DAMSELS what is your opinion on them

[Flash]

that's how I got my for free.. they were too fast for the lion and eel! loL!

[Coasting]

Just get one Yellowtail. Two, even three can work, but if it doesn't, you're throwing away a fish and adding a spot of grief to your life.

Ive heard just as many conflicting stories about keeping a small group of chromis in a tank as a small group of damsels, at least with the damsels I get more colour then the green chromis.

So it would be either a few Damsel or a few Chromis. Ideally with something to clean the sand..... But the idea of a school of silver fish doesn't really appeal to me, which is why I was leaning towards a few damsel instead, unless I could do a variety of single chromis?

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by Coasting

Ive heard just as many conflicting stories about keeping a small group of chromis in a tank as a small group of damsels, at least with the damsels I get more colour then the green chromis.

So it would be either a few Damsel or a few Chromis. Ideally with something to clean the sand..... But the idea of a school of silver fish doesn't really appeal to me, which is why I was leaning towards a few damsel instead, unless I could do a variety of single chromis?

Long-term Chromis schools tend to deteriorate into a single pair unless, as I mentioned earlier, you have a large tank (200+ gallons), a really big school (20ish+) and something that harasses them. Chromis do not school in the sense that something like a freshwater Cardinal Tetra does. That is, they don't school because they're socially docile. They have a pecking order that is only maintained due to the constant threat of predation. Subtract that from the equation and they just end up behaving as any damsel would.

A good example would be my buddy Fooser. He threw something like 30 Chromis into his 300 gallon tank. There's now two. It looks really stupid. I'll see if he can chime in here for ya.

Edit: If you REALLY want something that schools, grab some Blue Eyed Cardinals. They tend to form pretty stable schools and look AWESOME when they're older.

[Coasting]

Im not interested in them for the schooling aspect at all which is why I was also inquiring about a few different types of chromis (like say blue/green, bicolour, orange line, etc) but just 1 of each. Part of what I'm looking at is the cost of the fish too (as bad as that sounds) I have ideas for this tank as well as the future hopefully larger one, and I want to keep the small one more for my coral, but I want to toss in a few inexpensive fish that will add some life to the tank which is why I initally though of 3-4 yellowtail damsels or 3-4 different chromis... Added at the same time. But not if their just going to up and kill each other. Theres so much conflicting information on them out there.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by Coasting

Im not interested in them for the schooling aspect at all which is why I was also inquiring about a few different types of chromis (like say blue/green, bicolour, orange line, etc) but just 1 of each. Part of what I'm looking at is the cost of the fish too (as bad as that sounds) I have ideas for this tank as well as the future hopefully larger one, and I want to keep the small one more for my coral, but I want to toss in a few inexpensive fish that will add some life to the tank which is why I initally though of 3-4 yellowtail damsels or 3-4 different chromis... Added at the same time. But not if their just going to up and kill each other. Theres so much conflicting information on them out there.

You can pretty much count on the difference between species being a non-factor when it comes to aggression. A damsel is very often a damsel towards other damsels, haha.

When you're looking at information, especially in this hobby, look for trends. Don't accept the exception just because you WANT it to be true. Might as well set up a personal charity for donations to your favorite LFS at that point :P

[Coasting]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

You can pretty much count on the difference between species being a non-factor when it comes to aggression. A damsel is very often a damsel towards other damsels, haha.

When you're looking at information, especially in this hobby, look for trends. Don't accept the exception just because you WANT it to be true. Might as well set up a personal charity for donations to your favorite LFS at that point :P

Sure a damsel is a damsel towards other species of damsel, and chromis are related to damsel but that doesnt say what will happen with 4 species of chromis in 1 tank, kept as singles. Since their not the same species they shouldnt school so they shouldnt pick off the weak fish in the school right?

