Which Type of Blue Damselfish has the Brightest/Most Intense Blue color?

[Gaboxing]

Hello Everyone,

I want to get a Blue Damselfish because of their beautiful blue color, and would like to know if in your experience from what you have kept/seen at your local stores, there was any types of blue damsels that had a brighter/more intense blue color than the rest.

From the videos/pictures I've seen, the Chrysiptera Cyanea (Blue Damselfish) and the Chrysiptera Springeri (Sapphire Damselfish) seem to have a more intense blue color then the rest (namely Kupang Damsel, Yellow Tail Damsel, Fiji Blue Damsel, etc.), but I don't know if maybe those pictures/videos are not accurate since I have not seen them in person.

Please advise on this, because I have a 40g Breeder and would like to keep only 1 blue damsel in there.

Thank you!

 

[blaxsun]

Either the azure or blue devil. Leaning towards the blue devil, as it seems to be a very brilliant blue.

 

[i cant think]

Hello Everyone,

I want to get a Blue Damselfish because of their beautiful blue color, and would like to know if in your experience from what you have kept/seen at your local stores, there was any types of blue damsels that had a brighter/more intense blue color than the rest.

From the videos/pictures I've seen, the Chrysiptera Cyanea (Blue Damselfish) and the Chrysiptera Springeri (Sapphire Damselfish) seem to have a more intense blue color then the rest (namely Kupang Damsel, Yellow Tail Damsel, Fiji Blue Damsel, etc.), but I don't know if maybe those pictures/videos are not accurate since I have not seen them in person.

Please advise on this, because I have a 40g Breeder and would like to keep only 1 blue damsel in there.

Thank you!

I would go for the springers damsel Chrysiptera springeri, they do actually have that much blue (It looks better under blue lighting!). My LFS uses them in every drag tank with Atleast one tang and they have the most colour ive seen in any damselfish.

 

[ReefChasers]

In my opinion the prettiest one of all is the "Orangetail Blue Devil" - Chrysiptera cyanea. it's very confusing when buying online, many websites seem to list different "Blue Devil's" under different species names.

For example they refer to the Chryspitera cyanea as blue devil as well as Chrysiptera taupou. But in my opinion in terms of ultimate beauty, the Chryspitera cyanea is the top of the line. They have bright, vibrant colorations of blue and orange as well as that "look". A sort of mean, aggressive look. Like an F14 tom cat. lol

It's important when buying one to get the males, because the female is all-blue and not as colorful and striking.

They are pretty aggressive, won't necessarily kill your other, smaller more peaceful fish but that depends on the size of the tank and the community you surround them with. I am able to keep multiple Chryspitera cyanea's in a 150 gallon, but they evenly split the tank down the middle one claims the left side the other the right side, they occasionally meet in the middle to duel it out but it doesn't get very nasty and they return to their respective territories. From time to time I may detect a small wound on one or the other but they tend to stay pretty healthy and in good shape so they arn't going too hard on eachother.

I've seen them show aggression towards my school of chromies, towards my school of anthias, towards my flame angel (angelfish is much larger than them, but also much slower, so usually if they are being aggressive towards her they nip at her -- sometimes working together) but once she turns on them they get out of there and usually give it up shortly after. I've never seen any damage to the flame from any of this. They leave fish like tangs/foxface/melanurus well enough alone.

The schools of Chromies & Anthias seem to defend themselves well so it's only occasional harassment from the damsels that they deal with. Early on they were having a pretty good go with my Royal Gramma, but it was a territorial related dispute, and eventually this behavior ended they seem to co-exist pretty peacefully now. Again, most of this is territorial aggression, not 'aggression with intent to kill' so I label it as mostly harmless (if you've seen the 'aggression with intent to kill' business, you'll know the difference).

However, if I had only a small tank with only a small amount of peaceful fish it might be a different story and I would be weary to introduce this fish into that type of setting. The amount of fish I have and the community in general help tame their aggressive nature quite a bit and, when it does show up, it gets spread around to different targets.

