I want a damsel

[GOSKN5]

So I'm stocking my 74 gallon tower (24x24x30) I want a blue fish that's an open water swimmer with action...

Current stock is black snowflake clown, flame hawkfish, orchid dottyback, pink spot goby.

I want to add a damsel as my last fish..

Considering starcki, orangetail, or springers, possibly azure...

I understand these are generally less aggressive.. any thoughts on which is better.. less likely to go nuts etc??

Really like the orangetail as #1...

 

[Sk8r]

Blue Fiji Devil is a pretty good citizen. They are an up and down swimmer, all over the water column. And quite bright blue. I run a damsel tank, multiples, (except the 8 day power out from which I am building back my crew) and typically there is one boss, who spends all her time swaggering about, and the rest just move out of her way and otherwise ignore her. A 100 is requisite if you're going to have more than one, but a single Fiji Blue or any of the ones you named should be polite in a 75. The ones to watch out for are, in general, the dascyllus species: body shape, manners, and probably genetics akin to the tomato clownfish: cranky and pushy and wanting a lot of territory. THe chrysipteras are much milder, as a type.

 

[o2manyfish]

I have all the ones you listed together in a community tank and they are all well behaved.

The starkii gets substantially bigger than the rest, but the Starkii is usually a very mellow fish. The orangetails are great, I have 4 of them sometimes they are together and sometimes they are all spread out, but not aggressive unless they are hanging in a hole or cave and then they protect the opening.

The Springeri damsel is super mellow. I have 8-10 of them. They are super easy going and they don't have any attitude at all.

Another one to consider is the Kupang. These guys are very bright and colorful. They usually find one coral and call that home base, and try to stay as near to that as possible. You can have several of them, and as long as they each have a colony to hang out they just sit above or next to their coral and call that home.

Dave B

 

[ThRoewer]

I would vote for starki - it's a very pretty one. I have two males right now in a 10 gallon QT (separated by eggcrate) together with a neon dottyback. There is some chasing of the dottyback during feedings, but it never goes beyond chasing him away.
The two starki males will of course fight when put together. One once found a way to get into the others compartment and got his fins shredded.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

This is the only damsel I want. Starcki

 

[ThRoewer]

This is the only damsel I want. Starcki

The only issue with them is that you don't find them very often, and when they are often quite large (= males).
I'm still looking for females.

 

[T Haynes]

No you don't. They're *** holes

 

[Atilla_87]

No you don't. They're *** holes

This has been my experience as well. I had a couple of orange tails. They harrassed every fish in the tank, no matter how much bigger they were. They killed my royal gramma and dottyback before I finally managed to trap them and get rid of them. Maybe I got unlucky, but it was enough to keep me from ever getting another damsel again. I would recommend chromis (which are technically in the damsel family), but are very peaceful. The blue-green is obviously more common, but I prefer the blue reef chromis.

 

[ThRoewer]

That's the issue you get when keeping them alone - you end up with a frustrated male that has nothing else to do but harass everyone else.
If you keep them in pairs or harem groups they are way too busy with themselves to harass other fish.
At least that is my experience.

 

[Atilla_87]

I added 4 orange tails when I had them. Three of them ganged up on the 4th one and killed it the first day. Then the remaining 3 spent the rest of their time harassing all of the other fish in my tank. They never seemed to bother each other though.

 

[Atilla_87]

Here is a picture of the blue reef chromis I was talking about. They look really cool schooling together.

 

[GOSKN5]

Blue reef chromis is nice.. but not really what I'm looking for.. the blue doesn't seem as impressive in person that I have seen..

I love the starcki just can't seem to find one... I'm hoping one of the orangetail or springers will be the ticket... springers seems like safest bet for mellow

 

[Dkuhlmann]

The Starcki is said to be the most laid back and least aggressive of all of the damsels. So they say

 

[Achilles Torben]

My starckii lost the bright yellow coloration after a few days. Now they are yellow grey. Somebody make the same experience?

 

[Big E]

Cooks Island Deepwater Canary is spectacular (Chrysiptera galba).

Pictures don't do them justice.........Bright yellow with flowing fins and awesome blue lines in the eyes. The scales also have a pinkish hue that shows up off and on as the lighting hits them.

Great mild disposition too.

 

[GOSKN5]

Yea that canary Deepwater is awesome... I see them on DD occasionally... pricey tho

 

[fairl80z]

Don't get any black and white one, no 3 or 4 stripe. Or even dominos . These thing have wrecked my tank in the past

 

[o2manyfish]

My starckii lost the bright yellow coloration after a few days. Now they are yellow grey. Somebody make the same experience?

I have had 4 Starkii in the past 5 years. They have all kept their colors. None of them have faded to grey.

I currently have 2 and 1 is twice the size of the other one. They are usually within a few inches of each other, but the smaller one is always under a ledge or under a coral. So it's colors are not near as bright as the larger fish.


I did have what you are describing with a 'Surge Damsel'. Came across a damsel that was a beautiful Yellow with a blue bar down the middle. Grabbed it up because it was something I had never seen before. Put it in my tank and it immediately turned a charcoal grey with a light grey band down the middle. Turns out they are only pretty when they are terrified. Hated that ugly fish, but my wife loved it because it was the most active fish in the tank.

Dave B

 

[Achilles Torben]

I have had 4 Starkii in the past 5 years. They have all kept their colors. None of them have faded to grey.

I currently have 2 and 1 is twice the size of the other one. They are usually within a few inches of each other, but the smaller one is always under a ledge or under a coral. So it's colors are not near as bright as the larger fish.


I did have what you are describing with a 'Surge Damsel'. Came across a damsel that was a beautiful Yellow with a blue bar down the middle. Grabbed it up because it was something I had never seen before. Put it in my tank and it immediately turned a charcoal grey with a light grey band down the middle. Turns out they are only pretty when they are terrified. Hated that ugly fish, but my wife loved it because it was the most active fish in the tank.

Dave B

Thanks Dave for your answer. That is curious. I start with for starki and they lost colours in a few days. Than I introduce 4 more an the same happens.

You think they lost colour in the shadow? I thought it could be a problem with the served food!?

 

[ThRoewer]

Thanks Dave for your answer. That is curious. I start with for starki and they lost colours in a few days. Than I introduce 4 more an the same happens.

You think they lost colour in the shadow? I thought it could be a problem with the served food!?

What do you feed?

I have my current two in QT for quite a while now and no fading so far. I usually feed Mysis, but this tank also gets some pellets.