Adding Damselfish?

[Clowning_Around72]

I am looking to add a trio or perhaps 4 chrysiptera damselfish to my 3 ft long 60 gallon tank.
I have a single tomato clown that has stayed small.
I would like one or multiple of:
Talbot's damsel, Yellowtail damsel, azure damsel, or springeri damsel.
Can I add a mixed group of them or do they all have to be the same one?
Any suggestions as to which species I should get and would mix well?
Should I get 3 or 4?

 

[nick_]

wouldn't really reccomend mixing species, i'd go for 4 springeri's

 

[Llyod276]

No damsel will mix well, even amongst each other. Blue green chromis do well in my tank. Out of 5, since cycling 4 have survived and shoaled...

 

[littlefoxx]

I am looking to add a trio or perhaps 4 chrysiptera damselfish to my 3 ft long 60 gallon tank.
I have a single tomato clown that has stayed small.
I would like one or multiple of:
Talbot's damsel, Yellowtail damsel, azure damsel, or springeri damsel.
Can I add a mixed group of them or do they all have to be the same one?
Any suggestions as to which species I should get and would mix well?
Should I get 3 or 4?

Springeris are peaceful. The others are well, damsels. Ive mixed damsels and they sometimes are fine sometimes not. You will always gamble with damsels. My 3 stripe took out my female clarkii a few days after I put her in and was harassing the male until I put a tomato clown in, that stopped the issue with Stripe. Thats my damsel lol

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Make sure they are the last fish you want to add to that tank, once they establish themselves and set the territories, its possible they won't allow any other fish into the tank. IME each damsel takes a large piece of territory to themselves

 

[Clowning_Around72]

Make sure they are the last fish you want to add to that tank, once they establish themselves and set the territories, its possible they won't allow any other fish into the tank. IME each damsel takes a large piece of territory to themselves

They will hopefully be the last additions to this tank.

 

[timmyrules]

Like Mr mojo rising said, add a damsel as your LAST fish. Don’t add any more after. I 100% learned this the hard way a long time ago. I put a three striped damsel in a tank, then about 6 months later added a super peaceful clown. The poor guy didn’t even stand a chance.

Make sure they are the last fish you want to add to that tank, once they establish themselves and set the territories, its possible they won't allow any other fish into the tank. IME each damsel takes a large piece of territory to themselves

 

[Clowning_Around72]

Like Mr mojo rising said, add a damsel as your LAST fish. Don’t add any more after. I 100% learned this the hard way a long time ago. I put a three striped damsel in a tank, then about 6 months later added a super peaceful clown. The poor guy didn’t even stand a chance.

Understood. I've kept ternate damsels before but never any of the more conventional damsels. I've kept chromis and clownfish as well but they are also not usually considered conventional damsels.

 

[Clowning_Around72]

Like Mr mojo rising said, add a damsel as your LAST fish. Don’t add any more after. I 100% learned this the hard way a long time ago. I put a three striped damsel in a tank, then about 6 months later added a super peaceful clown. The poor guy didn’t even stand a chance.

The store said they would take the tomato clown. So, in an empty 60g, how many damsels and of what species do you recommend?

 

[Clowning_Around72]

^ damselfish only tank

 

[timmyrules]

The store said they would take the tomato clown. So, in an empty 60g, how many damsels and of what species do you recommend?

Damsel only tank, you could probably put 5 or 6 in there…not sure on the species I’ve only ever had three stripes and yellow tails…personally, I’d stick with one type of damsel and not mix them :)

 

[Clowning_Around72]

Damsel only tank, you could probably put 5 or 6 in there…not sure on the species I’ve only ever had three stripes and yellow tails…personally, I’d stick with one type of damsel and not mix them :)

I would've guessed multiple crysiptera like Rolland, talbot, azure, springer of varying colors would display less aggression than a group of just one species. Maybe pomacentrus species as well can be considered.

I guess maybe with all of one species it's harder for them to single out one fish

 

[areefer01]

A lot of depends on the display, feeding routine, maturity, amount of rock, and coral size (frag vs colony). For eample:

I've had 7 Sapphires, 1 Azure, and 1 Surge at the same time in my 210 gallon mixed reef and it was ok. There was no fighting between them. The surge was more open water upper reef. The Azure was a bit of a recluse and stayed in its area. The 7 Sapphires spread around the lower part of the reef and formed a couple spawning pairs. The challenge was when the spawning was happening because the male is aggressively protective of the nest and chased everything, regardless of size, away. When another fish did not back down a fight started until one backed away. One time that didn't happen between the larger male Sapphire and my Coral Beauty, and, well, the Coral Beauty lost. The other thing that went down was that I couldn't introduce any new fish. The new fish didn't know the lay of the display so would always run into a nesting area and as I noted above aggression and protection of the nest ended up in fights. It was mentioned above adding the damsels last and this is why. I ended up capturing all 7 and rehomed them to a fellow hobbyist who was done and had a system that could support them.

I currently have 11 Biota Lyretails and they get along fine. Multiple spawning pairs but less aggressive than the Sapphires noted above. Not has vibrant in color to the ones you mentioned but black with yellow inner tail markings and small size. Some will have a light blue also in the fin area. I find them pretty but that just depends on the hobbyist. The one thing that is different this go around is that I have 4 larger pink square anthias that the dominate mail will charge the damsels from time to time which they dart to their retreat area then turn around and come back out. No fin damage, no deaths. All 11 still present and accounted for. They really bring the reef structure to life as they are always out doing their thing.

Few notes:

• Lots of rock is key. If you are running these new trending negative aquascape then don't do this.
• I feed heavily. Hourly. Small portions starting at 0830 to 1830. I then feed frozen. Everyone gets something at some point in time during the day. Hungry fish are trouble makers. Stuffed fish are not. In my opinion.
• Large coral colonies help. They break up the chase, they provide sleeping areas, and they forage.

This is my experience based on the fish I've kept. It may not work for you. Damsels the challenge in my opinion is providing a proper living space for them. Your mileage may vary.

All the best.