Damsel Advice

[roadkeel]

I have a Domino damsel that has become a terror in my tank. He is driving my other fish crazy. I have a 29g biocube. My LFS will take him back, but they don't open again until Thursday.

Would it be cruel if I caught him and put him in chamber 1 in the back of my biocube until Thursday? All I have in it is a heater.

I was also considering when I did my weekly water change instead of pouring out the water I remove from the tank, put him in the bucket with a heater and an airstone or my extra circulating pump.

I just don't have the ability to take him out and flush him. I know he would be happy if he was in a much larger tank so he could establish his own territory.

 

[Jimbo662]

Going with the bucket may be easier on you...would be easier to get him out of the bucket than out of the small chamber.

 

[AJsTank]

Do you have a cat?

 

[cutterx23]

HE WILL NOT BE ANY NICER IN ANY SIZED TANK. Those are meanest fish out. They are terrible, most damsels in general are terribly aggressive and territorial. I second the cat solution , or if you wanna be nice to it, the bucket. Or maybe a friend with a very large Tessalata.

 

[roadkeel]

OK, sad, but not too much, to say Mr Domino met his demise last night. I don't want to get into specifics other than to say we have flushed our tank of the mean fish..... I thought..

Now my clowns are fighting. They have been together for about 10 days. I have had the smallest one for over a month, but his mate I bought with him died the night we brought them home. So I bought another Ocellaris and put it in the tank. I made sure to get one that was slightly larger than the one I had. Original one is about 1" and the new one is about 1.5". Came home yesterday to find the larger one chasing the smaller one anytime it leaves the rock/sand.

When the bigger one corners the smaller one she does not try to hurt him, she just hovers over him and every once in a while I see the bigger twitch for a couple of seconds. I just hope they are working out who is in charge and after a while they will stop.

I am an extreme worrier and this is what I have observed:

1. They do not fight or chase when I feed them. They are very peaceful and just focus on eating.
2. When I turn on just my blue lights the chasing and aggressive behavior diminished greatly.
3. When the lights are off at night one stays in one corner and the other stays in another corner. I must have checked on them 5 times last night using a blue LED and they were both peaceful each time I checked.

I hope I don't come home tonight to a dead fish. If I do, I guess it's karma for getting rid of the Domino.....:squigglemouth:

 

[vlangel]

I had 2 tomato clowns that I bought together. They were the same size but one immediately began bossing the other. The bossy one got bigger, much bigger and chased the little one I bet for a year. I bought an anemone and she ( the bossy one, claimed it). She quit chasing him as much since she didn't want to leave her anemone. Eventually, probably a year and a half in she decided there weren't any other men to choose from so she finally invited him into her anemone too. He nervously went and they eventually spawned twice a month for years and years until I sold them back to the LFS as a mated pair. PS. She even bossed him while he was tending eggs. If he wandered off just a little she was chasing him back to take care of the eggs.

 

[SudzFD]

That sounds like normal clown dominant behavior.

My only concern is the larger one is twitching....typically the smaller male twitches to the larger female. This may mean they have both already become females. Watch them, but maybe you can talk to the LFS about exchanging for two new ones.

If you do get two new ones get two of approximate same size and watch their behavior in the LFS tank. Find one that's chasing everyone around, and one that consistently submits (twitches).

 

[reefchaser]

I had a mean damsel but there is no way I could kill it. That's just there nature to be aggressive. You should of read about it before you bought it.

 

[Tahoe61]

That sounds like normal clown dominant behavior.

My only concern is the larger one is twitching....typically the smaller male twitches to the larger female. This may mean they have both already become females. Watch them, but maybe you can talk to the LFS about exchanging for two new ones.

If you do get two new ones get two of approximate same size and watch their behavior in the LFS tank. Find one that's chasing everyone around, and one that consistently submits (twitches).

Both clowns will twitch, the male much more so than a dominate female but they will both do it. Basically I do not think all twitches are submissive. Clownfish communication so who knows.

 

[roadkeel]

I had a mean damsel but there is no way I could kill it. That's just there nature to be aggressive. You should of read about it before you bought it.

