Yellow tail damsel question

[onaboat]

Hello. I bought 3 yellow tail damsel fish about 1 month ago, and within 24 hours, I lost one of them. I heard that damsels do best with groups of 3 or more, but these two seemed to get along....
I re-arranged the live rock in my tank, and then the one damsel turned on the other. For about 3 weeks, the one fish kept chasing and nipping at the other guy. This weekend, the poor guy died...
As of now, the tank only has the one yellow tail in it. I am afraid that if I get any other fish, this guy will do the same thing and kill them. Do you think he would be ok if I got 2 or 3 more yellow tail damsels? I am assuming getting any other fish is out of the question. Thanks for your help

 

[sinner's girl]

need more info,.
what size tank?
how long has it been set up?
how long was it set up before you adding fish? Did the tank cycle first?
what are your water levels?

 

[onaboat]

Aah, sorry
Its a 10 gal hexagon tank, has 20lbs live sand, and 12 lbs live rock. I've had it for 4 months. I cycled it several times with dilute household ammonia when I set it up, and it cycled rather quickly (within 48 hrs). As of now levels are great- ammonia near zero, nitrates nitrites at zero, calcium at 450, pH is a usually a bit on the low side (8-8.2). I've been adding livestock slowly to avoid new tank syndrome
1 brittle star
4 cortez hermit crabs
1 turbo snail
candy cane coral
cleaner shrimp
crocea clam
and the infamous yellow tail damsel
Everything in the tank is doing great, its just the damsel doesn't seem to like any friends. I would like to get another kind of fish, but I don't want any other fish to go the way of the other damsel. Thanks alot for your help.

 

[bunnyl99]

damsels can be very aggressive. I suggest after your tank is cycled, sell them back to the store.

 

[mr.p]

Yeah damsels aren't all that great, sometimes you get lucky and find a not to aggressive one but most of them are little devils.

 

[ppm411]

Hey onaboat! I have 3 yellow tails myself and although visbly healthy, it's almost like they've established their "thirds" of the tank. Lots of chasing and nipping too. I used them to cycle and I'm about 2 weeks and since the cycle is now complete, I'm considering adding a Perc Clown. Seems like a bad idea based on what I've read. I'd like to at least keep the most docile of the group but catching them is going to be a pain. There's dozens of posts regarding methods of catching the little devils. Traps, baiting then netting, some 2 liter bottle apparatus... it's crazy how elusive they are. My rock set up isn't that elaborate so if need be, I'm going to start tearing things down. When I do catch them, I'll give them back to my LFS. Hopefully he'll take them so I can move on with stocking my 29g.

 

[fedukeford]

i would just bring the damsels back. they are very teritorial and arnet really a great fish. they are just good for people who dont have much experiance. i would get a pair of Perc. clowns if i were u

 

[popnfrresh]

It really depends on the damsel. Chromis damsels are mere pushovers. Although there are different yellow tail damsels. There are blue yellow tails and black yellow tails. I have both. The blues dont grow more than 2 inches and the black is 4". The blue school together. If going for damsels i would get demoiselles. They are related to damsels and less aggressive.

 

[fishntx]

i would take the damsel back. they are way to agressive. my yellow tail chases my gold stripe and my lunare wrasse all over the tankand he is only like 1/4 their size.

 

[ppm411]

I'm going to attempt to catch my (Blue) Yellow Tails in a little while. Bringing them back to my LFS and picking up a pair of Percs. Wish me luck.

 

[finchfishs]

yea i had 3 damsels...and thay are a pain. Just take them back and get perc clowns...i have 2 percs and they are so fun to watch

 

[popnfrresh]

I have no problems with any of my damsels. I have 3 green chromis , 2 blue yellow tails, 1 blavk yellow tail , 2 4 stripes and a domino...

No problems they just sit and hide.... and sometimes dart out to get food. they are fun to watch....

 

[kb4343]

I have three damsels and one clown fish in my tank and don't have any problems. I have a Clarkii Damsel, Austrailian Orange tail Damsel, Blue Velvet Damsel and a tomato clown. Their in a 70 Gallon FO tank with tons of reef rock, so theirs plenty of room for them to roam and hide without pissing each other off. I think space is the key here. Put those fish in a smaller tank and I would probably be asking for trouble.

 

[debbie]

Hi, I must have lucked out big time. In my 10 gal which is 1 1/2 yrs old now I have my two Ocellaris Clowns and one yellow tail damsel. I just love this littley guy, he adds the punch of color I really wanted in this tank. Sometimes the clowns don't want to share their "mushroom" they host in but for the most part the three of them swim together and I have no problems at all.
It is to bad that the damsels get such a bad rap, they are quite colorful little fish and for the most part are really affordable to the hobbyist whom cannot afford some of the higher priced fish.
Maybe if you want to keep your yellow tail damsel then get a goby of some sort to add in there with it. Putting 2-3 more yellow tails in there will only add aggression. Or maybe a clown with the yellow tail.
Good luck....Deb

 

[ppm411]

Seems like there's a consensus here

My lfs also said it would be okay but I wasn't about to take the chance. He said "I have a blue damsel in with clowns here." There were about 30 percs and one or two blue devils in there, different story then if I had 2 percs and 3 well established blue devils with their own space in a 29g. One of them was downright nasty and took a chunk out of the other. Tore the whole tank apart to get them out as expected and my new rock formation is growing on me. Anyway he gave me half of my money back for them and will probably sell them again at full price. Luvin the percs, seems like they're having a grand time in their new home too. :happyfish

 

[onaboat]

Thanks alot for the help guys. Now i gotta catch the litle devil.... I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

 

[bunnyl99]

I kept losing everything in my tank & finally took out my damsels thinking they're killing everything in my tank. I returned them to the LFS & that night, the blue damsel killed a brittle starfish & a seabee in the LFS tank. I hope you got them out.

 

[ppm411]

Yes they are back at the LFS. Thank god. They were pretty aggressive little buggers..

 

[socal57che]

I used YT damsels to cycle my tank as well. 5 to start...by the end of day one they had reduced themselves to 4. After 1 wk there were three. They were still being aggressive after the tank cycled so I bought a 3" trigger and he seems to have scared them into submission. They get along pretty well now (they stay out of each other's way) but the damsels stopped fighting amongst themselves as well. When I decide on the next addition I will trade 2 of the damsels in as they seem much less aggressive without friends...kinda like gangstas in LA. :happyfish