Azure Damselfish aggression

[AJ_Daubz]

Hello! I've had my tank up and running for around a year now, and have pretty much added all the fish I want.

I have:
Clownfish pair
2x purple firefish
1x Dusky wrasse
1x Starry Blenny
and have recently added 3 Azure Damselfish as the final fish.

It is a 250L tank.

I'm aware damsels can be on the aggressive side, but was under the impression Azures are one of the more chilled species.

I've noticed in the last few days that they have started becoming aggressive with each other, especially around feeding time. I've caught them chasing each other and darting around the tank. At the moment they mostly only seem to be aggressive with each other, and are leaving the other fish alone, however I did catch one of them "standing off" with the female clown, it looked like it was starting to charge at the clownfish, but then backed off once the clownfish didn't move or seem phased by it.

I'm not too concerned about my bigger fish, and I'm sure the clowns can handle themselves, but I do worry they'll eventually turn on my firefish which may be a bit less resilient to the attempted bullying.

Do you guys think it's likely the aggression will spread to the other fish in the tank, or are they likely to just continue to bicker between themselves?

I'd appreciate if anyone has any insight to these fish, thanks!

 

[Polymate3D]

Hello! I've had my tank up and running for around a year now, and have pretty much added all the fish I want.

I have:
Clownfish pair
2x purple firefish
1x Dusky wrasse
1x Starry Blenny
and have recently added 3 Azure Damselfish as the final fish.

It is a 250L tank.

I'm aware damsels can be on the aggressive side, but was under the impression Azures are one of the more chilled species.

I've noticed in the last few days that they have started becoming aggressive with each other, especially around feeding time. I've caught them chasing each other and darting around the tank. At the moment they mostly only seem to be aggressive with each other, and are leaving the other fish alone, however I did catch one of them "standing off" with the female clown, it looked like it was starting to charge at the clownfish, but then backed off once the clownfish didn't move or seem phased by it.

I'm not too concerned about my bigger fish, and I'm sure the clowns can handle themselves, but I do worry they'll eventually turn on my firefish which may be a bit less resilient to the attempted bullying.

Do you guys think it's likely the aggression will spread to the other fish in the tank, or are they likely to just continue to bicker between themselves?

I'd appreciate if anyone has any insight to these fish, thanks!

I would wait for more experienced people to put across there experience, but will also say what I believe to be the case.

Damsels either are on there own and hold there territory, or there in a big group and stick together, with picking spread out across them.

By adding 3,4, or 5 in such a size tank there all just trying to establish there own space and fighting because of it.

Clownfish are similar expect pairs can easily form with 2. 3,4,5 is a big issue. You move up to say 10 and the issue goes away.

As mentioned, would wait for someone more experienced in these bigger tanks still
- Paul

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Damsels are mean and aggressive. Being "less mean and aggressive than other damsels" is still quite aggressive compared to most other fish in the hobby.

 

[AJ_Daubz]

I would wait for more experienced people to put across there experience, but will also say what I believe to be the case.

Damsels either are on there own and hold there territory, or there in a big group and stick together, with picking spread out across them.

By adding 3,4, or 5 in such a size tank there all just trying to establish there own space and fighting because of it.

Clownfish are similar expect pairs can easily form with 2. 3,4,5 is a big issue. You move up to say 10 and the issue goes away.

As mentioned, would wait for someone more experienced in these bigger tanks still
- Paul

Thank you! This makes a lot of sense and agree with your ideas.

The Store I bought them from seemed to think I should get 3 rather then 1, so just went along with it, it appears this maybe wasn't the best idea though!

 

[Polymate3D]

Thank you! This makes a lot of sense and agree with your ideas.

The Store I bought them from seemed to think I should get 3 rather then 1, so just went along with it, it appears this maybe wasn't the best idea though!

Well hopefully more people will reply!

I don't know about these 3, but I can say I had 2 clownfish and a Azure damsel in a Fluval EVO last year and before my talc / putty mistake killing them, they got along just fine, so I don't foresee the clownfish with 1 of them being a issue.

- Paul

 

[Zionas]

Clownfish are functionally monogamous and I don’t see why anyone would want to keep more than a pair, aggression aside more Clowns don’t add anything to the dynamics as among a harem of them only the dominant spawning male / female pair really does anything.

Unlike something like dwarf angels where in the haremic species, a male visits each female, with each female having their own territory and the male spawns with the different females.

 

[Waters]

Damsels (Azures included) are more aggressive to each other, guarding their personal territories. I had a small group of Azures that fought internally, picking each other off one at a time until each had a dedicated space. The aggression never moved on to other fish though. Unlike a lot of the other species of damsels, Azures tend to leave other species of fish alone.

 

[GARRIGA]

Like most people, depends on the damsel's personality. Have had various damsels three times and only once was there aggression and that settled eventually. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Clownfish are functionally monogamous and I don’t see why anyone would want to keep more than a pair, aggression aside more Clowns don’t add anything to the dynamics as among a harem of them only the dominant spawning male / female pair really does anything.

Well, since I have and do want to keep more than a simple pair, I can explain my thinking so perhaps that can answers your question why anyone would want to do so.

As you probably know, the natural situation for most clowns is often not one male and one female in an anemone. It is one male, one female, and multiple juveniles all in the same anemone. That situation is not just temporary before the juveniles grow up. It can last semi permanently, and did so by design in my tank with ocellaris clown.

I strive for that natural situation, and find it far more interesting than a simple pair.

It may not be either necessary or easy to achieve the natural setting of a larger group, but it is something I'd want to emulate.

 

[AJ_Daubz]

Damsels (Azures included) are more aggressive to each other, guarding their personal territories. I had a small group of Azures that fought internally, picking each other off one at a time until each had a dedicated space. The aggression never moved on to other fish though. Unlike a lot of the other species of damsels, Azures tend to leave other species of fish alone.

Thanks, that's good to know! That does seem to mostly be the case with mine as well, fighting amongst themselves but mostly ignoring the others, hopefully it stay that way!
I did just watch my firefish chase a damsel away from his cave so maybe they're a bit tougher than I thought!