what to do with my damsels?

sharkboy

sharkboy

Member
My 55 gal. tank has been cycling for about a week now. Everything seems to be going good. I'm using ls and lr. My local aquatic store told me to use damsels for the cycling process. Now after reading alternate ways of cycling the tank, I regret using the damsels. There are 4 of them. I've read that they are teritorial and agressive. What do I do with them ofter the cycling process. I want to have non-agressive fish in my tank and have a peaceful community established. I do not want to KILL them! I really don't have the room to set up a tank especially for them.
I'm not sure of the name of the damsels, but they are a deep blue with yellow tails. I need some suggestions.:
 
sharkboy

sharkboy

Member
I thought of that, but it will be extremely difficult trying to capture the little critters with 60 lbs of live rock in the tank. This might be my only option though. I was hoping that someone has had a little success with keeping them in a tank with peaceful types of fish---like clowns-yellow tang etc.
 
sharkboy

sharkboy

Member
I'm not sure of the name of them. They are about 1 1/2 inches long. The body is a deep blue with a yellow tail.
 
sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
I'd get them out. From my experience, one of the most aggressive. Most LFS will take them back even if no credit given. Do it while the tank is still young and moving things won't be so traumatic.
Hope this helps.
Mendee
 
jp0379

jp0379

Member
Its up to you. We have kept our damsels each time we cycled a tank (twice) and only one has ever caused a problem. I'd give it a shot and see what happens. They don't always go after the other fish in the tank. I'd leave them in and see what happens.
 
oregonbud

oregonbud

Member
It's a Yellow Tail Damsel.
I too cycled my tank with 4 damsels (big mistake) - lost two of them.
Yes they can be aggressive at times, it took a little while(a month or so) for both of the damsels that I have to mellow out. With that said they are now peaceful members of my tank, and room with a cinnamon clown and a bicolor blenny. Every so often the clown and the yellow damsel will have a brief argument, but its never anything major.
If you are not crazy about getting rid of them (they are pretty fish, and mine have really grown on me - although about 4 months ago I was very ready to get rid of them) I would suggest seeing if you can add some other fish and see how they coexist, before you make the decision to get rid of them.
Some things that I have done when introducing a new fish to the tank to prevent hostilities, were to rearrange the rocks a bit to create "new" territory, introduce the new fish with the lights out (for some reason it seems to help, not sure why)
Bottom line is you can have the damsels with other fish, if you choose, you do not have to remove them, and despite the overwhelming attitude that damsels are a pain (and they can be) they can also be a nice addition to your tank, especially since your tank is new, the damsels are much more forgiving of mistakes you may make.
Just my two cents.
Also catching them is difficult, I have had to remove mine twice, both times I found it was much easier to have the lights off over the tank, as well as try to corner them in one section helps - I would say it took maybe 15 minutes to catch both of mine, and I didn't have to move rock either time.
Hope to help,
OB
 
sharkboy

sharkboy

Member
Thanks for the encouraging words. I would like to keep them if possible. My wife is getting attached to them. They are a very pretty fish and will make a nice addition to the aquarium if the behave themselves. I especially like the idea of rearranging the lr just before I introduce new fish to the tank..That way noone has established a territory.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
I guess the question you have to ask yourself is do you want to build the tank around the damsels or is there other fish that you want. If you want to get rid of the damsels now would be a good time to take the rock out and catch them and return them to the lfs. You can then cycle your tank with a raw shrimp. Do a search on this site for cycling to learn how to do that. Yes you may be looking at a bare tank for awhile, but think where you want your tank to be in a year from now instead of how it will look tomorrow.
Also you will learn more from this board than you will from your lfs. I had my aquarium up for 9 months before I found this site. I learned more in my first 3 months on this board than I did in the previous 9 months listening to the lfs. I am sure they are good people, however there is many more people on this board than there are at your lfs.
Just food for thought.
Scott
 
moonrs

moonrs

Member
Well, Here's my two cents, also. I cycled my tank with 3 yellow-tailed Blue Damsels (Chrysiptera parasema), and still have all three 7 months later. While my damsels were a bit agressive as well, to start off, like Oregonbuds, my fish also calmed down, with occasional spats. I have several fish that could be considered non-aggressive (clowns, manderin goby, and a yellow tang), and my damsels pretty much leave them alone. You can get rid of your damsels if you want to, but my experience has been that pretty good. I'd follow Oregonbud's advice and see how the fish do... Make your decision after that. Good luck. Moonrs
 
bheron

bheron

Member
i would def get them out before they terrorize others and you have too much in there to catch them.
i just returned mine to my LSF but for no credit. just happy to give them a home!
 
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