What is the most peaceful and pretty damsel fish?

[45ZoaGarden]

Obviously, some have positive experiences, but stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason.

The article doesn’t make sense to me - it asserts that DESPITE being very aggressive, biting hands, killing tank mates, etc. the REASONS to have them are; they eat any foods offered, are hardy, are blue and can live in a small tank... what??!?

IMO, I don’t understand that logic whatsoever...?

Regarding Chrysiptera Damselfish, the article also states: “They will bring the lively nature and action of damsels without the aggressiveness.”

From experience, absolutely NOT TRUE.

Not trying to be argumentative whatsoever to those that are immeasurably more knowledgeable than I am... just giving my experience.

Also, @tripdad... if @CyberGuy decides to add Damsels, just curious how many would constitute a large group (to alleviate/spread aggression) in his 120G?

Oh about 50 in his 120 would constitute a school ;Hilarious

 

[Haydn]

Do you really want this every time you try to clean the tank? LOL

So no tangs


Or triggerfish


or wrasse


You can 'prove' anything by searching the web it doesn't mean that all members of the family have similar behaviour patterns.

 

[User1]

Peaceful, pretty, damsel, six line, never, and the list goes on. All just opinions be it based on experience, good or bad, or anecdotal. The fact of the matter is this is true with any fish we, as hobbyists, place in our tank. To include coral such as Xenia, Green Star Polyps, or a slew of others that get treated similar. Bad experience, fishing tale, and place on the ban list.

Taking a step back and removing our own bias hat the fact of the matter is that yes, there are peaceful and pretty damsel fish. Those of us here saying they are the devil spawn, or mean, or will take over the tank killing our whale fish are wrong. As everyone in every thread like this states you start your search with Damsels in the Chrysiptera Genus. Do not pass go, do not go to jail. Start with Chrysiptera. Period. There are several to choose from with enough size, color, and personality that you can fill a reef tank easy.

@ca1ore has over 50 damsels. Fish and coral are fine.
There is a thread here by Top Shelf (I believe) talking about a 22 foot tank. 200+ damsels.
Several in this thread own, and keep, damsels.
I own a Azure. Have owned 3 x Azure and 3 x Talbots but lost them in a upgrade/snail/anenome spawn and bingo oxygen

The onus is on the hobbyist of course to do the research before they add any livestock and set up the proper environment. However, we are doing a disservice to them by saying nonsense such as "all damsels are evil or not reef safe". That is just bullarky and it is time to move on.

 

[shred5]

Oh about 50 in his 120 would constitute a school ;Hilarious

Again not true. For example Talbot's Damselfish are a peaceful fish. Could there be a exception sure as with any fish we keep.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Again not true. For example Talbot's Damselfish are a peaceful fish. Could there be a exception sure as with any fish we keep.

It was a joke lol

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Peaceful, pretty, damsel, six line, never, and the list goes on. All just opinions be it based on experience, good or bad, or anecdotal. The fact of the matter is this is true with any fish we, as hobbyists, place in our tank. To include coral such as Xenia, Green Star Polyps, or a slew of others that get treated similar. Bad experience, fishing tale, and place on the ban list.

Taking a step back and removing our own bias hat the fact of the matter is that yes, there are peaceful and pretty damsel fish. Those of us here saying they are the devil spawn, or mean, or will take over the tank killing our whale fish are wrong. As everyone in every thread like this states you start your search with Damsels in the Chrysiptera Genus. Do not pass go, do not go to jail. Start with Chrysiptera. Period. There are several to choose from with enough size, color, and personality that you can fill a reef tank easy.

@ca1ore has over 50 damsels. Fish and coral are fine.
There is a thread here by Top Shelf (I believe) talking about a 22 foot tank. 200+ damsels.
Several in this thread own, and keep, damsels.
I own a Azure. Have owned 3 x Azure and 3 x Talbots but lost them in a upgrade/snail/anenome spawn and bingo oxygen

The onus is on the hobbyist of course to do the research before they add any livestock and set up the proper environment. However, we are doing a disservice to them by saying nonsense such as "all damsels are evil or not reef safe". That is just bullarky and it is time to move on.

It’s not me being bias. I’ve had damsels and all but one were mean. The only mellow one is an 8 year old yellow stag horn in a tank full of fish 5x his size. If he picks a fight the 12 inch V. Tang comes over and whoops his butt LOL

 

[tweeter]

Azure Damselfish

 

[User1]

It’s not me being bias. I’ve had damsels and all but one were mean. The only mellow one is an 8 year old yellow stag horn in a tank full of fish 5x his size. If he picks a fight the 12 inch V. Tang comes over and whoops his butt LOL

I know. That is why I included the experience part. I know people have had issues with them. Years ago I had a domino damsel and it was a handful. However, it was my fault for using it to cycle the tank. That is what we did back then. Today it is different such as the fishless and bacteria in a bottle cycle. By no means am I trying to belittle your situation.

Just trying to spread a little golden bombs of light and love to the Damsels out there. There are, without a doubt, right ones to put in a mixed reef tank. Similar to right tangs and other fish. Then again everyone has a bad day now and again

 

[45ZoaGarden]

I know. That is why I included the experience part. I know people have had issues with them. Years ago I had a domino damsel and it was a handful. However, it was my fault for using it to cycle the tank. That is what we did back then. Today it is different such as the fishless and bacteria in a bottle cycle. By no means am I trying to belittle your situation.

