Saltwater Fish
Royal Gramma.
A pocket showpiece — vivid purple fading to gold across the body. Hardy, reef-safe, and beginner-friendly, though it'll defend a favorite cave. A splash of color for any 30-gallon-plus reef with rockwork to claim.
We keep this species at our Erie store. Come and see it in the tanks, or call (814) 456-9445 and ask what we have in right now.
Sea Cave keeps this species. You will find these in the tanks at 660 East 14th Street in Erie. We never ship live animals.
- Condition
- new
- Fulfillment
- Local pickup — Erie, PA
We never ship fish, coral, or invertebrates — every animal here is one you meet in person. Each one is acclimated and health-checked in-house before it goes out into the display tanks. This is a species we keep, and what is swimming on any given day changes with the deliveries, so please call (814) 456-9445 before you drive in.
Care at a glance
What to know before you take one home.
- Care level
- Beginner
- Temperament
- Semi aggressive
- Community
- Semi community
- Adult size
- 3"
- Min tank size
- 30 gallons
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Scientific name
- Gramma loreto
Good tank mates
The royal gramma is a small, hardy, mostly peaceful reef fish that suits community tanks with clownfish, firefish, gobies, tangs, and similar calm species. It is territorial around its chosen cave or overhang and will flare at intruders, so give it rockwork to claim and avoid housing it with the lookalike royal dottyback or a second gramma in a small tank, as well as large predators that could eat it.
Good to know
Royal grammas often swim oriented to the nearest surface, so they can be seen hanging upside down under ledges and in caves as if the rock were the floor.
What is in the tanks and each animal's temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for pairing advice.
Good tankmates
Plays well with.
Species we’d keep in the same tank, with why each pairing works. What is in the tanks and each animal’s temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for advice on pairing.
New to stocking a tank? Read our guide on which fish live together.
Ultra Black Ice
Both species are genuinely peaceful and occupy non-overlapping niches — the clownfish bonds to an anemone or a fixed corner while the gramma claims a rockwork cave, so there is no territorial contest. They share identical temperature (72–78°F), salinity, and tank-size minimums, and multiple keeper accounts confirm stable coexistence even in tanks as small as 30 gallons when introduced together or clownfish-first.
Green Chromis
Chromis viridis cruise the open water column well above the gramma's rockwork, producing zero territorial overlap. They are genuinely non-aggressive for a damselfish and are universally listed as reef-safe without any coral-nipping caveats. Keeping them in a small school of 6+ is recommended for their own wellbeing but does not introduce any new compatibility risk with the gramma.
- N
Neon Goby
At under 2 inches the Neon Goby presents zero predation risk from a 3-inch gramma, and its role as a cleaner fish grants it de facto behavioral immunity — even territorial hosts tolerate cleaners on their rockwork. It operates as a cleaning station on exposed reef surfaces rather than retreating into defended caves, so there is no shelter competition with the gramma.
Visit the store
660 East 14th Street,
Erie, PA.
Mon–Fri 12–6 · Sat 11–4 · Sun closed. Call ahead on livestock — what's on the floor rotates.