Royal Gramma

Marine pellets, frozen mysis, brine shrimp

Caribbean basslet with a vivid magenta front and yellow tail. Hides in caves and overhangs, provide rockwork. One per tank unless it's a 75gal+ with multiple distinct caves.

30gal minimum; 50gal+ for a pair. Reef or FOWLR both work, they're reef-safe and won't bother corals, clams, or inverts. Heavy rockwork with multiple distinct cave openings is essential, grammas claim a cave as territory and need a refuge they can swim into upside-down (their natural orientation against a cave ceiling). Stable parameters: 78°F, 8.1–8.4 pH, salinity 1.024–1.026. Moderate flow, they hang in calm pockets near rockwork.

Cave-dwelling, territorial within a small home range. Famously hangs upside-down against the ceiling of overhangs and caves, this is normal behaviour, not distress. Peaceful with everything that doesn't invade its specific cave. Eats prepared foods readily, one of the easiest beginner marine fish to feed. Recognizes feeding rhythm and emerges at meal times.

Captive-bred specimens are increasingly available and the better choice, wild-caught grammas are often collected with cyanide which causes long-term liver damage. Pair bonds are loose; spawning rare in home aquaria. When they do spawn, eggs are laid in the male's cave and he tends them. Larvae are very small and require copepods + rotifers for the first 30+ days, not a beginner breeding project.

Generally very hardy. Common issues: marine ich (white spots, quarantine new arrivals 30 days), velvet (gold dust, copper treatment in a hospital tank, never in reef), bacterial infections from injuries. Sometimes refuses food for the first few days after introduction, this is normal, give it 4–5 days of patience with rockwork to hide in before assuming a problem.