Damsels? Good or bad idea

[vest0830]

I agree with chappy. Damsels are a great beginner fish. Very heardy, and if your tank gets a little out of hand, most likely, the damsels wont be affected. (dont ask how I know)

-Great beginner fish, but after 6 months, mine are gone. They reeked havoc in the tank. Always messing with corals, digging holes in the sand, beeing bullies...

I do still have my small black and white stripped damsel, and it wouldn't hurt anything. He will stay in there.

 

[mntl]

Starckii (stark's) damsels are supposed to be less mean, the figi blue devils (blue devil with yellow tails and light stomaches) are spawns of you know who regular yellow-tails are good, not too hard to acclimate into a community tank. I would recommend either yellow tails (all small and around the same size to begin with) or my personal favorites the Starkii's, you need to see them in person, they are definately one of the prettiest.

If you want a group it might be best to start with no damsels and introduce a small group all at one time, preferably bought from the same tank/shop.

But definately look into the Starkii's


--john

 

[jmack]

My pink skunk clown is MUCH more aggressive than the yellow tail damsel I have...he was chasing him around the tank yesterday.

 

[know-it-all]

just got 3 more,
(black-cap from Vanuatu)
but it is a damsel only tank

I would follow everone's advise against them unless your going for a damsel only tank

 

[eleodes]

Damsels are great if you are cycling your tank. Hopefully they die so you don't have to catch them when the cycle is over. Or you just buy a big lion, let him eat, then catch him if you want to.

is this a joke?

 

[Weatherman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6570127#post6570127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by know-it-all
just got 3 more,
(black-cap from Vanuatu)
but it is a damsel only tank

I bought seven of them for my 120 (no other fish in the tank at the time). Within two weeks the three weakest ones had been beaten to death. I still have the other four, and they bicker and nip fins all the time, but don't seem to do any permanent damage to each other.

At least they're smart enough to leave my Foxface and Virgatus Rabbitfish alone.

 

[ACBlinky]

I love my damsel, but agree they can be trouble. I think they sometimes get a bad rap but can be manageable if they're in larger tanks or kept alone, as JENnKerry said. Mine is a South Seas 'devil' (Chrysiptera taupou) and she's a sweetie, but that may have something to do with the fact that she's the only damsel and her tankmates are all larger and/or semi-agressive. She actually got a good butt-kicking by my halfblack angel today when she went for the nori clip; she's definitely not the most agressive thing in the tank!

I agree that if you want to add more, rearranging decoration beforehand might help.

As a side note, unless a tank is really big it's fairly easy to catch a difficult fish by draining most of the water into Rubbermaids and digging a hole in the sand where fish will collect as the water level gets low. Traps and barbless hooks are also supposed to work for damsels, but I've never tried that method myself.

 

[know-it-all]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6570327#post6570327 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Weatherman
I bought seven of them for my 120 (no other fish in the tank at the time). Within two weeks the three weakest ones had been beaten to death. I still have the other four, and they bicker and nip fins all the time, but don't seem to do any permanent damage to each other.

At least they're smart enough to leave my Foxface and Virgatus Rabbitfish alone.

Great pic,
I usually turn the lights out for at least 24 hours after I introduce any new fish
and it's at least 3 at a time
(Learned that one the hard way)
2 seem to be fairing very well, but they won't let the third into the group
so, it's getting it's butt kicked as we speak
I can hear the teeth from 3 feet away

All should be good by the afternoon tomorrow.

 

[know-it-all]

well after 48 hours, the bickering has stopped.
I think I lost 1 to the fighting and 1 to the power heads.
(stupid fish)
but the last one is doing very well

so, to answer the original question,
yes, damsels will cause WWWIII and WWWIV for a couple days
and then, good luck adding anything else after the dust settles.