The Similar Damselfish (Pomacentrus similis) is cheaper, smaller, and also has that same striking blue color, instead of a nice orange it has more of a bright yellow. Because of its smaller size it seems less likely to do much damage to anything. In terms of beauty it does not compare to Chryspitera cyanea, and I would also put Chrysiptera taupou above it.

 

[ReefChasers]

Not the best pics of the Chrysiptera Cyanea but I guess they don't like to stay still (they are very active fish).

 

[i cant think]

Not the best pics of the Chrysiptera Cyanea but I guess they don't like to stay still (they are very active fish).

Oo, that’s a very pretty damsel! I might have to try get one eventually.

 

[Gaboxing]

Either the azure or blue devil. Leaning towards the blue devil, as it seems to be a very brilliant blue.

Thank you for the reply! Just to clarify, when you say blue devil, are you talking about the Fiji Blue Devil with the yellow belly?

 

[Gaboxing]

I would go for the springers damsel Chrysiptera springeri, they do actually have that much blue (It looks better under blue lighting!). My LFS uses them in every drag tank with Atleast one tang and they have the most colour ive seen in any damselfish.

Thank you for your reply! From the pictures I do like the Springeri Damsel a lot. I like how it has some dark spots on the body because it causes contrast with the blue color:

I've also read that they are on the more peaceful side when it comes to blue damsels, so that would be a plus. I have a nicrew Gen2 light on my tank, so I could adjust the blues and the whites to make the colors pop a bit more.

 

[i cant think]

Thank you for your reply! From the pictures I do like the Springeri Damsel a lot. I like how the it has some dark spots on the body because of the it causescontrast with the blue color:

I've also read that they are on the more peaceful side when it comes to blue damsels, so that would be a plus. I have a nicrew Gen2 light on my tank, so I could adjust the blues and the whites to make the colors pop a bit more.

Yeah, I have noticed that they are the most peaceful of damsels, I haven’t seen a blue damsel more peaceful than these guys if I’m honest. My LFS has them in small groups of 2-3 in their smaller frag tanks - I think they’re maybe 2 foot cube tanks and even then they’re peaceful and just graze on the algae and some of the bristleworms.
I find that these guys have a huge personality - And! They stay rather small compared to some of the other damselfish which is another plus.

 

[Gaboxing]

In my opinion the prettiest one of all is the "Orangetail Blue Devil" - Chrysiptera cyanea. it's very confusing when buying online, many websites seem to list different "Blue Devil's" under different species names.

For example they refer to the Chryspitera cyanea as blue devil as well as Chrysiptera taupou. But in my opinion in terms of ultimate beauty, the Chryspitera cyanea is the top of the line. They have bright, vibrant colorations of blue and orange as well as that "look". A sort of mean, aggressive look. Like an F14 tom cat. lol

It's important when buying one to get the males, because the female is all-blue and not as colorful and striking.

They are pretty aggressive, won't necessarily kill your other, smaller more peaceful fish but that depends on the size of the tank and the community you surround them with. I am able to keep multiple Chryspitera cyanea's in a 150 gallon, but they evenly split the tank down the middle one claims the left side the other the right side, they occasionally meet in the middle to duel it out but it doesn't get very nasty and they return to their respective territories. From time to time I may detect a small wound on one or the other but they tend to stay pretty healthy and in good shape so they arn't going too hard on eachother.

I've seen them show aggression towards my school of chromies, towards my school of anthias, towards my flame angel (angelfish is much larger than them, but also much slower, so usually if they are being aggressive towards her they nip at her -- sometimes working together) but once she turns on them they get out of there and usually give it up shortly after. I've never seen any damage to the flame from any of this. They leave fish like tangs/foxface/melanurus well enough alone.

The schools of Chromies & Anthias seem to defend themselves well so it's only occasional harassment from the damsels that they deal with. Early on they were having a pretty good go with my Royal Gramma, but it was a territorial related dispute, and eventually this behavior ended they seem to co-exist pretty peacefully now. Again, most of this is territorial aggression, not 'aggression with intent to kill' so I label it as mostly harmless (if you've seen the 'aggression with intent to kill' business, you'll know the difference).

