How many damsels?

Claus84 · Apr 27, 2018

Hi all, I'm picking up some captive bred azure damsels tomorrow for my 55g/200l (48") fowlr.

The only other inhabitants are a coral beauty and orchid dottyback.

How many should I get, I'm thinking 3 should be about right for that tank size?

thanks

Nick

DeniseAndy · Apr 27, 2018

I have only ever kept one azur and loved it. They claim odd numbers are good and 3 for that size would be good, but do not be surprised in a year or so you have one. Sometimes they will pick themselves off. Good luck. Others will more experience with azurs should chime in. I have had others and all pick themselves down to one, but I hear azurs are a bit friendlier.

Claus84 · Apr 27, 2018

DeniseAndy said:
I have only ever kept one azur and loved it. They claim odd numbers are good and 3 for that size would be good, but do not be surprised in a year or so you have one. Sometimes they will pick themselves off. Good luck. Others will more experience with azurs should chime in. I have had others and all pick themselves down to one, but I hear azurs are a bit friendlier.

Thanks, hopefully I'll get some friendly ones! I have a much larger upgrade in the work so if they can wait 12months before picking each other off I'll have a 240 for them to spread out in all being well

PatW · Apr 27, 2018

You might do ok with several of the smaller and more peaceful damsels especially if their coloration is different. I have not kept any damsels yet. I scuba dive. The only fish I have been attacked by are not immense Goliath grouper, not 8’ green morays, not 7’ Great barracudas, not 10’ sharks, nope it has been 4” damsels. They can be mindlessly aggressive.

User1 · Apr 27, 2018

I've had three in the past along with a pair of Talbots. The problem I ran into with the Azures are two fold. One made sense the other did not. When I had three two of them ended shacking up. The third one was no longer welcome and was soon beat down. Before I could catch it it was too late. This was in my 40 breeder. Anyway for about 2 years all was good until one day I woke up to a bacteria bloom or massive snail spawn that wrecked my tank. All of the fish struggled to breath and these two Azures appeared to be the worse for wear. I did a quick emergency water change, got everything cleared up and soon everyone was back to normal or so I thought. The matted pair of Azures, for 2 years mind you, suddenly lost their mind and no sooner than the tank got clear and they recovered that one started to attack the weaker one that was its other half. No idea what happened or why but that was the chain of events and I still have that one today.

Chrysiptera is the family you typically want if you are keeping multiple damsels of mixed type. Azures, Talbots, etc. At least that is what I have had experience with and/or read from others keeping multiples of them. I personally love them and will be adding a bunch to my 210 I just sent up and it matures a bit. One thing that I've noticed is that they like to keep a little piece of rock for their territory. Mature corals with lots of branches also help.

becks · Apr 27, 2018

I only have one damsel, a springeri and was reluctant to purchase one, but liked the colour. I really like him as the bright blue is quite striking and I’ve had mine for some time now who is absolutely peaceful, he evens moves out the way of my blue star leopard wrasse. The aggressive species of the family really give them all a bad name

ca1ore · Apr 27, 2018

I have 36 yellow tails in my tank. Reputedly of similar temperament to the azure.

mort · Apr 28, 2018

I have a pair of azure in my tank and that's what I would recommend. If you buy young, small fish then you have the best chance of one changing sex and getting a pair. I find them really interesting and the only thing they are aggressive to is my hand.
If you want more I would go for four in a 4ft, that way you should get a pair on each side of the tank and not have one poor fish that gets battered by the others.

If you want a larger group of damsels them I would look at allens as they play much nicer long term.

Claus84 · Apr 28, 2018

mort said:
I have a pair of azure in my tank and that's what I would recommend. If you buy young, small fish then you have the best chance of one changing sex and getting a pair. I find them really interesting and the only thing they are aggressive to is my hand.
If you want more I would go for four in a 4ft, that way you should get a pair on each side of the tank and not have one poor fish that gets battered by the others.

If you want a larger group of damsels them I would look at allens as they play much nicer long term.

Thanks I bought three, then read your post and drove back to buy another! Being captive bred they are absolutely tiny so assuming these damsels are hermaphroditic hopefully I will get one or two pairs as you say. Worst case scenario I can catch one or two and put them in my 90g reef. They will be qt'd for at least 30days so I may be able to judge how they are interacting before releasing them to the DT.

Thanks for the advice everyone

Nick

Jesterrace · Apr 28, 2018

Claus84 said:
Hi all, I'm picking up some captive bred azure damsels tomorrow for my 55g/200l (48") fowlr.

The only other inhabitants are a coral beauty and orchid dottyback.

How many should I get, I'm thinking 3 should be about right for that tank size?

thanks

Nick

Just me, but none. Damsels are little jerks.

Claus84 · Apr 28, 2018

Jesterrace said:
Just me, but none. Damsels are little jerks.

to be honest I'm surprised the the thread made it to this many posts without someone telling me that! They'll be in with a much larger dotty and coral beauty fpr tje foreseeable and the damsels are literally the size of my fingernail at the moment but I'm more than willing to pull the tank apart to remove if i need too, its not such a big deal in my fowlr compared to a reef

Maritimer · Apr 28, 2018

I've had a trio of azures - at first in a 65, now in a 220 - and a pair of Talbott's damsels for around a year or so. Love 'em to bits. Brilliantly colored, always active, and keep their tiffing more or less to themselves. I find that decorating in such a way as to create a couple of separate coral formations seems to help - they claim one formation, rather than the whole tank.

I've just picked up a trio of CB Rolland's damsels to add to the mix, as well.

~Bruce

mort · Apr 28, 2018

Jesterrace said:
Just me, but none. Damsels are little jerks.

It always surprises me that many people are happy to add jerks like tangs because they understand they can be troublesome but no one seems to extend that similar courtesy to damsels apart from clownfish. Not all damsels are a pain, yes many are but life can be tough on the reef. Many people including myself couldn't image a tank without them and they don't limit what else you keep that much if you do things right.

As to sex change. It used to be said that azures are protogynous sequential hermaphrodites although I'm not sure if that's ever been proven. I've certainly never had a problem pairing them simply from starting with young fish.

Claus84 · Apr 30, 2018

So the damsels are settling into qt and eating crushed flake and calanus. There seems to be 3 hanging around together and one outcast. Couldn't find it earlier and thought I had somehow lost it but found it hiding behind the filter bracket. It's fins are a bit tattered but they were when I got it and don't seem any worse.

Do you think I should I hold on and see how things play out or separate this one from the others? I could put it in a fish trap in the same qt if necessary.

Thanks

Nick

mort · May 1, 2018

I would personally give them some time assuming it doesn't get worse. I found that smaller damsels can be a little shy to begin with and slightly bullied but as soon as they settle, put on weight and become acclimated they become bolder and stick up for themselves. When you don't have pairs there is always a hierarchy and it's not always fun being at the bottom, as soon as pairing happens your more likely to see the males squabbling and the females getting a much easier time.