Got a Corazon’s damsel! (Pomacentrus vatosoa)

[andrewkw]

I really didn't think I'd be getting any new fish this year, not with the pandemic and now fish shortages. I also live really far from decent fish stores. Most of the ones I frequent are 7 hours away so things will really have to be back to normal before I can visit. Going to the fish stores is one of the things I miss most, but I've been missing them since I moved to a rural area in 2016. With no flight traffic I can't even get airport to airport shipments which is the way I'd normally do things here since Fedex ect doesn't even deliver to me overnight from anywhere. Still a found a few things I wanted including this guy and had them shipped to a friends house about an hour away. Everything arrived perfect and this guy is already eating in QT.

I know that a $100 damsel won't wow everyone but I think it's super cool I have a fish that was discovered less then 2 years ago and only officially described less then 1 year ago. I have always liked slightly weird but not crazy exotic fish, ie yellow scopas tang.

I'm really not sure how aggressive these guys are since I've never seen them. I got a 6 line wrasse to qt with him to judge. He can either go in my lightly stocked 112 gallon where he could potentially cause issues, or in my 90 gallon that is home to a lightning maroon clown pair. They might beat him up so I got the smaller 6 line in case they do end up in that tank. Of course they have to make it through qt first so lots of time to decide. If you have experience with this fish let me know how well they play with others.

 

[ecexotics]

that's awesome ! it's always the smaller fish that have the best personality's in the tank. good luck !!!!

 

[mort]

If it colours up anything like the one here https://reefbuilders.com/2019/06/11/pomacentrus-vatosoa/ I think you will have a bit of a bargain. Keep us updated.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I’ve never heard of that damsel but it looks like it’s going to be an awesome looking adult fish. Hope QT goes well and it’s not a jerk to your other fish!

 

[cd459]

I’ve heard they can get fairly aggressive. There were two at my LFS and someone bought them but then a few weeks later the guy returned them because they were too mean. So as long as you’re prepared...

 

[andrewkw]

I’ve heard they can get fairly aggressive. There were two at my LFS and someone bought them but then a few weeks later the guy returned them because they were too mean. So as long as you’re prepared...

Thanks for mentioning this. I have been thinking more and more about putting him in my main display. Assuming all goes well with QT I have him in a 10g with a six line wrasse. When they complete TTM or find their way past the divider I will observe them together for a couple of weeks. Based on that I'll decide which tank to put him in.

 

[andrewkw]

Doing well so far, eating everything. He's also in with the 6 line wrasse, as expected they got around the barrier. While I did just see him chase him once, no other aggression.

 

[F i s h y]

Nice looking fish. I like the different damsel.

 

[cd459]

Looks good. Hopefully the white color stays/improves

 

[mort]

Looks like it will be stunning in the right light. I had a starckii with a similar blue iridescence to the scales and that used to glow as the lights dimmed to just blues and your should standout even more as it's a white background.

 

[cd459]

Looks like it will be stunning in the right light. I had a starckii with a similar blue iridescence to the scales and that used to glow as the lights dimmed to just blues and your should standout even more as it's a white background.

I actually just bought a starcki from DD. Did u run into any issues with uronema?

 

[mort]

I actually just bought a starcki from DD. Did u run into any issues with uronema?

No, I find them really hardy and problem free. I've only had one in my personal tank but sold a few dozen when I was at the shop and they all came in clean. My lfs has them regularly and they don't have any issues with these. To tell you the truth I've never had problems with any damsels and uronema but I have read quite a few times of people having issues with uronema and starcki.

I think @mattzang may have run into this but I could be mis-remembering that.

 

[cd459]

No, I find them really hardy and problem free. I've only had one in my personal tank but sold a few dozen when I was at the shop and they all came in clean. My lfs has them regularly and they don't have any issues with these. To tell you the truth I've never had problems with any damsels and uronema but I have read quite a few times of people having issues with uronema and starcki.

I think @mattzang may have run into this but I could be mis-remembering that.

That's a relief to hear (kinda). I'll still probably treat with metro proactively just to be safe. Not sure if it'll do any good but can't hurt.

 

[Abhishek]

I know among the reef had a large school and wanted to get them but they are gone

Would be amazing to have them beside Rolland’s damsels

 

[mattzang]

i took the last pic the day before it died. once i saw the redness i dosed metroplex as i feared uronema, but the fish died the next day. mouth open, redness on one side.. seemed like a uronema death to me

could've been a bacterial thing too, shrug

i don't think i've seen anyone else report uronema on them so i don't think it's a prominent thing, but i'd definitely try to do something proactive now. h2o2 bath would probably be solid. i found out metroplex is only like 70%~ pure metronidazole so i ended up buying actual 100% pure metronidazole from some sketchy ukrainian website lol, so i think for any damsels i'll hit them with a h2o2 bath into qt and then dose the pure metro for a few days just to be safe.

i ended up doing metroplex for the rest of QT fearing uronema on the other starcki. not sure what happened, but it ended up dying too, but i never saw the redness or anything

 

[cd459]

i took the last pic the day before it died. once i saw the redness i dosed metroplex as i feared uronema, but the fish died the next day. mouth open, redness on one side.. seemed like a uronema death to me

could've been a bacterial thing too, shrug

i don't think i've seen anyone else report uronema on them so i don't think it's a prominent thing, but i'd definitely try to do something proactive now. h2o2 bath would probably be solid. i found out metroplex is only like 70%~ pure metronidazole so i ended up buying actual 100% pure metronidazole from some sketchy ukrainian website lol, so i think for any damsels i'll hit them with a h2o2 bath into qt and then dose the pure metro for a few days just to be safe.

i ended up doing metroplex for the rest of QT fearing uronema on the other starcki. not sure what happened, but it ended up dying too, but i never saw the redness or anything

Nooo

Fingers crossed I don’t run into uronema. Out of curiosity what’s the h2o2 : water ratio you use for a bath. Do you use rodi water for the bath? Also were u feeding metro laced foods or just dosing the water?

 

[mattzang]

Nooo

Fingers crossed I don’t run into uronema. Out of curiosity what’s the h2o2 : water ratio you use for a bath. Do you use rodi water for the bath? Also were u feeding metro laced foods or just dosing the water?

https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/hydrogen-peroxide.21/

it's done with saltwater not RODI

20 mL give or take in a 1 gallon glass container for 30 min. some people are experimenting with higher doses and for longer, but that's all i've done. wrasses don't seem to be able to take the higher dosage or longer length of time. i don't know if this is guaranteed to kill off uronema, but seems it should help if anything. formalin is another option, but i don't mess with that stuff

if i recall i was feeding and dosing it in the water column. it was a few months ago so not sure. that QT round was a real disaster

 

[cd459]

Assuming a fish has uronema does a h2o2 bath “cure” it or just provide relief?

 

[mattzang]

Assuming a fish has uronema does a h2o2 bath “cure” it or just provide relief?

that's unknown, it should kill off some.. but nobody is sure if it fully eliminates it

 

[andrewkw]

Added to my lighting maroon tank - it's a 90 gallon with just a pair of lightning maroons. Obviously there is aggression but hopefully the female won't pester him to the point of death. Looking good so far. I really thought about adding to my main display but since there isn't that much known about these guys I didn't want to take the chance he becomes a menace.