However, if I had only a small tank with only a small amount of peaceful fish it might be a different story and I would be weary to introduce this fish into that type of setting. The amount of fish I have and the community in general help tame their aggressive nature quite a bit and, when it does show up, it gets spread around to different targets.

The Similar Damselfish (Pomacentrus similis) is cheaper, smaller, and also has that same striking blue color, instead of a nice orange it has more of a bright yellow. Because of its smaller size it seems less likely to do much damage to anything. In terms of beauty it does not compare to Chryspitera cyanea, and I would also put Chrysiptera taupou above it.

Thank you so much for the detailed response! That definitely helps a lot. That blue damsel looks beautiful, I can tell you that even in the the videos of other people's tanks that I've watch, I've not seen one like that. I've only see the ones that are fully blue which I also think are pretty, but would like this one because of the contrast with the orange.

Most pictures I've seen of Chrysiptera Cyanea show a Cyan/Light Blue fish, do the have both Light Blue and Royal Blue colored variations? The only damsels I've seen in person are yellow tails, and all of them have been Royal Blue, so I don't know if they case may be different with this one.

In regards to my tank size, it is a 40g Breeder, which is not very big, but I've read that since it has a pretty good footprint for its size that might help with the aggression. Right now I only have a true percula clown and a royal gramma in it, and they get along perfectly fine, I've never truly seen aggression from them, I only saw the Gramma "Square-Up" to the clownfish a few times when it was introduced, but that stopped.

I got them because according to most websites they are semi-aggresive and compatible with blue damsels. I also planned to introduce the damsel last because it seems like it has the worst temper. I'll probably have only 3, or maybe 4 fish in my tank at the end of the day, but definitely won't go over that.

As you can see, I've mostly ready about these things but don't actually have a lot of experience with saltwater tanks, so any advise is welcomed! I'm planning to keep my tank as a FOWLR btw.

 

[ReefChasers]

Most pictures I've seen of Chrysiptera Cyanea show a Cyan/Light Blue fish, do the have both Light Blue and Royal Blue colored variations? The only damsels I've seen in person are yellow tails, and all of them have been Royal Blue, so I don't know if they case may be different with this one.

If they are male, it's a very vibrant royal blue with orange. A lot of the pictures on google image look like someone took them with a flash on their camera or something. The coloration of my two male cyanea look exactly like this photograph, but the females I know are lighter blue with no orange which is why I would advise to make sure you get a male.

Obviously, these fish get the name "Blue Devil" for a reason -- they are aggressive. They literally run at my arm and nip me when I stick it in the tank, only fish I have that does that although some people say their clowns will, I've personally not had a clown (ocellaris or percula) do that. My wife can often here me yell "You little F%#R" and she knows the damsel has startled me again lol! I mean, they don't really hurt me or draw blood or anything like that. At worst they just startle me and that is to say I feel it when they nip. I usually just flick my finger at them a few times and they go away and leave me to my business.

I would take special care with the Gramma only to provide a few different cave works that way the gramma can have his own cave spot and the blue devil can have his own. The blue devil may kick the gramma out of the one he's at. To be honest, it's sort of risky with this fish but you could make it work. They have a lot of personality and out of all my fish these two guys are the ones I just absolutely love the most and in no way do I regret adding them to my reef so if you really love them I say GO FOR IT!

I would not recommend putting watchman/spotted goby's or blennys (bad swimmers) in the tank with him though. He's too aggressive and too good of a swimmer. He wont bother those fish when they are laying on the substrate but when they take to the water column near his territory he'd likely get them pretty good.

He will not mess with clownfish at all.

 

[Gaboxing]

If they are male, it's a very vibrant royal blue with orange. A lot of the pictures on google image look like someone took them with a flash on their camera or something. The coloration of my two male cyanea look exactly like this photograph, but the females I know are lighter blue with no orange which is why I would advise to make sure you get a male.

