has any1 ever had an orange damsel that has like a blue spot up by his fin and its outlined in neon blue? if so does he get really agressive? he looke really good so i bought him
I think i know the ones your talking about. I believe DPA gets them in periodically under red honey damsels(i think). Cool looking fish. Actually there are a LOT of cool looking damsels. However, i think its safe to assume two things about most damsels. First, the are very territoral and will likely terrorize peaceful tankmates. Second, the get ugly fast. Most colorful juveniles morph into drab adults as the mature. Im sure there are several exceptions to both but in general, i think most people live to regret their damsel purchases unless the know what they’re getting into before hand.
Would agree with Shawn on both points.
I saw a really good article about damsels not too long ago I’ll have to try and dig up again, but I have to agree with Shawn. You’ve got to realize this was an impulse buy and you’ll likely kick yourself for it later. Damn damsels.
+1000 on >Damn damsels <
I have a 4.5" blue damsel and he even bullies the hermit crabs, just for the simple reason to see him yank into his shell and fall off the rocks, can eat like 5 whole krill in a sitting.
With a big FOWLR looming in the very near future, im actually thinking of getting a couple. I really like the deep water canary damsel and the ocellate/princess damsel. I know the canary doesnt loose its juvenile coloration but im not sure about the princess.
i hate damsels. i had 2 3stripes bully a domino to death. i think they also picked on my long horned cow fish and stressed it to death. DON’T DO DAMSELS!!!
ended up selling them off to petkare 2(hated them so much i didn kare if they died lOl)
i am in process of moving around stuff in my 90 reef tank just to get rid of my blue finned damsel as we speak. so i will be giving him away or to fish bowl hopfully soon. the little @SS has too go. i would love to see him eaten by a large fish to be honest.
I was thinking of a school of these purple chromis when I got the big tank up
thats a chromis? it looks a lot like an anthias to me.
im still debating on my stock list. I have a few fish locked in for sure, but the rest seem to change daily. When stocking a large FOWLR so many fish rule out the ability to keep other fish. As far as small fish go, im debating on a LARGE school of blue chromis(15+) or a smaller school of anthias(7ish). I know the anthias will likely form a harem with little chance of fish loss, but im thinking having a school of chromis with large natural predators will keep them in baitball mode.
[quote=“logans_daddy, post:11, topic:1163”]
thats a chromis? it looks a lot like an anthias to me.
im still debating on my stock list. I have a few fish locked in for sure, but the rest seem to change daily. When stocking a large FOWLR so many fish rule out the ability to keep other fish. As far as small fish go, im debating on a LARGE school of blue chromis(15+) or a smaller school of anthias(7ish). I know the anthias will likely form a harem with little chance of fish loss, but im thinking having a school of chromis with large natural predators will keep them in baitball mode.[/quote]
That’s exactly what I thought too. I sent an email to confirm to Saltwaterfish.com and they say yes.
Im pretty sure its an anthias.
Waitei Anthias
(Luzonichthys waitei)
Damsels often times can work in very large tanks with a good number of fish. Especially in FO(fish only) tanks. Though in anything smaller then ~100g they will be a bit to territorial for many more docile animals. In the majority of reef tanks though they just don’t play nice.
There is a damsel in the tank Rich keeps at Armco Aquatics that fits in well with the other animals, but all the other animals are large and it is a pretty large tank.
Shawn you should post a new thread to toss back and forth some ideas about stocking your tank. I’m starting to get a little more hands on experience with FO systems. In the past it has been one area in the hobby where I had limited experience. I actually got bit my a trigger last week.
Stocking a big FOWLR is tough. Andy and i have been tossing around some ideas but im still pretty much clueless for the most part.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:14, topic:1163”]
I actually got bit by a trigger last week. [/quote]
Man that sucks doesnt it? We used to have one at UNE that would go for the webbing between your fingers. The little #%@^ could take a chunk right out too.
Let’s not steal too much from this thread. I’ll see if I can look at a couple of tank lists and copy them to give you. Just give you some examples of animals that don’t seem to be killing each other yet. Rich has some sweet tanks set up.
