Docile Damsel?

[fretfreak13]

Yeah, I see meowzer jumping on this one and calling me crazy for even thinking about doing this. I snatched up a poor little damsel that was free on c-list. It was the owners first SW fish and they had no idea what a cycle was, so they wanted to read up on it. They had pink gravel and fake plants and all that jazz in the tank and have never even heard of LR. Turned out they lived like ten streets away, so I just rode my bike over there and picked up the little fella. I threw him in my five gallon and he's in there by himself, but since I was planning on getting a goby/pistol pair for that tank, I want him out of there eventually. Anyone think it'll absolutly TERRORIZE things in my tank? It's one of the blue ones with the yellow tail and I've heard that these stay the smallest and are the most docile of the damsels. Is this true?
In the other tank:
-29 gallon w/ 20 gallon sump/fuge/skimmer
-2 false percs
-1 royal gramma
-(future)1 mandarin
-(future)1 midas blenny
-CUC consists of: 1 urchin, 1 SLF crab, 10-15 hermits, a few hitch hiker snails, and some other snails I'll be adding later.
Could I add this little guy to this tank without much of a problem?

 

[meowzer]

LOL...WRONG!!!!!! I have a blue damsel...yes the one with the yellow tail....I LOVE IT...YUP LOVE IT
It is a great fish, and I have NEVER seen any aggression with it. This is also in my 225G, and it's probably the smallest fish in there too..(if that makes a difference lol)
IT'S THE BLACK 3 SPOT KILLERS I HATE...LOL

 

[fretfreak13]

xD Wow that reply took my off guard from you! I like the dominos when they're little, but when they're big they're ugly as sin. I need a name for this little guy. lol I feel so good saving him.

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Fretfreak13
http:///forum/post/3165751
xD Wow that reply took my off guard from you! I like the dominos when they're little, but when they're big they're ugly as sin. I need a name for this little guy. lol I feel so good saving him.
I guess you never read any of my "I love my little blue damsel threads"

 

[fretfreak13]

Nope, guess not. lol I'm going to leave him in the five gallon for another week as a little QT I guess, then in the bigger tank he goes. =P Plus, the nasty, faded, 12 watt bulb above the tank makes him look grey instead of the vibrant blue they really are.

 

[fretfreak13]

Oh, I remember reading something about this when I first started SW, but do damsels school? I didn't look much further into it when people told me to stay away from them. Should I get him a little buddy, or will they fight?

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Fretfreak13
http:///forum/post/3165771
Oh, I remember reading something about this when I first started SW, but do damsels school? I didn't look much further into it when people told me to stay away from them. Should I get him a little buddy, or will they fight?
Personally....I'd stick with just the one....

 

[flower]

All damsels are aggressive..The yellow tail is the least aggressive. like Meowzer said...hers is in a tank where it is the smallest fish. You can keep any damsel, you just have to be careful with tank mates.
The bigger more aggressive fish will get along just fine with it. If you choose to keep a damsel it will dictate what else you can put in the tank. Purchase your fish accordingly. Lots of people on this site keep, and love damsels. They are gorgeous fish.

 

[fretfreak13]

Should I add it last then? I wasn't planning on getting the goby/pistol pair until I actually got my Christmas/birthday money (they're really close together). Even then the only thing that could possibly go into that tank atm is the blenny. I have to take apart my sump and redo it, I messed it up when I made it *sigh*. Every time I look at it now I want to smack myself at how obvious those mistanks should have been. That meaing I'll have to reseed my fuge. I'm planning on seeding the DT and a little HOB fuge either wednesday or this weekend.
Adding, if not the damsel first: MB, damsel, Mandarin.

 

[bridgette_rae8]

I think it just depends on the fish itself. I had a blue yellow tailed damsel that killed 1 clown and ripped part of the fin off of a yellow tang. Once I finally got the damsel out of the tank (after trying to catch him for several hours) the tang recovered and grew his fin back after some time but I have not gone near another damsel since. Soooo...lol...I hope that your damsel isn't a little devil like mine was!

 

[chrisnif]

I have 2 yellow-tail blue damsels and a royal gramma in a 5 gallon. They only thing i've noticed is the bigger damsel (maybe 1/4 inch bigger) is protective of his 1/4 of the tank, the other damsel if nice as pie, and the gramma beats the crap out of them if they try to hide in the caves that he calls his home,they have a mouth like a bass that can open HUGE if they want to make something go away.

