Royal Gamma & Yellow tail damsel

[FishyFishy!]

Originally Posted by gobytron

serves it right.
Next time, that fish should do more research on its owner.

LOL well said.

[jostafew]

I don't agree with the above posts. While damsels as a whole are known to be scrappy I believe that certain species can be placed in a community tank. I had an established Royal Gramma and a smaller clown in my tank for a few months and added an Azure damsel (very similar to yellow tail), and while there was some showing and standing off the Gramma eventually put the damsel in its place. Clown just ignored the damsel's shows. Sadly about 6 months after that the Gramma went carpet surfing (had it just over a year at that point). The damsel is still there, and continues to play nice with the since added Canary wrasse, tiny clown goby, neon goby, and the original clown.

That being said I wouldn't recommend placing even a relatively peaceful damsel in a smaller tank with similarly behaved fish as it's important that the inhabitants have their own space. My tank is approx. 70gal (30x24x24). They shared space in the tank, but the Damsel would always give way to the Gramma who occasionally reminded the Damsel who's boss and they each had their own cave to rest in. Now that the Gramma's gone there's essentially zero conflict between the Damsel and any of the other fish.

[Reef Pilot]

I also have an Azure Damsel, and it is as peaceful as they come. Have 2 Grammas in the same tank, too, and they have always got along just fine.

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by jostafew

I don't agree with the above posts. While damsels as a whole are known to be scrappy I believe that certain species can be placed in a community tank. I had an established Royal Gramma and a smaller clown in my tank for a few months and added an Azure damsel (very similar to yellow tail), and while there was some showing and standing off the Gramma eventually put the damsel in its place. Clown just ignored the damsel's shows. Sadly about 6 months after that the Gramma went carpet surfing (had it just over a year at that point). The damsel is still there, and continues to play nice with the since added Canary wrasse, tiny clown goby, neon goby, and the original clown.

That being said I wouldn't recommend placing even a relatively peaceful damsel in a smaller tank with similarly behaved fish as it's important that the inhabitants have their own space. My tank is approx. 70gal (30x24x24). They shared space in the tank, but the Damsel would always give way to the Gramma who occasionally reminded the Damsel who's boss and they each had their own cave to rest in. Now that the Gramma's gone there's essentially zero conflict between the Damsel and any of the other fish.

And so after so long in the tank, what do you think chased your gramma right on to the carpet?
probably your damsel my friend.

You also had an advantage over the OP in that you had your grammas in the tank first...which can mke a huge difference in territorial issues but in your case, only for about 6 months.

It's an unfair match, Damsels bite and tear in their aggression, Grammas are more of a displayer and open their mouths wide in a territorial display. Compared to Damsels, they are pacifists and not equipped to defend themselves in the same way.

[jostafew]

Gobytron, that's a fair assumption (that the Gramma jumped due to the Damsel), but if you watched the behaviour in the tank for any amount of time you'd see that if anything it was the Damsel that should've jumped. As for physical damage, it was the Damsel that had some rips in its fins for the first week or two, not the Gramma. Now of course every fish is different and maybe I was just lucky but that was my experience.

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by jostafew

Gobytron, that's a fair assumption (that the Gramma jumped due to the Damsel), but if you watched the behaviour in the tank for any amount of time you'd see that if anything it was the Damsel that should've jumped. As for physical damage, it was the Damsel that had some rips in its fins for the first week or two, not the Gramma. Now of course every fish is different and maybe I was just lucky but that was my experience.

I think, had you done much due diligence on your tanks inhabitants prior to purchase, you'd still have a gramma.

[jostafew]

Well that's your opinion and I respect it. But for the record I am not the type of person to see a pretty fish and buy it, then find out it's completely unsuitable for their tank. I take the selection of livestock very seriously.

That is where I will stop on this as I do not want to tie up someone elses thread trying to prove my own point.