Damsels in Reef tank

[vetteguy53081]

Toss up, gotcha.

Do you know of anything that can encourage them to play nice other than space? How much space do they typically defend in a suitably sized tank, as one of the last fish? Would having other dominant fish help distribute aggression or otherwise dissuade them from becoming terrors? Are there any fish in particular that seem to get harassed by them the most, other than other damsels?

Every fish has their own displacement and its a risk we take

 

[JumboShrimp]

Given much of your criteria, I vote "Talbot." Adding either 1 or 3 to the tank will likely be non-aggressive with your other fish, though they 'may' dwindle 3 down to 1, like Chromis tend to do.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

It really comes to your stock list, what is your acceptable risk, and mitigation plan should something not work out.

Part of the battle is understanding that all of our systems are different so experiences may not be the same for you. For example @ca1ore had well over 60 damsels in his 400+ gallon aquarium without issues. I currently have 11 Lyretail Damsels in my 210 without issues. I've also kept other groups such as Azures, Sapphires, Surge, and Talbots. All with reasonable experiences except for the 7 Sapphires. Unfortunately, the males get super protective on their nests which made it very difficult to introduce new fish. Had they been the last group added it may have worked out better.

One reason why this works for me is because I also keep Anthias - Pink Squares, and the dominate transitioning male keeps the damsels in check. I see similar behavior when I go scuba diving. It also helps that my display is close to 10 years of maturity so very large Acropora colonies that provide adequate space for spawning, retreating, sleeping, and areas to break up the chase.

Point is, I guess, is that damsels are fine once you create a proper environment. In my experience. So much in fact that my next display will probably have 50 or so mixed between the Lyretails and Rollands.

They are not for everyone though - I understand that.

Totally get that each tank, even each fish is different, just trying to get a general idea of compatibility, based on what I know and what others have experienced. They would be in a heavily cave-scaped 4ft 75g, FOWLR first, with the potential for weedy sps or softies, dependent on their behavior.

Fish stock to include (with room to remove or swap as needed):
Blue spot puffer
Coral beauty angel
x2 Royal or neon Dottybacks
x2 Ruby Scooters or x2 flame/falco/pixie hawkfish
x2 Purple firefish (debatable)
Melanurus Wrasse
x2-5 banggai cardinals (debatable)
undecided blenny
Sifter goby (debatable)
Clarkii or skunk pair
x1-3 Cleaner gobies (depends)
flametail blenny
tomini tang (undecided, he's too aggressive for the 150 reef)
one spot foxface (think he might get too cramped, the tank is tall and narrow)

So you think keeping the damsels with anthias significantly helped? That would be an easy addition for many people to make. What is your ratio of anthias to damsels?

 

[RobertK]

I like my Biota captive bred Pavo damsel!

https://shop.thebiotagroup.com/collections/clownfish-damsels/products/pavo-damse

 

[areefer01]

Totally get that each tank, even each fish is different, just trying to get a general idea of compatibility, based on what I know and what others have experienced. They would be in a heavily cave-scaped 4ft 75g, FOWLR first, with the potential for weedy sps or softies, dependent on their behavior.

Damsels in the Chrysiptera genus are more often recommended. Azure, Talbot, Rolland, and Springeri are all good choices. If you search on those you will get more positive feedback I would wager.

Starcki - as already noted earlier is more expensive but having 1 will be a nice show piece. A bit more on the aggressive side but not anything crazy. Another fish I would so do a search on.

So you think keeping the damsels with anthias significantly helped? That would be an easy addition for many people to make. What is your ratio of anthias to damsels?

No, I don't think it is a cure. It is just what I observe in my system. The Lyretail Damsels are moving about the reef structure and doing their thing such as the male dance to attract female to spawn, protect the nest area, and forage while the Pink Squares are above or in the outer reef structure doing their thing. The dominate male Pink Square will charge, dive, and chase the other fish at random times which the fish swims away or goes back inside the reef. This is mostly the interaction between the anthias and the damsels.

I think a few of us have mentioned already that stocking order is somewhat important. Also that these are just "our" experiences. So if you want a damsels just do a search on them, see if they are something you want, and then do a quick risk assessment to answer what you could/would do should something not go as planned.