agressive damsel. help please!

rex taylor

rex taylor

Member
150 gal tank cycled with 4 blue and 2 yellowtail damsels as recommended by LFS. All survived and now they are picking on others a little, mainly my fire fish. I would like a docil tank of frendlies. They are 2 inches now. I am worried as they get bigger. What should I do?
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
IMO return the damsels to the LFS if you can catch them. They are agressive...the bigger they get...the meaner they get. Docile tank with big damsels...not likely if you keep them.
 
L

lathen

Guest
Hi,
I had the same issue, predominantly with my initial 4 yellowtails and then a Domino Damsel thereafter. Boy was there constant fighting and eventually illnesses for a few as a result. What bothered me most was the harassment of the other more expensive fish ( my percs and tangs ). I gave the survivors away ( except for the least agressive yellowtail - love those guys ) and purchased a few Green Chromis form ( cough-cough petsmart ). The green Chromus ( and Blue Chromus ) have these traits as Damsels -
Peaceful
Schooling
Predominantly top-tank swimmers.
All that I wanted cept there not as cool looking as the yellowtails Dominoes, and Blue Damsels ...
Good Luck!
-Lathen-
 
rex taylor

rex taylor

Member
Thanks, That is what I thought also. BTW this is a fantastic forum. Really appreciate you folks being here.
Any thoughts about removing fish?
I do have live rock and lots of hiding places.
TIA
 
L

lathen

Guest
Well, took me forever to get the Domino out. I had to temporary remove lots of Rock and then trap him with the help of a friend ( whom I gave him to ). That pesky little guy was quick, nimble, and very bright! Good luck!
-Lathen-
 
dsa_mom

dsa_mom

Member
Yes, a reputable store will accept a return for credit--unfortunately, its usually pennies on the dollar. A better choice, IMO, than the great porcelain fishbowl.
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
yes, i will second that yellowtail damsels are tricky buggars to catch. i spent an hour yesterday trying to catch mine so i could give him to a friend. he's so good at hiding i never even SAW him in that whole hour i was trying to catch him. good luck. when i try again, im going to take all the rock out of the tank and try to catch him then.
 
benj420

benj420

Member
If you don't want to rearrange your tank, you can try a trap. You can get them from this site for less than $30. Basically it's a clear plastic tube with food at one end and a trap door at the other. Fish swims in, you pull string, door closes, you have the fish. Works on most fish, some are too smart, others are too shy.
Also, IMO you don't want any damsels in your tank. They are champions at harassment.
 
jhead

jhead

Member
Put a big net in your tank and leave it for awhile so the fish get used to it. Then either chase the fish into it with another net or feed the tank and scoop them up when they are focused on the food.
JMHO, HTH
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top