Dominoe Damsel...mistake?

[papagimp]

me and the misses were sitting around reading through some books, getting ideas for fish we want to buy and whatnot. Well, ran across the Dominoe Damsel (3-spot) in one particular book stating how well this fish gets along in a community tank. Looked the fish up in another book, said pretty much the same thing, except one said the fish will get 3 1/2 inches to 4 inches, the other book stated up to 8 inches. Either size, I liked the fish and purchased one on a whim. Cute little guy about 1/2 - 3/4 inch long. I get to work this morning and started reading through more info on this beautiful fish and find out most claim these to be among the most aggressive of damsels. Anybody here actually have any luck with these guys or did I make a boo-boo?


current tankmates will include:
1 pair occellaris clown (believe to be mated, but not spawning)
1 pair Bangaii Cardinals (breeding)
1 Coral Beauty (peaceful to all other tankmates)
1 Green mandarin (minds his own business)

 

[dugg]

Big Boo Boo. Good luck catching him lol. Sometimes not too bad when they are small, but can be quite a pain as they get bigger.

 

[pwhitby]

ahhh the infamous black plague.

 

[pwhitby]

realistically, on a scale of 1-10. where 1 is a minor boo boo like forgetting to feed your fish for a day and 10 is akin to total system crash.....adding a domino damsel to any tank is around 15. Adding two is even worse......

I speak from experience.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Yes, Domino Damsel is one of the more aggressive damsels out there along with the Blue Velvet Damsel, Three Striped (or Hum Bug) Damsel, and the Blue Damsel. Really, it's safe to say that any damsel is a terror though some are more mild like the Yellow Tail Damsel.

 

[dugg]

It could be worse. You could have poured a quart of motor oil in the tank or something.

On a good note though, atleast you will get the chance to clean all of your rocks off real good as you remove every last one of them to catch that $5 fish lol.

 

[papagimp]

Well Poop!
Score 1 for the newbie! So all that being said, how big of a tank would he need to be by himself? Full sized. Maybe i can keep him around to keep a isolation tank up and running? maybe?

(a 15 out of 10 eh?, man am i good or what!)

 

[papagimp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8261169#post8261169 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dugg
On a good note though, atleast you will get the chance to clean all of your rocks off real good as you remove every last one of them to catch that $5 fish lol.

It's fixin to be that time anyways, i can't get my Bangaii out of the tank to QT him for the "birth". he's a quick one, I'll give him that.

 

[pwhitby]

mine would bite the hell out of me.

They are easy to catch tho with a fish trap. They are stupidly fearless so they will enter a fish trap to get food.

Then you are stuck with what to do with it once you caught it.

P.

 

[herpchat]

Are there any nice damsels?

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8261292#post8261292 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by herpchat
Are there any nice damsels?

Not really. Yellow Tailed Damsels are some of the nicer ones. Some people have great luck with them being model citizens and wouldn't harm a flying fish, while there are yet others that have them terrorize everything in the tank.

 

[Sk8r]

In my first reef [100g] I had: a domino, a blue velvet [Satan!] a blue, and a yellowtail, 7 chromis, and 2 clowns.

Over 2 yrs, the blue velvet outlived everybody but the chromis and the clowns: I traded the clowns, the chromis ate each other, and I finally trapped the blue velvet and traded him, too. He'd reached 3". I didn't want to see more of him. The domino was the first he did in.

 

[pwhitby]

I love damsels. I have yellow tails and yellow bellies as well as electric blues. damsels are some of my favorite fish. They are territorial, but I have had 6 or so in 70g with no problems.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I'll agree that damsels are some of the best fish around if you can get them in a tank that's just right for them. I would consider them advanced or expert fish. Not because of any difficulty to keep, but because of their extreme aggressiveness and territory. If you're looking for a small fish with the same build, then clownfish or chromis are better choices.

 

[Sk8r]

Everyone pities the poor anthias which require a 6 foot run to be healthy, and has no sympathy for the [admittedly nippy] damsels that have a similar requirement, with territoriality added to the mix. And truth is, damsels are beautiful and perfectly fine if you have a huge aquarium...the problem is, dominos can grow the size of dinner plates, and I believe that for the mix I had, the Seattle Aquarium Main Dome might have been adequate---my tank sure wasn't.

 

[mskohl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8261169#post8261169 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dugg
It could be worse. You could have poured a quart of motor oil in the tank or something.

On a good note though, atleast you will get the chance to clean all of your rocks off real good as you remove every last one of them to catch that $5 fish lol.

LOL - that is hillarious

I too thought I wanted one of these. I thought it was cool when it was dark to see just the white spots swimming past. But the same LFS mentioned in the other thread said that I shouldn't get this one.

I prefer getting opinions about fish from other hobbists and the online compatibility charts. www.saltwaterfish.com gives a good description and www.liveaquaria.com also has a good description and a nice compatibility chart.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8262172#post8262172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mskohl
I too thought I wanted one of these. I thought it was cool when it was dark to see just the white spots swimming past. But the same LFS mentioned in the other thread said that I shouldn't get this one.

Maybe you should look into this :

Flashlight Fish (Anomalops katoptron)

 

[papagimp]

We need better LFS employees, The guy who sold me this particular damsel said "they may get aggressive but should do fine with your tank and tankmates". Confirmed what the books I read said, i guess everyone was wrong. He seems friendly right now, lol, except the female ocellaris doesn't like him coming near her euyphyllia (she hosts with all of them! 4 different species)

 

[djc1026]

Damsels are cool with the right tankmates. I have a three stripe damsel, maroon clown, niger trigger and a coral beauty. Everyone is so busy watching their six, no one fights

Dave

 

[captbunzo]

I have a yellow-tailed damsel in my 55g tank in Ardmore. It is a lot of fun and pretty well behaved...