y do my damsels keep killing scooter blennies?

sheldon

sheldon

Member
hello ,
first off new to site , like it so far , also some what new to hobby , 4-5 month old tank , 55 gallons , whole set up , w/o fish or water was given to me , still learning whats what , ..
My problem is i have 2 blue (chromis?) damsels and a royal dottyback (front pink, tail half yellow) that have killed 2 scooter blennies and one maderin goby , i dont understand why , my algea blenny is ok , the 2 damsels have killed other fish ( a talbot damsel , 3 green chromis , and a percula clown) i do have other damsels and clowns that they dont mess with , also 3 shrimp , 2 emerald crabs that they avoid . any ideas?
i have alot of live rock for them to hide in , and i feed mysos shrimp and brine shrimp or blood worms ,every day .
there is also some coral in the tank , mostly random frags i was able to get , will post pics when i can get a chance to take some
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
damsels are very territorial and very aggressive, and will kill just about any fish in your tank that they feel they can. your best bet is to catch em an take em back to your LFS for credit.
also, whats ur stocklist for your 55? the full fish stocklist?
also, welcome to swf.com message boards LOL
 
sheldon

sheldon

Member
2 blue chromis
2 sebae clowns / w bubble tip anemoe for each
1 dottyback
1 3 stripe damsel
1 small blue velvet ,( new week and a half in tank )
1 jewel damsel (week in tank )
1 damsel (yellow dorsal fin , gray body , blue lower fins and tail ) also a week in tank
1 algae blenny
1 cbs
1 cleaner shrimp
1 pepermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs
1 star , afew hermits and snails
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
ok, ur best bet, an i know this is gonna suck, cause catchin them is gonna be a major PITA, is to take all of the damsels back to your LFS an trade them, or see if you can get store credit or whatever lol, and then get, 2 firefish gobies, 1 purple firefish goby, and in a month or 2, get a dwarf angel, im gonna recommend a flame angel, and you should be well stocked at that point.
 
sheldon

sheldon

Member
ill have to see if i can get a credit on atleast the 2 blues ,as my tank is right this second no one is trying to kill anyone , so ill keep my fingers crossed, flame angels here r expensive ,and common , might try another small coral buety or a pigmy , also have an interset in blue hippo tang, powder blue tang , naso and blonde naso tangs , i assume thats 2 much for my tank ? will have to work on catching the blues :(
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
you cant, unfortunately, do any of the tangs in a 55g tank, they need a minimum 6' long tank. are you sure it was your damsels that killed your mandarin? unless youve been seeding your tank with copepods, and have a breeding colony of copepods long before you add him, a mandarin will starve to death
 
sheldon

sheldon

Member
manderin was ded in less then 12 hrs ,the 2 blue chromis and dottyback , jumped him the sec he was out of bag , scooter was there next target ,both in less then 24 hrs, also no corpses , its been almost 2 weeks no sitings , alot of eyes to watch tank in my house ,while im at work ,,,
the store where i get my fish sells brine shrimp eating manderin gobies, have tried to seed the tank wit copeopods , not sure how well thats going ,,
newb question , how do load pics in forum, threw photobucket, or the like?
 
doggiepuffer

doggiepuffer

Member
Originally Posted by sheldon
http:///forum/post/2877903
2 blue chromis
2 sebae clowns / w bubble tip anemoe for each
1 dottyback
1 3 stripe damsel
1 small blue velvet ,( new week and a half in tank )
1 jewel damsel (week in tank )
1 damsel (yellow dorsal fin , gray body , blue lower fins and tail ) also a week in tank
1 algae blenny
1 cbs
1 cleaner shrimp
1 pepermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs
1 star , afew hermits and snails
First off, you need to get rid of all your damels. The LFS here will give people a credit of 1/3 the Retail Value of the fish. 2nd thing as far as a mandrain goes, you need to have a tank that is 6 months - 1 year old, unless you are actively buying copepods for your tank, however mandrains do not fair well with agressive fish, with eaiting habits. The "Blue Chromis" is more likely a "Blue Damsel." The "blue" chromis is more of a green in color, that can reflect blue when the light hits them right, unless you have a Blue Reef Chromis, but either way, they are passive fish. Just my two cents
 
doggiepuffer

doggiepuffer

Member
Originally Posted by sheldon
http:///forum/post/2877903
2 blue chromis
2 sebae clowns / w bubble tip anemoe for each
1 dottyback
1 3 stripe damsel
1 small blue velvet ,( new week and a half in tank )
1 jewel damsel (week in tank )
1 damsel (yellow dorsal fin , gray body , blue lower fins and tail ) also a week in tank
1 algae blenny
1 cbs
1 cleaner shrimp
1 pepermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs
1 star , afew hermits and snails
First off, you need to get rid of all your damels. The LFS here will give people a credit of 1/3 the Retail Value of the fish. 2nd thing as far as a mandrain goes, you need to have a tank that is 6 months - 1 year old, unless you are actively buying copepods for your tank, however mandrains do not fair well with agressive fish, with eaiting habits. The "Blue Chromis" is more likely a "Blue Damsel." The "blue" chromis is more of a green in color, that can reflect blue when the light hits them right, unless you have a Blue Reef Chromis, but either way, they are passive fish. Also, becareful with the CBS, as they have a high likehood of killing your cleaner and perpermint shrimps Just my two cents
 
lkgrenegade22

lkgrenegade22

Member
Don't even be concerned about credit when it comes to damsels. Those things have no fear when it comes to harrassing other fish...The small amount of money you may lose by giving them away to someone else is much better than the losses one very territorial damsel can cause.
 
steelytom

steelytom

Member
The longer they are in the tank the worse they will get. Once established they will never let you put another fish in. I had to remove 150# of rock and about 30 corals to get my yellow tail damsel out. I just gave him to the store. A credit would be nice, but just think of the savings in fish loss. They have already killed more than there value in fish. Also brine shrim do not have enough nutrition for a mandarin. Your best bet is to stay away from them. Maybe down the road if you have a refegium and a tank loaded with pods you can get one. You also have to make sure that you don't have other fish eating the pods. I put one in my 75 gallon with 150# of rock loaded with pods and he slowly staved over two months. Best advice I can give you is check on forums for advice before you purchase any fish at all. LFS will lie to make the sell.
 
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