We set up our tank (46 gal) with a good amount of live rock and 3 damsels. I first got 2 yellow tailed blues, got an itty bit amount of ammonia (0.5) which increased no further after a week and a half. Advice I got was to increase the bioload, so I did get one more fish - a green chromis. He was the only one left in a tank of yellowtailed blues and looked healthy. He seems to be acclimating well; when first introduced, there was some chasing around, but no serious picking, and things settled down fairly quickly.
Now I know there are fishless ways to cycle; our first book had a detailed outline for the live rock + fish method so for better or worse that's what we're doing. My questions focus on the fish themselves.
Before I got these guys I tried to do my homework and look into the temperaments of what I would purchase. I wanted the first fish to be inexpensive (for the cycling) but also a potential member of a community tank. I stayed away from species noted to be aggressive. These two species, from what I read, seemed to be the more peaceful members of the group. Now I'm reading all these comments on this board about how nasty damsels are.
I would invite comments about these 2 particular species. Has anyone tried to integrate small numbers of these in a community tank, and what success or failures did you experience? What other species did you try to mix with them?
Now I know there are fishless ways to cycle; our first book had a detailed outline for the live rock + fish method so for better or worse that's what we're doing. My questions focus on the fish themselves.
Before I got these guys I tried to do my homework and look into the temperaments of what I would purchase. I wanted the first fish to be inexpensive (for the cycling) but also a potential member of a community tank. I stayed away from species noted to be aggressive. These two species, from what I read, seemed to be the more peaceful members of the group. Now I'm reading all these comments on this board about how nasty damsels are.
I would invite comments about these 2 particular species. Has anyone tried to integrate small numbers of these in a community tank, and what success or failures did you experience? What other species did you try to mix with them?