Damsels in Reef tank

[Lousybreed]

Go for it!

 

[1stNoel]

If you're looking for a school of fish, why not go with lyretail anthias? Just a thought...

 

[fattiremike]

I have a 5' 120 gallon that is mostly sps and a couple of lps. I have 14 blue/green chromis in my tank. I started with 15 but my Niger trigger was very excited about the snacks I got for him. I caught him before he did much damage. He was cool, but I like the shoal more than the trigger. I buy them when they are tiny. My take is that if you have a bunch of them, then the aggression is spread out. I also have lyretail anthias. Big difference. Blue/green chromis - 6 bucks. Anthias - 30 bucks. Anthias are ok if they are sexed correctly. I had a male that was as orange as the females with a tiny spike and I couldn't see the spots on his fins because they were the same color as he was. He kept killing every male that I put in there. When I caught him and put him in my fuge, I finally saw the spots and the light bulb went on. Lyretails are vicious if the harem isn't right and they will quickly kill each other. Do the research if you are going Anthias. Chromis are so easy. Damsels are so aggressive that I avoid them. I have tried many times with little success, and I have been reefing for close to 20 years.

 

[Backreefing]

I have a small sps tank mature 18 years neglected until last October I started with a blue ( devel ) demsel. Then a 6 line wrass . The blue demsel is terrible aggressive and killed a Talbot demsel. I caught it ( whew ) and put her in another aquarium. Got 3 Chromis . Do you think I can reintroduce the blue demsel in a few weeks or months? Once there is at least 5-7 fish ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

No damsels for me. Colorful and active they are But once they turn to the dark side- GOOD LUCK CATCHING THEM!

 

[johnthehermit]

I have eight Allens damsels. They do sometimes chase each other but no harm done. Beautiful active fish that don't bully any other tank mates. I think some of the chasing is courtship behaviour as the larger ones seem to be trying to lure the smaller ones into the giant barnacle shells. They keep the sand turned over as they like to dig looking for food and creating sleeping holes.
John

 

[Sassifrass7]

From Liveaquaria.com....."Like many of the other damselfish within the Chrysiptera genus, it can become aggressive towards slower moving tank mates. Be sure the aquarium has plenty of live rock for territories and hiding."
I've also had damsels and I would never get another one, and definitely not a group. I had 3 in my 150 gallon tank, they were the "docil" ones,...blue/green chromis. They were the pissiest nastiest fish I have ever had. They chased everything in the tank,....and went after my hands if I was working in the tank. They fought each other continuously for territory. Sorry, I don't think any of them are non-aggressive.

 

[Bossman]

I have a 180g and wanted a small group of damsels or chromis. I've been looking at Blue reef chromis, CB Azure Damsels or Alleni Damsels. Any feedback or advice? I'm thinking of adding 3-5.

I put 3 of the Springer Damsels in my Red Sea 260. These are supposed to be some of the less aggressive of the Damsels. Beautiful deep blue color. But if these are the peaceful Damsels I'd hate to have the aggressive ones. They put my purple firefish in permanent hiding until he finally died of starvation. Chased every other fish around. One of the Damsels was attacked and killed by the other two one day so there are only two in the tank now. The Damsels also pick up sand and litter it over the corals and rock for some reason.

For my 425 I added 3 Blue Reef Chromis. IMO just as attractive as the Springers. No aggression towards other fish in the tank.

Maybe in a more aggressive species stocked tank they would do better. But, I'll never put a Damsel in one of my tanks again.

 

[ca1ore]

Really just requires a bit of common sense in terms of tank size, aquascape and tank mates. Nobody has said chrysiptera damsels aren’t aggressive; some, like the aptly names blue devil are probably best avoided. Indeed, any fish can be aggressive under certain circumstances. With damsels it’s more likely to be within their group than outside; but aagain it depends on the other fish. I keep a fish population that skews to the more aggressive end, my tank is huge and has a ton of hiding spots and I have a large enough group of damsels that they exclusively bicker within that group. Like I said, just a bit of common sense (or maybe experience lol)

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I currently have a lemon Chromis and it is pretty chill towards all of my fish except for my little frostbite clown, but the clown has done a good job holding it's own so the Chromis is not that mean in the grand scheme of things.

I've owned yellow tails, a Talbot's, and a Fiji Blue-Devil, the Blue-Devil being the only mistake

 

[silvernblackr35]

I've had a trio of Springer's in my 180gal reef for 2 years now. I have never witnessed them going after another fish, they do get a little chippy with each other depending on the day but they aren't relentless about it like when fish really hate each other. They are also constantly spawning every 10 days or so like clownfish.

I have also personally witnessed them eating those brown photosynthetic flatworms right off the glass.

