be upgrading it soon to accomodate the angel as he grows.
The wrasse does not have a sunken belly, I will try the foods you suggest and hope that he perks up.
Thanks for your help!