Coax a Royal Gramma out of Hiding?

[NanoReefer2025]

Hello fellow reef enthusiasts. I’ve got a fish question for y’all. How might I coax a new fish out of hiding? I recently got a royal gramma from my LFS and it hasn’t appeared since I released it into the tank. I haven’t been terribly concerned because I had read that this may happen. My family members, however, have been pretty skeptical that this is normal. To be fair, they don’t really know much about fish. However, it isn’t hard to somewhat understand their concern. I had gotten a watchman goby a few days before I got the royal gramma that had vanished and reappeared dead 24 hours after. I did a water change afterwards and made sure the parameters were stable. Should I also be concerned for my shy royal gramma? I figured that I would feed mysis shrimp this evening and if the gramma doesn’t show itself after five minutes, I would disassemble my rockwork and get a direct answer as to where it is. I am only afraid that this will stress it out even more, causing it to disappear for an even longer time or even die.
Tank specs: 25 gallon peninsula AIO, caribsea liferock, Fiji pink sand, 4 snails, 2 clownfish, 1 hermit crab, and some soft corals

[DaveDe]

I just bought a RG two days ago. Same thing. But I know through past experience they are like that. Just give them space and time. This last one wedged himself into two nooks that I thought for sure he was a goner. But it was just finding places where it felt safe. I think tearing down your rock will make him worse and his recovery time longer. I noticed in the LFS these RG's were front and center even with a lot of people around - I think they just need time to adjust to their new surroundings. 

[Murphs_Reef]

Yeah man leave it a while to come out on its own. My yellow clown goby took 3 weeks before I seen him for more than a split second. Now every time I walk up to the tank he is at the surface waiting for me 

[NanoReefer2025]

One more question and I will be satisfied (probably). How much time should I give my Gramma until I tear apart my rockwork as a last resort? It can’t stay hidden forever or it will die. At some point, it would probably do more good than bad to look for it, but I have no idea when that point will be. I guess what I’m asking is this: How long will a fish like a royal gramma live without human intervention? I don’t want to finally have it show itself and end up extremely malnourished and unhealthy. I hope that the gramma’s survival instincts will be strong enough to naturally coax it out, but what if it doesn’t?

[SaltyGallon]

Time, as long as it needs 👍🏼

[rough eye]

it's only been a couple days right? i'd give it a week or 2. i'd be afraid to move any rocks for fear of crushing the fish. and yeah, knowing he can hide and not be disturbed will make him feel more secure.

[Tamberav]

Don't pull the rock apart. That will only traumatize it more and it will hide even longer.

 

These fish can be very shy and will squeeze into the smallest holes you might not even know you have. 

 

Either it will come out eventually or it died and the CUC ate it. Either way, no reason to tear the tank apart. Fish can hide for weeks. 

[NanoReefer2025]

Good news everyone! I just fed my tank and started looking around with a red flashlight and figured out where my gramma is! It wedged itself between two pieces of live rock and found the perfect little hole to make home. The live rock right above him is slightly unstable, so I may consider putting some epoxy between them. I won’t do that until he has fully settled in, just to minimize the stress of moving the rock around. Until then, I suppose I will just take extra caution around that particular piece. I have decided that I won’t go moving my rock beyond that, since he is apparently safe and alive.

[SaltyGallon]

10 hours ago, NanoReefer2025 said:

Good news everyone! I just fed my tank and started looking around with a red flashlight and figured out where my gramma is! It wedged itself between two pieces of live rock and found the perfect little hole to make home. The live rock right above him is slightly unstable, so I may consider putting some epoxy between them. I won’t do that until he has fully settled in, just to minimize the stress of moving the rock around. Until then, I suppose I will just take extra caution around that particular piece. I have decided that I won’t go moving my rock beyond that, since he is apparently safe and alive.

That's good news!

 

A gramma was my first marine fish at it must have been at least a week and a half until he came out for food. But they are lovely character fish, and get bold over time, especially when kept with other fish 🙂