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Chrisnif
http:///forum/post/3169207
I have 2 yellow-tail blue damsels and a royal gramma in a 5 gallon. They only thing i've noticed is the bigger damsel (maybe 1/4 inch bigger) is protective of his 1/4 of the tank, the other damsel if nice as pie, and the gramma beats the crap out of them if they try to hide in the caves that he calls his home,they have a mouth like a bass that can open HUGE if they want to make something go away.
I'm surprised you have those 3 fish in a 5g and they haven't killed eachother

 

[chrisnif]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3169209
I'm surprised you have those 3 fish in a 5g and they haven't killed eachother

Well its not a "nano cube" its a regular glass aquarium, I've got about 4 pounds of rock in the display (you can find pics somewhere on here, i think i posted them in the nano board) and the gramma LOVES to hang out in the nooks and crannies in the rocks. The damsels are all over the tank, but they each have a hole in the rocks to hide/sleep in.
My water is holding steady at 8.3, A-0, Ni-0, Na-5, but that may be going down as I just added about 5 pounds of rubble 2 pounds of sand and a ball of chaeto in a home made fuge (love wally world for cheap plastic containers).
I was told that the damsels are reef safe, but I note the big one on occasion pecking at my tiny star polyp frag, but maybe he's eating the algae on the frag stone (I hope).
Also, the gramma wasnt on my stock list, but a LFS is closing shop and he was offered to me free along with a peppermint shrimp when i went in to buy some dry goods so there ya have it They are all moving in the spring to more suitable digs

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Chrisnif
http:///forum/post/3169262
Well its not a "nano cube" its a regular glass aquarium, I've got about 4 pounds of rock in the display (you can find pics somewhere on here, i think i posted them in the nano board) and the gramma LOVES to hang out in the nooks and crannies in the rocks. The damsels are all over the tank, but they each have a hole in the rocks to hide/sleep in.
My water is holding steady at 8.3, A-0, Ni-0, Na-5, but that may be going down as I just added about 5 pounds of rubble 2 pounds of sand and a ball of chaeto in a home made fuge (love wally world for cheap plastic containers).
I was told that the damsels are reef safe, but I note the big one on occasion pecking at my tiny star polyp frag, but maybe he's eating the algae on the frag stone (I hope).
Also, the gramma wasnt on my stock list, but a LFS is closing shop and he was offered to me free along with a peppermint shrimp when i went in to buy some dry goods so there ya have it They are all moving in the spring to more suitable digs

IF they make it that long...1 little fishy is the max for your 5g...sorry.

 

[spanko]

If you want to keep damsels look into the Chrysiptera sp.. According to most the more docile, which can be a subjective thing, of the damsel family.

 

[choprjohn]

After rap music, the 2nd biggest oxymoron is docile damsel. They be colorful & "cute" when little, but MOST grow mean as they get older & bigger. They are a real PITA to get out of your tank once they turn. The voice of experience here....lol....Johnnie

 

[chrisnif]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3169270

IF they make it that long...1 little fishy is the max for your 5g...sorry.
Okay, this one confuses me, why just 1 fish. The gramma can get to 4 inches, but I've never seen one that big, most I've seen is 3ish and mine is about 2-1/2. The yellow tails can get to 3 and again I've only seen them to 2 inches, mine are around 1-1/2ish. I know im breaking the inch/gallon ratio even now, but if they have room to swim and play and are not stressed and the water is kept pristine, why not?
I care for the health of the fish, so if i see signs of concern I'll be taking the yellow tails to the LFS, they can put them in their 100 gallon "misc damsel" tank.
The royal is definitely staying and moving up to the bigger tank as that is my favorite fish I've ever had, I love how it finds the tiniest holes in the rockwork to hide and swim through.
Just to pose the question, if they did decide to have a showdown when I wasnt there to stop it etc, who would be most likely to survive? I know when i put the gramma in he was quick to tell the damsels "you're not allowed here" with his big mouth antics, that and his ability to disappear in the rock would probably have him most likely to survive.

 

[chrisnif]

I'm terribly sorry to have hijacked this thread, so please forgive me FretFreak

Someone must have put a Jinx on me, after several weeks of relative peace in my tank, I found my CUC chowing down on yellow tail bones (I was searching for the maybe serpent star i may have, and noticed all my snails and my scarlet leg hermit chowing down on something...closer inspection and it was the smaller of the 2 damsels).
I moved a bunch of the rock around to find the other two fish (RG and YTBD) and can only locate the RG, so i guess I may have gotten my answer from above... Hopefully the other YTBD survived I'll post an update tomorrow morning if it comes out, if they hide anywhere as good as the RG i'd probably miss it if it bit me