Damsel fish

[Cheeselady]

Bad idea?

I have a 46 gallon bowfront.

In the tank there will be 2 clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 scooter blenny and 1 royal gramma. (currently own 1 clown, 1 neon goby 1 scooter blenny)

I want a bright blue or bright green fish that is not a big hider. Blue damsels seem like a obvious choice but I've hear bad things about them being vicious. Thoughts?

Other possibles that may be too big/not good options:
6 line wrasse
coral beauty
sea green wrasse
reef blue chromis

 

[ajoe]

I have 2 yellow tail damsels in my 55 gal that I introduced at the same time. The only fish they are aggressive towards are each other. They are very active and constantly swimming about. I love them personally and they are very low maintenance and will eat any food source you offer them. Very hardy and very pretty little fish. You might consider getting just a single fish however. Your already maxing out the number of mouths in that size tank. I am sure others will chime in with their damsel stories and/or offer some alternative suggestions. Enjoy

 

[Cheeselady]

Thanks ajoe. Are Damsels OK as singles?

I've heard that clowns are better in pairs, hence the 2nd clown. (I just lost my little clown to ich - not adding any new fish until I have it eradicated - and the bigger clown seems to miss him)

 

[ajoe]

Probably better off as singles honestly since they are very territorial. If you decide on a pair be sure they are introduced at the same time.

 

[thegrun]

The Blue Reef Chromis would be a much better choice. Yes damsels work out sometimes, but more often than not they will be too aggressive in a 46 gallon tank. Same with the 6 line which will certainly become a problem sooner or later. The Coral Beauty also needs a bigger tank than yours.

 

[ZenGuitarGuy]

+1 on Blue Reef Chromis. It's one of my favourite fish.

 

[A sea K]

Put in a couple or a trio of Blue Gudgeon Dart gobies, they are very peacefull and will mix nicely with the fish you already have. Once settled in (very skidish at first) they will bring a lot of movement to the tank as well but keep in mind a cover of some sort is an absolute requirement.

 

[scooter31707]

IMO, I would hold off on the Damsel in that size tank.

 

[JonezNReef]

This is just my personal opinion on this but Damsels are the devil. And 6 line wrasses are almost as bad. I will never own either one again. I had a damsel for over a year once and it successfully killed and chased out(made my mating pair of Darwin Black Clowns jump out of the tank) every fish in my tank but the Tang. The 6 line just attacked everything. Never again will I own these fish... just my personal experience


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[hotelbravo]

I have 8 yellow tail damsels in my 180 that have been in there for almost a year now with no signs of aggression out of any of them. I think larger numbers reduce to need to fight for territory when its shared with so many

 

[Rishsd]

Don't get a Blue Devil, or a Domino. Both of these are very aggressive.

 

[Sk8r]

The yellowtails, by all means. You might get away with 2; another safe choice (I think) would be the blue star damsel, which is brilliant under LEDs, dull grey in ordinary light. None of these get large ( not 100% sure about the blue star, but they are quiet).

 

[monkeysee1]

The yellow tail damsel is among the least aggressive of the damsels - I've been told they do best in small groups.
They MIGHT give fish their size or smaller a hard time but they generally ignore larger fish.

 

[Cheeselady]

Thanks folks,

I'll do some more reading up on the the yellowtail, bluestar and blue reef chromis.

Nothing can go back to the DT until July anyway so we'll see how feel about my stock choices as we get a bit closer.

 

[Darth_Tater]

I have 3 Yellowtail Damsels in my 40 breeder. I'm far more worried about my Coral Beauty killing them than the damsels hurting anything. They occasionally spar with each other, but nothing serious. Important note though, every fish in the tank has it's own hidey hole with some extras for emergency escapes. Oh, and the damsels are ALWAYS out when the lights are on. Even though they get chased by the Coral Beauty every time it gets close to one on its laps around the tank.

FYI, my Coral Beauty would have killed off my Royal Gramma if I hadn't isolated the Gramma in the fuge. It also really doesn't like the yellowtails. Not sure if I just have a nasty Coral Beauty or if the colors are too similar. There is a lot of rock and lots of hiding places though, so things get along ok. I also significantly increased my flow recently and things have calmed since then.

 

[mrdss]

damsel

damsel

Yellow tail blue damsels. Cheap, hard to kill, effective , really nice blue yellow combo. These are SO under rated.

 

[carrots]

+3 on the Blue Reef Chromis. Key with them is at least 4 small feeding a day. They will be active in the upper half of the tank vs Damsels being active in the lower part of the tank.

 

[Sk8r]

The only problem with chromis is that many are coming in with uronema marinum: definitely be careful.