[quote=“icy1155, post:16, topic:1163”]
[quote=“Gordonious, post:14, topic:1163”]
I actually got bit by a trigger last week. [/quote]
Man that sucks doesnt it? We used to have one at UNE that would go for the webbing between your fingers. The little #%@^ could take a chunk right out too. [/quote]
I got lucky I pulled away and it hardly got me. I do have a ton of other marks on my hands already though. A condy anemone and a Euphyllia coral did the worst.
well with the orange damsel i was thinking about putting him in my 25 because im mostlikely going to do my 25 as a mushroom tank and i dont see him causing harm to them… and honestly everything in my tank seems to be agressive ive got a black & white percula clown that is a dick and a psuedochromis that has the yellow body with the purple mohawk (forget exact name but he killed my fire shrimp) and i have a percula clown and a blue damsel and now also a golden head sleeper goby they all are aggressive with the exception of the goby as soon as i put the orange damsel in he was getting chased around the tank and i had to scoop him out and set him up in a breeding cup off to the side in the 90
i think most psuedochromis could make good tankmates with damsels. they can be almost as nasty. some clowns would make good tankmates as well. There are problmes though. Damsels establish very large territories relevant to their size which causes major problems for non-territorial, or peaceful fish. So althoug you might have a fish tough enough to hold its own against the constant harassment of damsels, if it doesnt have a spot that it calls home it can often stress the fish to the point of death. Although gobies are generally very peaceful, yours may be ok because they are very territoral as well. Its the peaceful free swimmers that are most vulnerable to harassment by damsels.
Although im by no means a damsel expert, i have done quite a bit of reading on social behaviors over the last years. Its something you really should understand when introducing new fish. There are a lot of myths out there when it comes to fish compatibility. I think one of the most misleading way to categorize fish is using the ubquitous peaceful, semiagressive, agressive lables. Its more important to know why the fish behaves the way it does, and not the outward appearance of the fish’s behavior. A perfect example are clowns. I remember when i first bought my maroon/GBTA years ago. EVERYONE(mostly RC) told me it was a horrible idea for my size tank. The marroons are killers, i wouldnt be able to pair them up, and it would dominate my entire tank. Unfortunately, the marroon is still characterized this way by many hobbyiest and LFS and is often labeled as an agressive fish.
I will quickly try to make my point without blabbering. What does agressive mean? Take four examples. A blue damsel, a maroon clown, a whitemouth moray eel, and an undulated trigger. All fish are typically labeld as agressive. However, their behaviors could not be more different and there are unique ways to accomodate all of these fish. What makes damsels so annoying is that they establish large territorials. If you like damsels and want damsels, you have to understand this behavior when stocking your tank. You can have small fish as tankmates with great success, if attention is applied to their social behaviors. As i mentioned, most hosting clowns will make fine tankmates, even peaceful clowns. They will protect the anemone ferociously and the damsel will typically avoid the area. With even more careful detail, it would be ideal to have the clowns/nem on either side of the tank instead of the middle. This is where the importance of aquacaping comes into play. Most people see aquascaping in terms of coral placement. Anyone that has talked with me knows that my aquascaping accomodates fish behavior first, flow enhancement second, coral placement third. With that said, almost any “agressive” clownfish will work just fine in a moderate size reef aquarium with little planning. Moving on to the other two examples, most people would never in a million years put a moray into a reef aquarium. Why not? If you understand the behavior and accomodate it, it could work fine. I know several large reef tanks that have large morays. First is the behavior that gets these guys classified as agressive. Will the eat your small tankmates? Hell yeah they will. Will they chase down your tankmates to do it? Very unlikely if you accomodate the eel. Most eels are very territorial, active at night, and very good ambush predators. If you make a “home” for your eel, keep it well fed, and choose appropriate tankmates an eel can be sucessful in a reef tank. Of course, several other factors need to be taken into consideration. It would be a poor choice in an SPS tank because of how fragile the corals are and the damage that could be done from the eel moving about the tank. The rockwork would have to be very secure for the same reasons. Even after doing all of the above, could you still lose a fish to the eel? Yup, but ive also seen a pic circulating on the net of a 3-4" hippo tank that got taken out by a 4-5" clam. Then there was one! The undulated trigger. If ever there was a fish that earned the aggressive moniker it was this guy. Putting an undulated trigger in your tank would be akin to putting a barracuda in your tank(which ironically, seem to be available in the hobby with equal frequency). These fish are murderers. The are dozens of accounts of undies killing fish just to kill them without even attempting to consume the body. Undies belong in one of two places. A species tank, or the ocean.
In conclusion, think outside of the box. Do your homework and dont be discouraged by the naysayers. If there is a fish you really want to keep, there is probably a means to keeping it sucessfully. It just might not be one your able to provide.