Damsels are mean!!!

[BigMack]

OK... I know they have a reputation for not playing nice with others... Right now my tank is stocked almost exclusively with damselfish... I've never observed any aggression - so I figured I had a bunch that were raised right by their momma... Today I come home from work and see this...

 

[JoshH]

I'm of the mind that any fish that has absolutely no qualms about attacking something 1000 times bigger than them is a fish that needs to be kept in limited supply in your tank :p I'll be getting a couple clowns for my new build but that's my cap, they can get real nasty.

 

[Mykawl]

What is that in its mouth? Only fish I have atm are 2 damsals are I’m pretty sure I’m giving the bigger one back to LFS

 

[redfishbluefish]

Damsels are devil fish. The only damsels I will keep now are clown fish. Otherwise, they are off my list. When I was a noob, and didn't know better, I purchased a Blue Velvet damsel.....pretty fish. I see that's one damsel you have. After my guy killed three fish, he was removed and put into the witness protect program. Felt good giving that fish away.

 

[Hemmdog]

Doesn’t help you also got the meanest ones lol.

 

[Tamberav]

I love my Springer's and starkii! They are way less aggressive than my percula pair.

You got some real meanies in there though. It amazes me that it was able to eat a cleaner shrimp!

 

[mort]

It doesn't help that you have some of the meanest damsels out there but I wouldn't jump straight to the conclusion it killed the shrimp. Often shrimp die and are simply being cleaned up by their tankmates. It doesn't take much to have a bad moult or for the offending fish to simply be swimming around with some shed exoskeleton.

 

[Jay Z]

Oooohhh... The new cat fish damsel! Guaranteed to do mass damage with them whiskers.

 

[GatorScott]

Yep, I hate damsels. Had them once in the hobby, they were so mean I went thru the trouble of taking all my rock out just to catch them and took them back to the LFS lol. Never again would I buy damsels

 

[FishyDP]

Ime damsels get nastier as they grow and mature. If you have kept african cichlids, mbunas specifically, it is a very similar process..they are fun to watch as juveniles, then get mature and violence follows. Similarly, there are more and less aggressive types of damsels as with cichlids. I have only kept yellow tails and azure, as EVERY local fish store I have been to warns against black and white damsels because of aggression. It is too bad because they are really nice looking, reasonably priced fish, imo.

 

[Twocorns]

I have a six line wrasse who'd like to throw his hat in the ring.

 

[Chewbacca]

I put my Blue devil in the sump for a week or two to trim his attitude

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I love damsels! Mine arent mean at all. Well, my clowns are a little mean, but the rest are not.

Damsels are a large and diverse group of fish. Painting them all with a broad brush and eliminating all of them from consideration is a mistake, IMO. By doing so you overlook many peaceful, interesting, hardy and beautiful fish.

I have about 20 damsels in my tank and Iove them!

 

[User1]

Just depends on how the tank is set up and what damsels you keep. This is true with non damsel fish as well. Onus is on the hobbyist to stock the right fish.

 

[Tiger Brown]

I agree with Goldeneye and saf1, they are beautiful, hardy, and highly active fish. I have 5 damsels and two clowns currently. They do chase each other around at times but I haven't noticed any nipping at all. I have two cleaner shrimp that they ignore. I will say I would never buy a blue devil damsel or a domino but not all damsels are mean.

 

[mightieskeeper]

I have 3 yellow damsels and a coral beauty. The damsels chase each other around. It is just like watching my cichlid tanks.

 

[Katrina71]

My son has this...Angus. The most docile fish in his tank. His watchman is a beast! This fella was in a 5g tank at the lfs for a year. We all know why. He actually rubs my son's hand. It appears to be genuine affection.

 

[Zos4me]

I had 2 in a 75 and if one got to close to the others and if the tank they would chase each other .never bothered the bigger fish

 

[Katrina71]

@BigMack sorry for your loss sincerely. :(

 

[Aheinz]

my blue sapphire damsel isnt mean, just steals food