damsels, bad rep?

[Lynnmw1208]

I was just thinking, since these fish have such a bad rep for being aggressive, does anyone even bother keeping them? They really are beautiful fish but it seems everyone is shunned away by them because of their behavior. It almost makes you afraid to even try one of these guys.

So who keeps them, and with what other fish?

 

[cmof29]

I have one in my 75. He shows no agression but his tank mates are huge fish like sailfin tang,foxface,and blue hippo tang. Some smaller ones like a clownfish, scooter blenny, and coral beauty.

 

[LAKEM0NSTER]

I had a blue damsel in a 120 with a large maroon clown, scopas tang, & snowflake eel. Never had a problem, but the eel would get slapped in the face by the damsel's tail if it got under its rock. A light love tap.

 

[Jackd1987]

I have a three stripe damsel, I got as my first fish. He seemed to be leaving tankmates alone at the store and has been fine in my tank until recently. I've caught him chasing one of my clowns around a few times over the last week. I think he is a wicked cool looking fish and fun to watch since he's so active, but I think he may be removed if I can catch him haha

 

[JamesJR]

I was just thinking, since these fish have such a bad rep for being aggressive, does anyone even bother keeping them? They really are beautiful fish but it seems everyone is shunned away by them because of their behavior. It almost makes you afraid to even try one of these guys.

So who keeps them, and with what other fish?

They get a bad rep but it is easy to over generalize with such a large and diverse family of fish. Not all of them are terrible choices and in general they are pretty reef safe aside from their tendency to dig and make nesting sites. A lot of it has to do with your choice of damsel and the tankmates you give it.

In my 20H mixed reef I have an azure damsel and a banggaii cardinal fish. I added the cardinal after the damsel and things have been fine for a year so far. The azure is a wimp to be honest with you. I've seen their tempers flair once and the cardinal actually put the damsel in his place. I am not sure how this species would fare in your particular tank but in my experience this fish is much less aggressive than other damsels.

 

[vwwanksta69]

You should look at the video I posted here today of two blue damsels

 

[Sk8r]

I've always had them. The problem is they require more room than you might think. In a 100g I had a blue velvet, two clarkii clowns (also damsels), a blue devil, three-stripe, and a domino, and 5 chromis---no trouble at all. The blue velvet was boss until the clarkii's got annoyed, then ran. But no nipped fins in that tank. The clarkiis bit ME on occasion, but never a tankmate.

I currently have one chromis and an azure damsel (both smallish species) in a 54 gallon, perfectly peaceful. Would I put a blue velvet in a 54? No way!

Mild dispositions and smaller species, 50 and up.
It is best to have ONE of each kind unless you have a huge tank.

Other damsels, including clowns, 100 and up. Again, excepting chromis and clowns, best to have one of each kind, and of clowns, only 2.

It always puzzles me why the same people who think clowns are wonderful don't hold the same opinion of damsels. They're the same sort of fish, and have very similar behaviors and needs. The regular damsels don't live in anemones, but the dominant one will stake out a rock which it regards as its home, and will chase whoever intrudes, pretty much as a clown will defend its anemone.

 

[MIKE NY]

at one point I actually had breeding pairs of blue devils, 3 striped humbugs, Talbot's and Rolland's along with a few singles like a yellow tail and an azure plus a breeding pair of chalk bass and clowns..at the time although it was very cool to observe my 90 was a war zone each having their own territory staked out. I have since either given them away or died off and have a more civil tank now....LOL, but still have a few of the damsels....an azure, Talbots, black bar chromis and a Rollands.....

 

[Sk8r]

Yep, as with clowns, breeding brings out REALLY territorial behaviors in damsels---or in most fish. I had that breeding pair of clarkiis, but gave them to a guy who bred clowns professionally---because I was tired of getting bit bloody every time I had to work in the tank. That horse of a female would decide it was no fun biting me on a glove: she'd go for the bare skin above the glove. 3-4 little teeth in that lower jaw, and she meant business. [And they're mild-mannered, compared to maroons. ]

 

[MIKE NY]

yup I gotten bitten many times also...LOL The chalkies were column spawners so they never bothered anything...

 

[treylane]

As the other posters have said - this is a pretty diverse group, they vary in size from ~1.5" blackbar chromis to 6" maroon clowns, and they vary in aggressiveness from "a little spunky" to "favorite pastimes: drawing blood"

A significant chunk of the bad rep that gets slapped on the entire group comes from n00b hobbyists buying cute (and cheap!) little baby dominoes, threestripes, or yellowstripes and not realizing until later that these fish become large-and-in-charge. Then they take on the whole "damsels are evil" mantra, like it's the fish's fault.

Even the monsters are interesting/intelligent fish in the right environment - with enough space and tankmates that can hold their own.

So the key to damsels is doing your homework AHEAD of time - figure out how much space you have, how much (if any) bullying the other tank inhabitants can handle, and choosing carefully. Also note that there are several fish that may seem similar at first glance, but are actually vastly different:

2.5-3" and pretty wussy for a damsel (definitely the lowest on the totem pole in my tank, more so than the leopard wrasse)
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+28+1966&pcatid=1966

4" thick-bodied and territorial like most of the other dascyllus
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+28+104&pcatid=104

 

[Lynnmw1208]

cool! thanks for all the information guys! I kind of figured they get a bad rep sometimes so I thought I would ask. I do have 2 ocellaris clowns and love them but I would love to add a pop of color with some smaller fish and I don't particularly care about chromis. I do plan on getting an orchid dottyback as well as I hear they are less aggressive than the similar purple one.

What are the types of damsels you would keep that are more mild in temperament? I have hear azure so far but any others?

 

[Sheol]

Definitely. Funny, no matter how many times you tell people NOT to do something, they still do it! We learned a long, long time ago, never start a tank with a damsel. Because it will OWN that tank, in what passes for a mind in its little brain. But people see saltwater+CHEAP+Hardy and its a done deal.
Then, they try to introduce some pretty, mild mannered fish. With predictible results.
Then of course Damsel's=Sith Spawn! (Sorry, a Star Wars nerd, had to say it ).
In reality, there are several good damsels, especially if they are introduced later in a community. Yellowtails & Azures are superb little fish. IME, my Yellowtail damsel was the pacifist of my tank. My C.argi angel ran things..
Do your research, make the right decisions, and you can have damsels in your reef. (Actually, as a purist a Reef MUST have damsels to look natural!LOL)
Oh, and clowns can be as aggressive as the average male Blue Devil! Yet I seldom see people rapping in posts about how clowns=killers.


Matthew