DAMSELS what is your opinion on them

[tt101]

yeaaaahhhh i think im going to stay the HELL away from now on.......too bad though. can you imagine if they were not aggressive how popular they would be

[tt101]

im just reading some peoples expriences online and some people even call them peaceful......this is so not fair. i dont wanna risk it but if i do and it works out then im very lucky.......UGHGHGH

[dc4]

Originally Posted by tt101

im just reading some peoples expriences online and some people even call them peaceful......this is so not fair. i dont wanna risk it but if i do and it works out then im very lucky.......UGHGHGH

The problem is that once you add them to the tank, if they dont work out, you will be tearing up your rockwork to catch them.

[cichlid000]

Think they tolerate the fish they are used to, but hard to introduce new fish afterwards once they are grown. Mine is with 2 clowns and he is fine with them, but I'll put my scraper in there to clean the algae off the sides of the tank and he is attacking it, and I mean attacking & bumping it. Its so much bigger then he is, that I couldn't imagine if it was another fish!

[bauder1986]

The odd damsel you will find to be very peaceful but for the most part, most damsels are @ssholes and can be very disruptive to a tank

[paddyob]

There is a reason they are cheaper than a Big Mac.

An even bigger red flag is that people GIVE them away.

[mike31154]

The yellow tailed blue damsel in my 77 gal is low man on the totem pole. Spawning Maroon clownfish pair, Yellow tang, & Singapore angelfish all keep him in line. Don't really know the outcome in anyone's particular tank, so that's probably why it's best to avoid them. The female Maroon & a Blue Devil damsel were the first two additions when I started the system & they pretty much stayed out of each other's hair. That Blue Devil was way more aggressive than the yellow tail I currently have. But like you, I really admire the blue colour. The Blue Devil died a couple years after developing some cancerous looking growth on it's tail fin. The current Yellow tail was a kind donation from another reefer & I'm happy to have him for the colour he adds.

Chromis are much less aggressive & also belong to the damsel clan, but alas, they're nowhere near as colourful. I had a group of three for a while but they all died eventually. Larger ones started picking on the smaller, one got isolated from the group & then they were all gone.

[Reef Pilot]

Get an Azure Damsel. They are colorful, but don't share the aggressive traits of their other Damsel cousins. I have one, and he is always been a model citizen with his tank mates.

[Coasting]

Very interested in this topic....
How do you guys think a 30-40gal tank would do with a few yellow tails? Do you think it would be possible, how long would it be "nice" for? Any chance a sleeper goby of some sort would survive in there with just damsels?

[Flash]

i have a 25gl at work with a orange skunk clown and two damsels... everyone is fine!