Clown Fish/ Blue Tailed Damsel

[ReefRookie]

I'm new to salt water aquariums and I've purchased two fish to live in my new set up. The person at the store told me they would live well together but since then I've been told otherwise by people. The first fish is a very small clown fish about an inch in length the second is a yellow tailed damsel who is smaller yet and only half an inch in length. What I've heard is the damsel may actually kill the clown fish. They are the only two fish in the aquarium (two feet by one foot and one and a half feet high) along with a star fish and some snails. They dont seem to be aggressive towards each other at this time- but I would like to know what I should look for behavior wise to prevent any unfortunate occurrences or if anyone has an idea of how compatible they actually are together.

[rastaangel]

Ive always had clowns and damsels together...
The catch is the damsels sometimes become very aggresive and terratorial when they get bigger

[jtbadco]

The problem with Damsels is that they become very territorial once they are comfortable in the tank.
Adding new fish after this can be problematic.
If you added them at the same time there shouldn't be an issue.
If you ever want to add new fish, you need to do it carefully with the tank lights out.

[mike31154]

First two fish in my 4 foot 77 gal were a Maroon Clown & Blue Devil Damsel, both juvenile about the same size, maybe inch & a half. Never had an issue with the two, they respected each other's space. I think Blue Devil Damsels tend to be even more agressive than the Yellow Tail variety. My Blue Devil passed on about two years ago, it had a growth on it's tail for well over a year. Finally found the carcass being consumed by clean up crew one day. Even with the thing on his tail, he could be quite the little terror towards certain other fish. The Maroon Clown is now a large female paired with a male & spawning regularly. I added a Yellow Tail Damsel a few months after the Blue Devil was gone. He's the smallest fish in the tank right now, except for the male Maroon. Being low man on the totem pole, he doesn't bother anything.

Don't know what type of clownfish yours is, but since it's currently larger than the Damsel, it should be fine. Your tank sounds fairly small so I doubt that there's space for any other fish with the two you have in there now, especially once they each stake out their territory.

[reefwars]

damsels are also quite the pain to remove later if you want to

[ReefRookie]

Thanks everyone! They were both small and I added them around the same time. They've been getting alone great and are both doing well!