Obviously, these fish get the name "Blue Devil" for a reason -- they are aggressive. They literally run at my arm and nip me when I stick it in the tank, only fish I have that does that although some people say their clowns will, I've personally not had a clown (ocellaris or percula) do that. My wife can often here me yell "You little F%#R" and she knows the damsel has startled me again lol! I mean, they don't really hurt me or draw blood or anything like that. At worst they just startle me and that is to say I feel it when they nip. I usually just flick my finger at them a few times and they go away and leave me to my business.

I would take special care with the Gramma only to provide a few different cave works that way the gramma can have his own cave spot and the blue devil can have his own. The blue devil may kick the gramma out of the one he's at. To be honest, it's sort of risky with this fish but you could make it work. They have a lot of personality and out of all my fish these two guys are the ones I just absolutely love the most and in no way do I regret adding them to my reef so if you really love them I say GO FOR IT!

I would not recommend putting watchman/spotted goby's or blennys (bad swimmers) in the tank with him though. He's too aggressive and too good of a swimmer. He wont bother those fish when they are laying on the substrate but when they take to the water column near his territory he'd likely get them pretty good.

He will not mess with clownfish at all.

My clown has actually nipped me when I'm adjusting equipment inside the tank! It doesn't hurt at all, but if I didn't see where it was it will definitely startle me.

Thank you for the advice! I'll definitely give it a go. I'll probably tour all the fish stores close to me next weekend in the hopes of seeing this damsel in person. I would also like to see Springer's since it also looks pretty gorgeous before making my decision. So far every store I've been in has only yellow tails and some Chromis, but I've only been to 3.

I have about 2 and 1/2 caves in my tank (one of them it pretty small), but it seems like the clown doesn't care for caves at all, so it will probably be one for the damsel and one for the gramma. If I were to add another fish I was thinking about a Banggai Cardinal, but I'm not too sure since I've read they are not the best swimmers, and they can be picky eaters.

 

[Gaboxing]

Yeah, I have noticed that they are the most peaceful of damsels, I haven’t seen a blue damsel more peaceful than these guys if I’m honest. My LFS has them in small groups of 2-3 in their smaller frag tanks - I think they’re maybe 2 foot cube tanks and even then they’re peaceful and just graze on the algae and some of the bristleworms.
I find that these guys have a huge personality - And! They stay rather small compared to some of the other damselfish which is another plus.

The size is definitely a plus, and I've heard they are pretty good at keeping bristle worms in check too! Hopefully next weekend I manage to see one in person at one of my LFSs. Thanks for your help!

 

[ReefChasers]

Damsels dont mess with cardinals can confirm -- i keep 2 bangais and a pajama in there and its like the damsel doesnt even see those fish for whatever reason.

Yeah clowns dont do caves. They like nems! Or even the corner glass of the tanks or back wall for sleeping

 

[Tim McLellan]

+1 on the Springer Damsels. I have 3 in my 55g. Brilliant blue (can't wait to see how they pop when I eventually upgrade to blue lighting) and pretty peaceful. They get along fine with my chromis, royal gramma, flame angel and clowns.

 

[i cant think]

Damsels dont mess with cardinals can confirm -- i keep 2 bangais and a pajama in there and its like the damsel doesnt even see those fish for whatever reason.

Yeah clowns dont do caves. They like nems! Or even the corner glass of the tanks or back wall for sleeping

I think it’s something to do with how most cardinals are nocturnal.

 

[blaxsun]

Yeah clowns dont do caves. They like nems! Or even the corner glass of the tanks or back wall for sleeping

I have two anemones with their foot inside a cave, and you can guess where my clownfish spend 23/7 of their time - in the cave, on the anemone.

 

[i cant think]

Damsels dont mess with cardinals can confirm -- i keep 2 bangais and a pajama in there and its like the damsel doesnt even see those fish for whatever reason.

Yeah clowns dont do caves. They like nems! Or even the corner glass of the tanks or back wall for sleeping

Certain other damsels can also be hosted by anemones - I don’t know how common this is in the hobby though.

 

[ReefChasers]

My damsels love my magnetic wall caves i added. None of my other fish use them or i suppose its possible the damsels wont let them. But the damsels use them a lot.

If i find link ill post it here.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Azure