The damsel was my first fish and he was more or less the guienea pig. He was given to me by the LFS after my tank had cycled for 4 weeks to see how my tank reacted to life other than the CUC. I kept him alone for 3 weeks checking the water parameters every 3 days to look for any changes. I know that is probably not a good test, being only 1 fish, but if I screwed up my water and killed a fish, I would rather it be a free fish rather than a $40 clown.

 

[ReefMadScientist]

Don't get one. That is my advice.

 

[roadkeel]

The larger one's aggressive behavior got a little worse last night. I had added a mushroom and a polyp frag and while I was putting them in the tank she was constantly nipping at my hand and arm.

So then I was sitting in front of the tank looking how the fish reacted to the new stuff and I saw the big one grab the little one by the tail and shake him. I actually had to tap on the glass to get it to let it go. The small one does not seem injured though and he ate really good this morning. I saw him actually take a small piece of brine shrimp and put it on the mushroom. I think he was a little confused.. I probably need to add something a little more leafy for him to host if that is what he was trying to do with the mushroom.

I turned the lights off early last night and everything calmed down and when I left for work this morning I only switched on the 3 blue LEDs that came with the tank.

 

[Tahoe61]

Grabing by the tail or fin and shaking is normal too. When you see the female quickly dart and the submissive fish flee to a corner then you might have a problem. Basically if all the female is doing is chasing down the smaller fish than you have an issue. The dominate fish should tolerate the male in her territory even if she is showing some aggression. If she is not tolerating the smaller fish in her territory its time to intervene.

Damsels/Domino fish do not grow on trees, there is not an unlimited supply. Regardless of their monetary value they should not be used to cycle a tank or test a tanks ability to sustain livestock, that is what tests kits and patience is for. Just for future reference.

 

[roadkeel]

I agree they don't grow on trees. But also I could have let it cycle for a year never adding any life other than the CUC and my parameters would likely remain steady with maybe the exception of the salinity changing due to evaporation. Something had to be the first fish in the tank.

Kind of like when 99% of us first learned to drive. We weren't given the keys to a new Porsche and sent on our way, we were given something less expensive in case something went wrong. I also think that over 50% of the time when someone's tank gets off, it is first noticed by a life form acting or appearing different. Unless you test everyday the law of averages will eventually catch up with you and something will spike or drop between test days.

 

[ReefMadScientist]

I agree they don't grow on trees. But also I could have let it cycle for a year never adding any life other than the CUC and my parameters would likely remain steady with maybe the exception of the salinity changing due to evaporation. Something had to be the first fish in the tank.

Kind of like when 99% of us first learned to drive. We weren't given the keys to a new Porsche and sent on our way, we were given something less expensive in case something went wrong. I also think that over 50% of the time when someone's tank gets off, it is first noticed by a life form acting or appearing different. Unless you test everyday the law of averages will eventually catch up with you and something will spike or drop between test days.

The myths about using fish, frozen shrimp, etc. to cycle a tank is not necessary. If you have Live Rock and a good sand bed, the tank would take care of itself. Usually people think they need a huge Ammonia spike, hence the rotting shrimp or using a damsel to poop, but that is not necessary.

 

[cpt]

the larger majority of damsels are aggressive, regardless of their "classification" semi-aggressive/aggressive always assume they will be aggressive, not just with damsels ALL fish. anyways best of luck to you, cycling process takes time that's all

 

[SudzFD]

Just to give a perspective.

My male is the only one that bites me. He nips at my hand as soon as a finger is in the water. The female has never done this. She is dominant over the male but my experience is the male is the defender of the anemone/territory.

So that makes me further think you may have 2 males.

 

[Tahoe61]

Just to give a perspective.

My male is the only one that bites me. He nips at my hand as soon as a finger is in the water. The female has never done this. She is dominant over the male but my experience is the male is the defender of the anemone/territory.

So that makes me further think you may have 2 males.

All clowns start out as sexually immature and stay that way until an opportunity opens up. When a dominate female position opens up (the female dies) a clown will whether it be a dominate male in the group, or any of the subservient sexually immature clowns becomes the dominate female. When you have a lone clown is will become a female (protandric hermaphrodites). When you have two young clowns (sexually immature) one will become the female and one will become a dominate male. Males are much more benign than females aggression wise. The typical squabbling you see is one clowns exhibiting the change to the dominate female. Through out their life span the female may at times feel the need to remind the lesser male of his place. There will be fights but this behavior usually subsides in a few days.