 

[McPuff]

I've had a chromis and a Talbott's damsel for a few years. The last two have been in a 300. Currently taking 2 azure and 1 half black through TTM and then QT. As long as that addition goes well (which it should), I may add a few more different types, or just more of the same. They are so bright and active and should be nice additions. Add to that, they are cheap and hardy. They will be the smallest fish in the tank so I'm not worried about them bringing additional aggression either.

 

[Pikey27]

I have eight Allens damsels. They do sometimes chase each other but no harm done. Beautiful active fish that don't bully any other tank mates. I think some of the chasing is courtship behaviour as the larger ones seem to be trying to lure the smaller ones into the giant barnacle shells. They keep the sand turned over as they like to dig looking for food and creating sleeping holes.
John

I'm a big fan of the Allen's!

 

[Larry L]

I love having a bunch of damsels in a tank, they're colorful and active and hardy and (for the most part) cheap. You just have to pick the less aggressive ones. I have an 80 gallon setup with 3 captive bred Kupang/Azure, 3 ORA captive bred Lemons, and 2 Talbot's, plus a black bar Chromis. They spend most of the day bickering amongst themselves but don't really bother anybody else. I think the ORA Lemons are my current favorite for color and personality.

I think the trick to keeping them happy is to put them in a tank with a lot of rock with enough hiding places that they can stake out as their own - mine is separated into a couple bommies so often one or two of each species claims each bommie. They especially seem to like swimming through and hiding in branching corals like stags, which also probably give some visual clue of territory boundaries and break up the space in the tank. I don't think they'd do nearly as well if you put the same group of fish in a tank with just a pile of rock in it.

 

[Rollster]

Damsels are EVIL!! I bought 4 to cycle my first tank 10 years ago, the blue with the yellow tail, at the end of the water cycle time only one survived. that little little punk stressed and killed every fish I put in the tank. I lost tons of money on fish, and at the end my patience! A year later, I had to tear down the whole tanks just to get him out, drained the tank and took the rocks out just to catch him. just DON'T DO IT!

 

[Larry L]

Damsels are EVIL!!

Some are, some aren't - you just need to choose wisely.

 

[Nburg's Reef]

I have a yellow tail that is fine and 3 ORA lemon damsles. The lemons are the biggest wusses in the tank and I ended up removing 2 of the three because the clowns chase them constantly. The 2 are in a 15g that chase eachother but im suspecting just part of their nature because both fish are fat and never frayed or nipped fins. They also never hide from eachother either. They've never chased another species tho, only eachother. The reef farm i got them from reported similar results.

 

[erk]

I have 7 damsels. 3 Talbot, 3 scissortail(Neopomacentrus bankieri), and 1 lone blue chromis in my 40B. I love them all.

I originally bought 5 scissortails, knowing one was iffy on making it since it didn't look too healthy, but wanted to give it a chance. Eventually I was left with 2 males and 1 female. The two males are huge, beautiful with long streamers, and have a slight iridescence to them. The female still has a lot of yellow and is about half the size of the males. She spawns with one of them every month like clockwork. Very personable and active fish.

The talbots are my absolute favorite. The coloring and shape is great. They are very active. The main thing I didn't realize is that they are burrowers. They burrow more than the sand sifting goby I used to have. For such a small fish, they move a lot of sand and rock. Even if you hate damsels, this is the one damsel I would recommend everyone keep. By far the easiest and most fun, in my experience. Aggression is very minimal and they don't fight with other fish. Watching them burrow and then the other fish come and see what all the fuss is about is great. My melanaurus likes to follow them and grab a quick meal when the sand starts to fly.

The lone chromis is the only remnant of my attempt to keep blue chromis years ago. I don't recommend people keep blue chromis as they are like anthias and require a lot of food. They aren't very good at competing with my other fish either. They need the constant supply of food in the water column to keep them fat and happy. Don't like large particles. Prefer the small planktonic size stuff. If you can do that, then you are golden. If you are the type that is afraid to feed your tank more than once a week because it might cause an increase in NO3, then don't keep them. I think chromis would do great in a NPS tank where phyto and plankton is being dripped in constantly.

 

[dansreef]

I have a trio of Springeri Damsels in my 180 mixed reef. I have had them for a while now. They are pretty shy and reclusive as they are in a tank with bigger fish. I have never seen any aggression from them on each other or any of the other fish including Anthias, Clowns, Mandarine, Tangs and a BJ Trigger. They have been model citizens. They have stayed pretty small. They don't shoal but rather have small areas of rock they live in and around. Their colors are really nice deep iridescent blues.

 

[Larry L]

3 scissortail(Neopomacentrus bankieri)

Wow, those look nice, had not seen them before.