I have kept an coral beauty fish in my 40 gallon bow front tank for 6 months and is very peaceful towards my other fish in my tank (2 clowns and 1 cardinal). I want to know if I would have success adding 1 or maybe 3 azure or yellow tail damsels into my tank. My worry is that my coral beauty will stress them out too much.
Need help on deciding if I can add damsels or not
- Thread starter benha
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Oscaror
Back In It
Usually damsels are the bad guys lol, I doubt the coral beauty will cause problems with them. Adding them last is good because they're less likely to be territorial.
Coralreefer1
Valuable Member
Not a good idea, as it won’t be your Coral Beauty doing damage but your Clown fish as they are territorial and related to Damsels.
Coralreefer1
Valuable Member
You are right, they are some of the more docile being in the Chrysiptera Genus. Again, it’s your Clownfish that are in your tank now that are going to be the problem with adding the Damsels. The Clowns will kill them or cause them to jump out of your tank!
mta_morrow
Of course I have room for 1 more fish!
Adding the azure damsels is fine with that group of fish.
The main concern is amount of space available in that size tank.
I keep 2 clowns, 3 azure damsels, and a blue green chromis....all damselfish, with no issues.
But I have 100 gallon tank.
Coralreefer1
Valuable Member
Unfortunately, the same result will ultimately carry out. You would need to add something more aggressive than your Clowns. The urban legend states in reefdom code of ethics, that your most aggressive fish SHOULD ALWAYS BE ADDED LAST!
mta_morrow
Of course I have room for 1 more fish!
Didn’t we go over this already?
Coralreefer1
Valuable Member
With that big a tank, the aggressive behavior will be subdued. Also, when you add the fish is a big deal. Less aggressive first, most aggressive last.
SPR1968
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Well I have 5 azure damsels in my tank and they were amongst the first fish I purchased when I started out 2 1/2 years ago. So they were pretty much amongst the first guests.
Although they are small, they are the most territorial and nasty fish I have. It’s hilarious watching them attack a trigger fish, Tang or whatever that could easily kill them, but they are fearless.
I think in a 40 gallon system they could cause you issues, so I would go with the chromis which are generally easy going.
My own coral beauty is actually the bully of the tank, and harasses all new additions
Although they are small, they are the most territorial and nasty fish I have. It’s hilarious watching them attack a trigger fish, Tang or whatever that could easily kill them, but they are fearless.
I think in a 40 gallon system they could cause you issues, so I would go with the chromis which are generally easy going.
My own coral beauty is actually the bully of the tank, and harasses all new additions
mta_morrow
Of course I have room for 1 more fish!
It’s amazing how fish can be so different.
My 3 azures bicker amongst themselves day and night but run from every other fish I have including my purple firefish!
My solon fairy wrasse is the ruler in my tank!
Go figure!
SPR1968
No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
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Yes I completely forgot about bickering amongst themselves!! Lol
It’s quiet funny to see them, they have there own sentry posts at equal parts of the tank, and guard it.
mta_morrow
Of course I have room for 1 more fish!
Same here! My 3 each have a third of the tank, but gotta go see what the other ones are doing!
It’s hilarious to watch!
Nanorock1970
Well-Known Member
So Def. research this one. I have currently 2 nemo, 1 coral beauty, a chalk bass, and an azure damsel. They all seem to go well together so far. My LFS said that if you are to get damsels, in their opinion, these are maybe the less aggressive. My clowns are the largest and the others are all about the same size at the moment. Everybody seems to have their place in my 56 gallon tank and are getting along. I am not sure if having more then one damsel would be ok but since my tank is small I am at the point that I will be waiting on the next perfect fish instead of getting more than one of a type of fish. BTW my Clownfish are Nemo and Coral.
ca1ore
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I have over 60 damsels in my tank across multiple chrysiptera species. OK, it’s a 450, but other than bickering amongst themselves no issues with any of other fish including my clown pair. Key for success with them is to keep a group and have plenty of hiding places for them to ‘defend’.
The whole ‘add the most aggressive fish last’ thing is fine in theory (and when initially stocking a tank) but much less so in practice. There are ways to successfully introduce almost any tank-appropriate new fish.
The whole ‘add the most aggressive fish last’ thing is fine in theory (and when initially stocking a tank) but much less so in practice. There are ways to successfully introduce almost any tank-appropriate new fish.
U
User1
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So I'll throw my $0.02 worth into this since prior to my upgrade my previous tank was a 40 breeder which also housed a pair of clowns and a coral beauty. I'll say that I think the coral beauty needs a bit more room than a 40 after seeing mine roam about but did add it knowing it was only going to be for a short while. Now along with that coral beauty like I said was a pair of clowns (rose bubble tips allowed them to host), pair of pajama cardinals, and at one point a trio of Azure damsels. All together, peaceful. I say at one time...
Please keep in mind that the tank was a 40 breeder. Anyway the trio of Azures lived together fine. No issues with any of the fish. Over time, say a year, two of the Azures shacked up and marked their spot. The remaining Azure was a third and not wanted, unfriended, and over the course of a day or two killed before I could remove. The remaining pair continued to live with all the tank inhabitants fine. No issues. One day my bubble tips spawned while I was away and the water was a cloudy mess. All fish struggled to breath and by the time I got home in dire need of life support. Quick water change, everything started to come to, the pair of Azures somehow forgot they are a couple and fought. I couldn't do anything without tearing apart the rocks and it was over before I could do anything. Now down to a single Azure that is still with me today along with all the other fish in a 210 gallon.
I guess my point in all this is that I upgraded from a 40 breeder which is large, good rock and coral base, along with some of the fish you listed and they behaved fine. It was only the Azures that had issues with one another while they sorted out their structure and room assignments. I think in a 40 breeder, depending on how it is aquascaped, three may be too many. @ca1ore has a metric ton and it looks incredible (not seen in person, just videos) but he always cautions on the family type and tank size.
Damsels are amazing and get a bad wrap. There are many to choose from but Allens, Tracy's, Talbots, and Azures are a nice list to pull from. Having a 40 sized tank I'd probably add one or pick up a pair if you know they are a pair. Since you already have a larger blue/orange fish in the Coral Beauty a Talbot pair may be nice. Anyway best of luck.
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