Fish Profile- Royal Gramma Basslet

Dejavu

ReefKeeping Mag staff
Team RC
This month we are featuring the Royal Gramma Basslet (Gramma loreto). More information about this beautiful species can be found here...
 
It is a fantastic fish, and a nice article. Like the author of the article, this was also one of the first fish I kept in a salt water tank back in the 80s... Here a photo of one in Belize:

G_loreto.jpg
 
does anyone have a photo of the northern variation?

the one with 3/4 yellow colouration and only a little more than the head is purple? i have yet to see it for sale
 
i managed to find a few photos of them online.

but i really wanna see photos of them in aquariums. anyone found and bought them before?





 
My favorite reef safe fish. I've heard it said that they are aggressive, or they hide all the time. I've never had these problems with mine.
 
Love the write up BTW! I didn't know they can be kept in harems!

Only if there's enough room.
Back in the day, Sea World had a touch tank full of royal grammas. They were monsters too. 4+" and fat. I haven't seen any that big since, and that was 15 to 20 years ago. I'm starting to think they may have been the Brazilian gramma's????????
 
While diving in turks and caicos last october i saw hundreds on the reefs. It renewed my love for them. I have a good size one in my 300 now.
 
How many does a harem mean, exactly?
3 or more... (but NOT exactly!)
I have 3 in my 450g DT for about 13 months...after the first 3 months, they became a pair, and 1 outcast 6' away, on the other side of the tank. I have been thinking to add 2 or 3 more.

in this video, the 'lone wolf' is at the 1 minute mark (rear/center)...the pair is just before and after the 2 min. mark
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JuvhYs8vH90?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="349" width="425"></object>
 
IME, yes I do think they are a "hardy" fish once extablished in the tank, but they are still succeptible to ich. I have never had a problem using copper (Cupramine) with a RG. I just did 4 weeks at .5ppm and there were no issues.

Great write up, by the way. I love Royal Grammas. Once upon a time they were REALLY expensive. Now, they can be had for $10-$15. Such a bargain for a strikingly beautiful fish!!
 
So if they are aggressive to other bright purple colored fish, would that mean that a velvet fairy wrasse would be out of the question as a tank mate in a 125?
 
So if they are aggressive to other bright purple colored fish, would that mean that a velvet fairy wrasse would be out of the question as a tank mate in a 125?
? who said that? IMO, they would be aggressive to other basslets, more so than wrasses.
I have never seen a problem between any of my Grammas and my velvet wr. !
 
I have a nice RG (about 3") in with many wrasse and the RG does just fine and minds his own business. They really like a hole in a rock to hide in.
 
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