Royal Gramma

Overview

The Royal Gramma is a striking Caribbean basslet with a bicolour body — bright purple at the front fading to vivid yellow toward the tail — making it one of the most instantly recognisable and popular reef fish available. It's a hardy, peaceful species that suits a wide range of tank sizes and experience levels.

It naturally lives inverted under ledges and in caves in the wild, and this behaviour carries over into aquarium life, with the fish often swimming upside down beneath rock overhangs.

Its vivid colour, calm temperament, and full reef safety make it an excellent choice for both beginner reef tanks and as a colourful addition to a peaceful community display.

Compatibility

Royal Grammas are peaceful and fully reef safe, ignoring corals and invertebrates entirely. They can be territorial toward other Royal Grammas or similarly shaped basslets in a smaller tank, so care is needed if keeping more than one.

They mix well with the vast majority of peaceful to semi-aggressive community fish and rarely cause problems in a mixed reef tank.

Health & quarantine

This is a hardy, adaptable species with few chronic health issues, generally tolerating a wide range of conditions and acclimating quickly. A standard quarantine period of two to four weeks is recommended good practice, though this species typically has few issues during acclimation.