I added a Royall Gamma (RG) to my tank recently - have a clown and a couple of damsels in there. The clown dominates and the RG is almost always hiding, she rarely comes out and what is worse is that at feeding time she gets none of the food because the others dominate, at this rate she will die. What can I do?
Clowns can be aggressive and damsels almost alway are whereas royal grammas are peaceful and somewhat shy. Are there plenty of hiding places in the tank? Have you tried using a baster and squirting some food into where the RG is hiding? You could try rearranging the aquascape to see it that helps. You could also remove the other fish to QT for a while and let the RG make the whole tank his. Then when you reintroduce the others they would be the new kids on the block.
You are correct, mani, you can not just put them in a regular fish bowl for a day. Try what Carmie suggested with the turkey baster.
I would suggest that you read my "Nine Simple Rules" to healthy fish here - Nine Simple Rules
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
My QT is a 10 gallon tank with a HOB powerfilter, NO strip light, and heater. I run the powerfilter with the biowheel for fish and without one for corals.
I am just a beginner and dont want to get carried away just yet. I did find a way to get the RG some food in isolation, she did eat some. I am guessing these fish dont need much.
While it's true they don't need much because of their small size, they need regular feedings of good quality food. I soak my thawed food, such as mysis and bs in both Selcon and VitaChem to enhance it's food value.
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
Any suggestions on how I curtail the agressive behaviour of the clown? Should I add another clown of similar size so it is not the biggest and therefore bullies others?
Just so you know I have a 11 gallon tank, small one that hangs on the wall like a TV. It is about 36 X 18 inches and six inches deep. This is from a company called Aqua Bella which specializes in such tanks, you can check them out on the web too.
I can therefore only have about 6-8 fish in there, none that grow more than 5 inches in total.
Thanks for your continued advice and hope you stay young forever.
ummm.... im sorry but your already over stalked Maybe more research should of been done.
Sorry for the rudeness but its only true >.>....
Maybe other people will chime in
Do not take my response personally! You come here to learn, we're here to teach. Hopefully, you ask questions BEFORE making decisions. This time you didn't, probably because you hadn't even heard of TR until recently.
I checked out Aqua Bella and, frankly, I didn't like what I saw or read.
Quote:
Originally Posted by from Aqua Bella web site
Aqua Bella Aquariums patent-pending Organic Enzyme Formula has revolutionized the aquarium industry by organically maintaining Oxygen levels, metabolizing ammonia and nitrates and keeping the aquarium clean, clear and ph balanced for over one year with the same fresh or salt water. Once introduced to the aquarium, this self-replicating organism lives on the waste product of fish, keeping the water free from odors, crystal clear with very little maintenance.
I find this to be very hard to believe. If there is such a product as Organic Enzyme Formula and it "has revolutionized the aquarium industry". Now, I'm a pretty hip guy when it comes to the aquarium Industry, having been in the business since 1966. Making a claim that hasn't been scrutinized by science or aquarium professionals is dubious at best.
Then, they show a picture of a SW Regal Angel fish, with the following caption under the picture, "Royal Empress Angelfish - In a freshwater wall hung aquarium." If they can't ID a SW fish correctly and claim it to be in a freshwater aquarium they lose credibility with me. Here's the link to that picture...Freshwater or saltwater Angel?
If that were not enough they totally misidentify a Copperband Butterfly calling it a "Clown Fish" you can see this gross error here - Clown Fish or Copperband Butterfly?
In my humble opinion this company seriously lacks credibility. Now to the situation with your 11 gallon wall aquarium. You have a Clown Fish, two Damsels and a Royal Gramma. Four fish in an 11 gallon aquarium is maxed out in my opinion. Jace's right. I don't know who told you that you could have 6 or 8 fish in there as long as they didn't grow to more than 5" in total but they are leading you down the road to a disaster.
Again, in my humble opinion, you need to stop putting fish in the aquarium and see how things go. If the clown continues to harass the others, see if the LFS will take him back.
This is my take on your situation, I hope it has helped.
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
Very cool looking tank! While there are lots of additives out there that claim to eliminate the need for water changes I agree with Dick that they are all bogus. I also agree that you are probably stocked out. With 11 gallons of water the parameters can swing wildly with disastrous results and increasing the bio-load increases the possibility of this happening.
Thanks Dick. The aquarium purchase was kind of spontaneous. I just completed my media room and had a nice area where I wanted to put an aquarium, I did a lot of homework and found out that it was expensive (about $3K for the size I wanted) and quite a bit of work. I put the thought in the back burner and one day when I visited Costco and found these aquabellas. I spoke to the owner and he sounded genuine so I bought it because it was less expensive (about $650) and also supposedly near maintenance free and looked really pretty. I figured Costco would also only carry something genuine.
Since It got the aquarium I had some issues with the lighting and temperature control, they were very responsive in helping me and sending replacement parts etc.
They claim thier secret formula (for low maintenance) is patented and being tested by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in CA - if approved they could sell it commercially. I dont know how much truth there is to it but I guess I will find out.
I will lay off on adding more fish and watch the clown carefully for now.
Hook up with DheereCrossing and the Dallas Fort Worth Marine Aquarium Society. I know several members and they are a very worthy organization.
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
to TR.
icon under their name to add to their reputation. 
