Starcki Damsel

tmscott89

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So I have a 90 gallon tank currently with hermits/snails as clean up crew. Two banggai cardinals, two ocellaris clownfish, one yellow tang, and one coral beauty. I really want a damsel because of how great they look but I’ve heard nothing but nightmare aggression stories. I stumbled upon reading about the Starcki Damsel and sites have stated they are less aggressive. Does anyone have any personal experience with this? Preferably with similar tank size and species that are in mine?
 

GoldeneyeRet

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I have one, as well as several other Chrysiptera damsels. The starki is a bit more fiesty than my other damsels except my tuxedos. All in all it's a fantastic fish, far less aggressive than my dwarf angels.

My tank is a bit larger, 225 or so, and I have a stock list ranging from dartfish to large Angelfish. I have around 18 damsels ar this time.

Stark damsel is one of my favorite fish!
 
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tmscott89

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And none of them seem to bother any of the fish labeled peaceful? Obviously like you said 225 is far larger than 90 but sounds like you also have quite a few more fish. I’ve just had several people tell me not to get damsels due to their aggressive nature. My coral beauty has only been in the tank a few days but haven’t seen any aggression yet
 
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tmscott89

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I don’t plan on buying anything too large since it’s a smaller tank. I’d rather have a lot of small ones. Firefish, Chromis, wrasse, basslets, etc
 

GoldeneyeRet

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Many damsels in the genus Chrysiptera, which includes starki, are fairly peaceful. Mine are fine with my smaller fish which include firefish, lined,flagtail and scissortail dartfish and several assessors. They need enough room to each claim their own territory. Given that,they are great fish.

Many damsels are mean, some are not.
 
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tmscott89

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Awesome! Thanks for the info! Hard to stay away from some of more great looking fish, as long as they aren’t *****s haha!
 

mort

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One of my favourite fish and the one I had was a model citizen with the exception of one yellow wrasse that it couldn't stand. The wrasse was added after the starcki had been in the tank for a couple of years and I think this is the only really time your likely to run into issues with them.
I wouldn't be overly worried by anything in your tank at the moment and my guess is it would be the angel that most likely to be the aggressor, or after the damsels settled, the one that's most likely to be picked on, but they are tough and I don't think you'd have any real problems.

I will say that my starcki was picked on relentlessly by my clowns when I first added it, even though I used an acclimation box. So don't assume that because they are hardy and can stick up for themselves that they don't need a bit of care to begin with.
 

eatbreakfast

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I also have had good experiences with starcki damsels. They are bigger and more assertive than azure, talbots, and rollands, but not anywhere near oas bad as other damsels.
 
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tmscott89

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One of my favourite fish and the one I had was a model citizen with the exception of one yellow wrasse that it couldn't stand. The wrasse was added after the starcki had been in the tank for a couple of years and I think this is the only really time your likely to run into issues with them.
I wouldn't be overly worried by anything in your tank at the moment and my guess is it would be the angel that most likely to be the aggressor, or after the damsels settled, the one that's most likely to be picked on, but they are tough and I don't think you'd have any real problems.

I will say that my starcki was picked on relentlessly by my clowns when I first added it, even though I used an acclimation box. So don't assume that because they are hardy and can stick up for themselves that they don't need a bit of care to begin with.

I haven’t used an acclimation box for any of my fish yet. Do Damsels require them more so than others?
 

mort

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I haven’t used an acclimation box for any of my fish yet. Do Damsels require them more so than others?

No they don't really. An acclimation box is simply a tool to make mixing fish easy.
 
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As already noted by many here if you want a damsel then look no further than Chrysiptera damsels. They are typically the go-to line that most have the best luck with. I've had Azures and Talbots mixed together without issues mixed in with a mated pair of clowns, pajama cardinals, coral beauty, and a yellow watchman goby. The new tank upgrade has one azure that I carried over but I will be adding more once the tank matures for about another 6 months or so.

Starcki are great damsels but a bit larger and have a somewhat different temperament. At least that is what I have read - never owned one but the few people on this board who have them love them and say they are a wee bit more aggressive but not crazy town slashing your tires sort of thing.

If you stay in the Chrysiptera tree you should be good. Just make sure you have some open nooks and crannies in the rocks for it to call home or its territory. Damsels are like that.
 

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+1, I agree with everybody. I’ve kept Starckis several times before, usually more aggressive than the other Chrysiptera damsels. I add them usually last with the clowns. Has anyone kept C. Alba before, hows their temperament?
 

kalmanb0y

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I had a starcki for a few days in a quarantine tank. It was an absolute menace, constantly harassing the royal gramma, the clownfish, and especially the sunburst anthias. I had heard good things about these guys being less aggressive, and maybe I got an unusually aggressive fish, but I won't be buying another one of these beauties any time soon.
 

damsels are not mean

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Springeri damsels are totally peaceful with other fish if you want a sure bet. No more likely to be aggressive than any other "peaceful" fish. I have never even heard anecdotes of springeri aggresion except in cases that seemed to be mistaken identity with other species.
 

HudsonReefer2.0

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My Starki displays when new fish are added but calms down in a day. Other then that gets along w tankmates. Anthias hawk fish Melanarus wrasse mandarin and yasha goby. Adding another yellow tang.
43B572B1-FDCC-403E-B123-5D841D8A74AA.jpeg
 
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