i got a mated pair of 4 stripe damsels today....need some help!

[fishkid6692]

i went to a lfs today and they had a mated pair of 4 stripe damsels. i bought them and i put them in there own 20g tank. when they lay eggs how long does it take for them to hatch. has anyone had success raising these before? what should i feed the babies when they hatch? is it like raising clownfish? thanks! and any other info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[fishkid6692]

bump!

 

[Don-Coraleone]

bro if they do spawn it will be every 2 to 2 1/2 weeks.

 

[fishkid6692]

lol finally some help! thanks! is it just like raising clowns? the male is doing a shimmy thing to the female so hopefully they will spawn soon!

 

[dorm_reefer21]

its similar since clowns are damsels as well, so just do as you would with clowns and you shall be fine.

 

[ShannHell]

I think damsels are more difficult than clowns. There is a small section about damsels in the Complete Illustrated Breeder's Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes by Matthew L Wittenrich, and the book is great, so I recommend that you buy/borrow that to read through. he doesnt mention much or anything about Dascyllus melanurus (assuming thats what you mean by four stripe damsel) but here's a few notes about other damsels that are in the book:
Dascyllus eggs require about 3 days to hatch, and larvae meaure about 2 mm upon hatching. The yolk is completely depleted so feeding needs to begin the morning after the hatch. You will need to add greenwater to keep the larvae away from the rearing tank sides. First feeding is the bottleneck, and it seems that rotifers, although often accepted by many species, are inadequate and mortalities are very high--typically around day 8. However, the successful reports of rearing for Chrysiptera species stated that rotifers and artemia were used. If I were you, I would look into getting some S strain and L strain rotifers to have on hand. You may also need to look into culturing other foods and there's a sticky thread on the top of the forum that goes into how to do so. Good luck!

 

[fishkid6692]

what other cultures do i need? what other foods should i try? i have that book and i am reading it right now. is there anyone on RC that has raised these successfully?

 

[tcmfish]

Wild plankton would be the way to go. Damsels are definately not like clowns and are very difficult a lot of your success will be based on food and larval tank design.

 

[fishkid6692]

is it possible to raise them or is it almost impossible? any info would be great!

 

[tcmfish]

Shanhell already gave you good info. They are very hard.

 

[billsreef]

Kind of funny seeing everyone say damsels are not like clowns After all, Clownfish (Amphripion and Premnas) are but 2 genera within the rather large family of Damsel's In the case of Dascyllus sp., as it's been mentioned, they hatch earlier and smaller than clownfish. This makes them more of a challenge than clowns and other fish that have long development times as eggs and hatch larger. S strain rotifers are going to be your best bet.