Creating an angry little world

[goldpuffer]

Damsels are the devil's fish. Look at the name. (Dam) is what you say when they harrass or kill their tank mates and (sel) is what you do when you take them to the lfs for a credit. I had three that killed my lemonpeel angel, a two of my clowns. I had to take out everything out of a 55g to catch the little fish. In my 20g long I have two percula clowns, a cromis damsel, baby yellow tang and an arrow crab.

 

[angelcam]

Guess what I was advised to cycle my tank with????? I have one yellow tail and one 3 stripe damsel in my tank to cycle. I got them at deathco. I tested their water and the nitrates were OFF THE CHART!:scared: So I should return them (for free of course) because they will harrass my future clowns huh?

 

[pontius]

yellow tail damsels have the reputation of probably being the least aggresive damsel. mine has even made "friends" with the yellow clown goby and they swim around together. my perc clowns are in QT but I'm going to add an anemone when I put them in the main tank, just to be safe. in your option D, you MAY find that the royal gramma is more aggresive than the yt damsel, considering the small tank and that grammas are also territorial.

 

[kaiser]

Update:
I have a yellow-tail damsel and a tomato clown.

 

[edwar050]

angel the advice I have been given is to ditch the damsels, I would try to keep the yellow tail and ditch the three stripe. A clown wont stand a chance.

 

[pontius]

if you have a yellow tail and a tomato clown, it's probably the tomato that would do any harrassing, not the damsel.

 

[guitar]

Well i have a 30 gallon and i have a 3 stripe and a clarkii clown in it..the damsel was my first fish and so a few weeks later when i added the clown i figured i would have to take the damsel back to the lfs but they spanked each other with thier tails twice and everysince have had no problems...they actually chase each other around the tank and are always side by side now... so i guess i got a good one

 

[soondubu]

when i started my tank, the lfs told me that damsels are great starters.
2 blue
2 yellow tails
2 brown striped
the blue one killed the other blue one.
i actually witnessed him taking bites at the tail and etc, and saw the victim hobbling around the top.
i could not catch either one of them.
in the morning, i saw this.

 

[soondubu]

so i returned the aggressive blue one, and got a four striped damsel - in white and black, for a free exchange.
the brown one then started to chase everyone around.
these fish are tough. i accidentally left one in a bucket for three days, another was left in the overflow after being siphoned through the tube for four days. they all survived.
the two brown ones both died on the same day when i added a powerhead one time. still don't know why, as all the tests were unchanged.
the white striped one then began chasing everyone around.
so all the damsels have returned to the lfs but no credit was given...

 

[kaiser]

Update:
I currently have a tomato clown and a royal gramma.
I've tried keeping yellow-tail damsels but the two I got didn't survive. I'd like to try a different species of damsel....
such as a blue devil or a four stripe....

 

[cowfishrule]

the damsel fish has been modified since the beginning of home marine aquatics. the fish was originally called seles, but due to their nature and the frustration of the hobbyist, the derivitive of damsel was born!
you dam-sel, leave him alone
you dam-sel, get in my net
you dam-sel, your going back to the pet store

 

[migston]

Yellowtails might be the least aggressive damsel but its still damn aggressive. I have one in my tank that I'm sure is responsible for four oscellaris clown deaths. I'm going insane trying to catch him!
I'm trying the bottle trap and just tonight tried the flashlight at night tactic. It would work if he slept out in the open since the light does freeze him but he sleeps in the rocks. Grrrrr......

 

[kaiser]

Update: I got a Talbot's Damsel

 

[kaiser]

I only have three right now:
Talbot's damsel
Tomato clown
Royal gramma
I'd like to get one more fish (a dwarf angel).

 

[aloredo]

imo i would stay away from the yellowtail damsels they are to aggressive i had 3 with my chromis and humbugs and they tormented them killing 2 and so never again. now for the chromis they are a very peaceful fish and they are good to make shy fish feel more relaxed.....imo:yes:

 

[sirgunther]

yes, all tanks are too small to hold captive fish.

 

[ashenwolf]

Damsels are pure evil. i LOATHE them. Every one that i have had has killed all the other damsels leaving one. Any other fish i add to the tank were stressed by them. And when i finally was sick of him, i had to take apart my whole tank just to rid of him!
Damsels, in my experience are a PAIN. But, that's just my opinion. I now have a nice tank building up again slowly, after my removal of the "devil fish", consisting of two percula clowns, a bar goby, a cleaner shrimp, 5 turbo snails, two sand sifting starfish and an emerald crab. The tank is wonderful now without the menace of the damsel.
From my experience, my fish were very skiddish and stayed near the rock often with the damsel in the tank. After removal of the damsel my fish are very social and active all around the tank.
I just had to learn the hard way :happyfish