Just trying to spread a little golden bombs of light and love to the Damsels out there. There are, without a doubt, right ones to put in a mixed reef tank. Similar to right tangs and other fish. Then again everyone has a bad day now and again

I do think chromis are generally a more peaceful schooling fish

 

[Spongking1]

Jewel damsel. 100%

 

[tripdad]

Also, @tripdad... if @CyberGuy decides to add Damsels, just curious how many would constitute a large group (to alleviate/spread aggression) in his 120G?
[/QUOTE]
I'll be very honest here. It really depends on what kind of tank your after. If you have a lot of big tangs, etc. then they should dominate. I like a lot of fish in my tank so I use smaller species. I would buy a group of 11 or 13 for a 120. Now in all honesty your going to lose 1 or 2 the first year. I just add the losses back in to get an odd group. For instance i have 9 chromis in my 75. I lost 1 almost immediately and 1 at about 11 months. I just put 1 in each time to replace them. The group has now been stable for over a year with no deaths. If you want a bunch of big fish then you really can't fit a large group in with them because of nutrients. I only have 1 large ish fish. The rest are damsels or chromis. Yes, I tend to overstock my small fish focused tanks. In my acro tank I only have 3 fish so again, it varies by what the focus is. Again, this is all just my opinion.

 

[User1]

I do think chromis are generally a more peaceful schooling fish

Similar to Damsels Chromis have their own baggage. Prone to uronema and if you make it past that then picking on the weakest until there is only one. Of course there are those that are successful with keeping them in groups but it seems the more common threads are the opposite.

So here I am adding fuel to the anecdotal fire Nice fish but I've personally never had much luck with them.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I have had azure (4) and lemons (3). Both captive bred and in my tank for almost 1.5yrs with no problems and super fun to watch. I lost them due to a stupid error on my part, I am not going into it (trusting someone else's fish). Now when I start my fish over, I will be getting more captive bred damsels. I love the way they jump out and hide. On the reef, the little guys are some of my favorite to watch.

Now, I had blackmouths and they were absolute nightmares. Had to donate every one of them as they became huge and mean to everyone.

My next batch I will have a lot more than 4 and 3 of them. Cannot wait for fallow to be done.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Similar to Damsels Chromis have their own baggage. Prone to uronema and if you make it past that then picking on the weakest until there is only one. Of course there are those that are successful with keeping them in groups but it seems the more common threads are the opposite.

So here I am adding fuel to the anecdotal fire Nice fish but I've personally never had much luck with them.

I haven’t had luck with them either. They do seem more peaceful to other fish though.

 

[Haydn]

I do think chromis are generally a more peaceful schooling fish

Generalisation again, there are over 17 species of Chromis, a least 3 species regularly sold as 'Green Chromis' all with different behaviours. Some Chromis species 'shoal', some don't. Some are peaceful some are not. Some grow to 1" or 2" some to 10"+.

Thats why I feel tarring all fish in a family with the same brush is dangerious (and wrong)

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Generalisation again, there are over 17 species of Chromis, a least 3 species regularly sold as 'Green Chromis' all with different behaviours. Some Chromis species 'shoal', some don't. Some are peaceful some are not. Some grow to 1" or 2" some to 10"+.

Thats why I feel tarring all fish in a family with the samebrush is dangerious (and wrong)

I’ve had green, blue, and barrier reef chromis. All peaceful. Blue and green both died off after a few months. The barrier reef chromis lived for a couple years before I traded it.

 

[S2G]

Wow. Trigger warning.

Just a common damsel that's peaceful ime is the yellow tail. Ive never had one cause problems even when packed in a smaller holding tank.

 

[Haydn]

I’ve had green, blue, and barrier reef chromis. All peaceful. Blue and green both died off after a few months. The barrier reef chromis lived for a couple years before I traded it.

My first question is which 'Green Chromis' did you have, there are at least 3-4 varieties which go under that common name- Altrichthys alelia, Chromis viridis, C. Atripectoralis or maybe C. Caerulea (stop press! A couple more Altrichthys have been identified which look similar to 'Green chromis'). This is the difficulty with the generalisation 'All peaceful' because we have no idea which 'green chromis' you had.

I have attempted to keep Barrier reef Chromis (C. nitida) as a group they were fine until they got to approx. 2" then they fought to the death.

 

[Magellan]

Thanks for the tag @Katrina71 !!

sooo...what should I do damsel experts? I have a Fiji Blue Devil that has been in my 28g tank since the beginning (last week in February this year). Went in the tank with one female clown, I later added another clown, a 6 line, and a lawnmower blenny. Everyone got along just fine up. That lasted until a couple weeks ago when my 6 line killed my blenny. Yesterday, my damsel looked like she had been in a car wreck overnight. Not sure if it was the 6 line or my female clown, but she is looking rough. Was this just a dominance thing that she lost? Would adding a second damsel help or hurt the situation, or am I just completely screwed and should remove her entirely?

 

[tripdad]

Get the six line out if that's the aggressor.