Damselfish high-five??? Secret handshake??

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BucketFish

BucketFish

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May 22, 2012
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Recently dropped a second damselfish into my biocube 29....once both of them met, for about the first 5 minutes of being in the tank...the two damsels would stare, circle each other...and then do this thing where they would rub on each other, slap tail fins and circle around...this did not go on with any of the other fish and I've never seen fish do this before. What the heck did I just watch?



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XanAvaloni

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Was the first damsel the only fish in the tank at the time? If so he would have considered the whole space his territory. Now comes a second, and they both have to figure out who gets what. Top bunk/bottom bunk? I wouldn't go so far as to call it aggression since you mention no actions that would cause damage, but definitely a dominance contest. Was either fish noticeably larger than the other? Do you know the gender of either one?

As territorial as damsels are said to be, this sounds like a pretty promising beginning for co-habitants. I guess the real question is what happened in the NEXT five minutes, and behavior since then? I never kept them so don't know what "aggressive" behavior would look like, fin flaring or charging or what. It might become challenging to add more fish, of the same or different species now, since both the damsels will have staked out their "halves" of the territory (one might be larger than the other depending on the outcome of the dominance discussion) and not likely to look favorably on further intrusions.

hope all goes well. :)
 
BucketFish

BucketFish

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May 22, 2012
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Nope, not the only fish...there's a clown, royal gramma, firefish, and some gobies in the reef too. The gobies all seem to live under one rock together (the Yasha's not always thrilled about it..) and the clown is kind of an oddball about his territory. This damsel is my final addition for now, but the earlier (three dot domino damsel btw) is the only fish that has really cared about anybody new joining the tank this time. No idea what gender these fish are, but they are equally sized damsels...

The following five minutes: chasing, territory claiming...usual silly fish business...and since then everyone's getting along fine. I have succeeded in putting together a compatible reef...i just find it noteworthy when the animals do something funny. Had never seen two fish touch tails and dance like that before...

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greech

greech

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Did they do a chest bump too :)? Glad its working out.
 
BucketFish

BucketFish

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damsel #1: (new one) on right



Damsel#2: top right

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Ptrick125

Ptrick125

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BucketFish said:


damsel #1: (new one) on right



Damsel#2: top right

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Click to expand...
It could be aggression, I would watch for marks on the fin, and if they do fight I would try to return it...

Is the new one a domino damselfish?


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