Damsel in 24 gallon

Z

zak.payne

Member
Is putting a damsel in a 24 gallon a death wish? I know they are "semi-aggressive" according to LA, but I know the color on them can also be quite striking. There are lots of holes and crevices in my rock work for hiding, I just don't want to make a fatal mistake of adding one. I would only do a smaller one and only one.
 
damsel required 30 gallon minimum but find a small one and if you only put 1 in the tank its ok they are agressif when you have a couple of them
 
From what I'm told, the yellowtail or azure damsels are the best of a rather feisty bunch - and among the smaller ones, too. (Yellowtails were always the best-behaved for me, back in the day...) You might consider adding it as the last fish in your community.

~Bruce
 
Azure damsels for sure. Had great luck with those. I have a pair in my 90 gallon. They spawn constantly and don't get aggressive with my other fish. I think you could do the same in a 24 if you only have maybe one other fish. Having one could be just as risky as adding multiples..it could go rogue. I've seen with not just damsels but clownfish and cardinals. Cool fish though.
 
I kept 2 blue damsels and a tomato clown in my 6g nano cube, was running for 4yrs, but now they got transfer to 110g. I think i only did 3 water change about a gallon each time.
 
My fish list is constantly changing, simply because I'm waiting for my cycle to conclude. Right now, I want a shrimp/goby pair for sure. I was thinking of a blenny or something of the sort, or maybe a firefish. I want something that will give me lots of color and activity in the tank. With it being a 24 gallon, I'm limited to what I can have, so I want to make sure it's unique. I love the look of the Yellowtail, with the deep blue body, so I'm happy to hear that could work.
 
honestly I would not put one in the tank. I believe a damsel would leave a goby/ pistol alone. IMO anything in the water column would be fair game in that size tank or at the very least other fishes would hide a lot. Good luck just my 2 cents.
 
I have had damsels before, I would prefer a Grouper over this piece of ^&*** ... They have killed so many of my fish in the past.

I would advise against it.
 
I had 2 damsels in a 45 gallon with 3 other fish. It seems like even with a tank of that size the damsels are aggressive towards their tank mates.
 
Thanks for the input! Finding fish for a tank of this size has proved much more difficult that I would've thought. I want something that will be active and out-and-about. Looks like a clown might be my only option. I know firefish are sometimes OK, but it's hit or miss.
 
What about a Midas Blenny? I know it isn't under the "Nano Fish" list on LiveAquaria, but it still looks to be of OK size for a 24 gallon. I love the yellow and I think it would really pop and give my tank some awesome color.
 
Maritimer said:
From what I'm told, the yellowtail or azure damsels are the best of a rather feisty bunch - and among the smaller ones, too. (Yellowtails were always the best-behaved for me, back in the day...) You might consider adding it as the last fish in your community.

~Bruce
Click to expand...

Starcki's are also a beautiful and less aggressive than the others. If I were ever to get another Damsel it will be a Starcki. Also take a look at the pygmy wrasses, cool fish. There are 3 different ones you can search them on the Live Aquaria marine fish page.

4d4fe71e2b119.jpg
 
Ill chine in and say don't do it from experience. They are little jerks. It would likely "work" just fine... but your fish wont be totally happy. It also highly depends on what else you want to keep. I would opt out of the Damsels and get a pair of clowns. Just my opinion.

My stock: ocellaris, royal gramma, watchman goby, 6 line wrasse, purplefirefish, pajama cardinal. Before the cardinal and firefish I had a yellowtail damsel and he was a terror, especially towards the clownfish. As soon as I removed him everyone's real personalities came out. The wrasse and gramma are out all the time now where as before they hid in the rock work 90% of the time. Much much better without the little yellow tail jerk. They might be better in a larger setup.
 
Giving it some hard thought, here is my current stocking plans:

- 2 Ocellaris Black Clowns
- 1 Firefish
- 1 Randall's Goby/Pistol Shrimp pair
- Black Cap Basslet
- Midas Blenny (If I can confirm it would be OK in my tank)
 
Well if you are going for color you could get one black clown and one Normal orange, mine always got along :clown:

If the Midas blenny doesn't work out another nice yellow is the yellow watchman goby, and they pair with shrimp also ^^

( And the Catalina goby looks really nice, but I don't know much about them lol)
 
water is wet said:
Starcki's are beautiful and remind me of dwarf angels but I wouldn't recommend them for a 24g aquarium.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't put any damsel in a 24 gal. That's why I recommended the pygmy wrasses. I was only stating my opinion of damsels and the one that I'd get :D

I'm with Sk8r on that damsels in general need a 100 gal tank. It kind of calms their aggression a bit.
 
24 gal is a no go on the Midas Blenny, they do need at least a 30 gal and they get to about 6" full grown. I've got one in my 40b and can say that it's a great fish!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

rrrrob
Blue Damsel
Replies
7
Views
2K
rrrrob
rrrrob
A
  • Locked
Single drain Overflow System for a 55 gallón tank ?
Replies
1
Views
420
BrianD
BrianD
A
DRILL aquarium only 1 DownPipe?
Replies
0
Views
248
Andrés Garza
A
A
Single drain Overflow System for a 55 gallón tank
Replies
5
Views
627
wvned
wvned
S
Help with Overflow Design Issue
Replies
0
Views
66
SFMAquariums
S
Back
Top