As with the damsels from what youre saying it seems better to stick with the Pomacentrus, and from what I'm reading to avoid the Dascyllus at all costs.
What about the other Genus of damsels? like Paraglyphidodon, or how you said some in the same genus as the yellowtails was good

I would rather a few $4 fish not get along vs a few $20 fish
Which is why Im trying to figure out what I can do with these fish we can get for under 5 bucks... But at the same time I dont want to see anyone die lol

[beefORchicken]

domino damsel = spawn of satan
will be aggressive to all other fish
save your money & frustration and get hardy less aggresive fish, like chromis or dwarf angels

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by Coasting

Sure a damsel is a damsel towards other species of damsel, and chromis are related to damsel but that doesnt say what will happen with 4 species of chromis in 1 tank, kept as singles. Since their not the same species they shouldnt school so they shouldnt pick off the weak fish in the school right?

They'll do the same thing; pick each other off given inadequate confines. Again, Chromis are just damsels with notably reduced aggression. If you have something a little meaner that keeps them on their toes, they'll be less inclined to take each other out. But the point is moot since we're talking about a 10 gallon tank.

Originally Posted by Coasting

As with the damsels from what youre saying it seems better to stick with the Pomacentrus, and from what I'm reading to avoid the Dascyllus at all costs.
What about the other Genus of damsels? like Paraglyphidodon, or how you said some in the same genus as the yellowtails was good

If I didn't list it, it is or will become a monster. No exceptions except perhaps for Fusilier Damsels, genus Lepidozygus, but they are hard to find and require far more space than most people have available.

Originally Posted by Coasting

I would rather a few $4 fish not get along vs a few $20 fish
Which is why Im trying to figure out what I can do with these fish we can get for under 5 bucks... But at the same time I dont want to see anyone die lol

Stick with a Chrysiptera species and maybe a Chromis. At the end of the day, a 10 gallon is probably going to leave you with one or the other.

Edit: The other thing to keep in mind is variable personality...

[fooser]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

Long-term Chromis schools tend to deteriorate into a single pair unless, as I mentioned earlier, you have a large tank (200+ gallons), a really big school (20ish+) and something that harasses them. Chromis do not school in the sense that something like a freshwater Cardinal Tetra does. That is, they don't school because they're socially docile. They have a pecking order that is only maintained due to the constant threat of predation. Subtract that from the equation and they just end up behaving as any damsel would.

A good example would be my buddy Fooser. He threw something like 30 Chromis into his 300 gallon tank. There's now two. It looks really stupid. I'll see if he can chime in here for ya.

Edit: If you REALLY want something that schools, grab some Blue Eyed Cardinals. They tend to form pretty stable schools and look AWESOME when they're older.

I must agree with Albert. Not just when I tried to throw in 15 in a 50 gallon, but when I throw in a bunch to the ~350 gallon tank, both occassions resulted similarly with them breaking apart from each other, dwindling off, and the bigger one always does get frist dibs on food. Even now when I have 2 left in a 350gallon tank, the larger one eats, and the other one hovers there waiting without moving until a little bit after, and then darts after the food suddenly. So far in my experiences in this hobby, listening to Albert is 99% if not 100% the right thing to do. He knows his stuff and he has pretty much had experience keeping most type of fish available in this hobby at one time or another in his past (no exaggeration).

But if you are keeping different types of chromis, you may get some different responses varying on fish personality (like how some Flame Angels eat SPS and sometims you get lucky and they don't), but if you get unlucky and get even 1 aggressive chromis out of the 4, he may take it out on your other 3....But it is your tank, what you want to do, and I have also seen some really experienced aquarists keep fish species together that normally cant be kept together. Things like timing and conditioning your fish to certain signs helps. I have seen a guy with a 75 gallon keep achilles, lineatus and sohal tangs, all introduced at different times, and not have a problem. He did this by conditioning his fish to not be afraid of a fish trap, when he feeds them he will catch 1 fish and quarantine him out of the display, and rotate this procedure 1 at a time to all fish, so none of them get too dominant, and before adding in a new fish, will take out the most dominant one and put in the new one. The other fish dont bother the new one because none of them care, and the one that woudl care is gone,a nd when that one comes back in, they are not as aggressive... sounds weird, but works.