love my damsels and wanna keep them

[harrypotter41]

Greetings all, I'm new here and intend to hang out for awhile. I have just finished cycling my 55 gallon tank and love my blue damsels. We have 4 of them. I know there aggressive. Can you guys recommend ANYTHING to put with them if I wanted to keep them or do I need to part ways with the little guys?
thanks so much,
casey

 

[liquafaction]

I would recomend getting an eal, or a trigger........ lol....... I am just kidding.

 

[harrypotter41]

dude don't do that..I would have believed you!

 

[widdledink]

Right now I have the following in my 75G

1 - Blue Damsel
3 - 3 striped Damsels
1 - Lawnmower Bleanie
1 - Yellow Tang
Handful of Blue Legged Hermits
1 - Mexican Turbo Snail

They have been together for about a month now and everyone has been happy. I do have alot of LR in the tank for the Damsels to hid in and call their own. Not many fights have broken out as of yet because of the places to hide.

But as soon as my tank is a bit more stable...I just moved it...I will be getting a sml porqupine puffer. As he grows I am sure the damsels will become lunch but untill then they are great to look at.

IMHO Damsels are on the utilitarian side of the hobby. Great to cycle a tank and then they loose their use. (I am sure there are some that disagree) There are far better fish out there then Damsels...Like Pourqupine Puffers IMHO

 

[RustyRay]

What An Attitude!

Wow. It great that you can reduce Damselfish to utilitarian status. No wonder coral reefs are doomed to destruction. But as long as you have ostentatious fish that entertain you or that match your curtains you are happy. Oh what a wonderful world it is. "There are no boring subjects, just boring people".

But I'll stop my rant here.

 

[super bob]

this is my suggestion. i have had damsels before and when i introduced fish i did it in pairs or groups because they didn't seem to bother the new arrivals too much. i put in a single clown and my damsels were very aggresive towards him and i had to remove him, then i bought two of them and put them in and the damsels didn't seem to bother them too much. you can expect a nip or two from the damsels at first but if it continues for a week or 2 take the new fish out or the damsels

 

[OrionGirl]

As I see it, there are 2 problems. One, the damsels agression towards other fish. Two, their aggression towards each other. As juveniles, the aggression is pretty muted, and some fish never become aggressive. Once the fish hit about 6 months, they most likely will become a problem--and you may be left with just one or two. If you add fish now, this will help down the line, especially if you stick with larger fish that have different feeding habits than the damsels.

I have a blue damsel in my tank that has always been a model citizen. A 3 stripe damsel was removed--he was overtly hostile to every single fish he was around.

 

[jloventh]

I cycled both of my tanks with Blue and stripped damsels. They are so territorial that when I introduced new fish the new fish couldn't even find a corner to be left alone in. Eventually had to give in and take them out. Good luck catching them, it took me over and hour to catch the 4 I had.

Jeff

 

[Gealcath]

If you move decorations around in the aquarium it lowers the aggressiveness because it disrupts territory boundries (basically they think they have to mark new territory)

 

[MonoSebaelover]

Gealcath- that does work with all but Damsels and triggers. Damsels are mean little suckers and if you really want to keep them then I highly suggest setting up a small quarentine tank, putting the Damsels in there, rearrange the tank some, add the fish you want then put the damsels back in. I have 2 Blue Devils in my 209 that contains a bunch of Triggs with the Qeens being largest at 6 inches and the little 1.5 inch damsels can hold their own against them. That is an impressive sight. There was once a great saying that if Damsels grew to the size of Sharks there would be no sharks. Anyway, hope this helps.