Should have done my research on Damsels

[ashs_exotics]

Have a 30g tall rectangular tank i'm setting up as a reef tank. Fish already added: Green Canary Blenny, Watchman Goby, Royal Gramma, Clownfish, firefish. Saw a cool looking velvet damsel at the local fish store, couldn't resist those beautiful blue stripes. WORST IDEA EVER. So I am blessed to have gone to Cabrillo High School in CA, they have a huge aquarium there and long story short, I got a bunch of free coral and the clown fish from them. No SPS or LPS, but I did get some cool orange mushrooms, green mushrooms, purple mushrooms, zoas, and a toadstool leather. DAMSEL DESTROYED most of the mushrooms and a couple of the zoas he pulled off of the frags. Keep those dang things out of your reef, have since separated him into his own 10g. Its a win win for him ;Shifty what can you put with these fish? Id rather not have him all by himself, can you put anemones with them?

 

[ShadowReef]

Have a 30g tall rectangular tank i'm setting up as a reef tank. Fish already added: Green Canary Blenny, Watchman Goby, Royal Gramma, Clownfish, firefish. Saw a cool looking velvet damsel at the local fish store, couldn't resist those beautiful blue stripes. WORST IDEA EVER. So I am blessed to have gone to Cabrillo High School in CA, they have a huge aquarium there and long story short, I got a bunch of free coral and the clown fish from them. No SPS or LPS, but I did get some cool orange mushrooms, green mushrooms, purple mushrooms, zoas, and a toadstool leather. DAMSEL DESTROYED most of the mushrooms and a couple of the zoas he pulled off of the frags. Keep those dang things out of your reef, have since separated him into his own 10g. Its a win win for him ;Shifty what can you put with these fish? Id rather not have him all by himself, can you put anemones with them?

Damsels are normally reef safe but they are also half fish half satan. He likely destroyed to coral as it changed his territory. And therein you find your problem. If you want a damsel, that's not normally a problem, as long as it's the last thing that goes into a tank. They are very territorial. This particular damsel gets quite big (for a damsel), so a 10g is likely not going to be big enough for him. If you want to keep him then the only thing you can do is try and finish your main tank, let him forget it was his territory and try him again at a later date. Just keep an eye on him if you do and be ready to whip him out again. Or, take him back to your

 

[Katrina71]

My son has a blue velvet damsel. He is a very sweet fish, but he will knock off any coral that he doesn't want in his spot. We just let him decide.

 

[Aheinz]

Haha my damsel is chill and just hangs out near my clownfish mostly

 

[c.poindexter]

I agree with @ShadowReef about the fish being half fish and half satan.

 

[Katrina71]

Haha my damsel is chill and just hangs out near my clownfish mostly

Ours too.

 

[nereefpat]

Velvet damsels are among the worst. Any in the Dascyllus genus are large and aggressive as well.

Sapphire, yellow tail, talbot are much better choices for our reefs.

 

[Joedubyk]

Ive had damsels nip at my SPS -- hard a few years ago. Would never add one into a tank, especially since they are as already mentioned -- Satan

 

[Katrina71]

What???? Hug me.

 

[Silent]

Some damsels can get pretty big and aggressive. Made the same mistake before. Will never get one again.

 

[ashs_exotics]

Damsels are normally reef safe but they are also half fish half satan. He likely destroyed to coral as it changed his territory. And therein you find your problem. If you want a damsel, that's not normally a problem, as long as it's the last thing that goes into a tank. They are very territorial. This particular damsel gets quite big (for a damsel), so a 10g is likely not going to be big enough for him. If you want to keep him then the only thing you can do is try and finish your main tank, let him forget it was his territory and try him again at a later date. Just keep an eye on him if you do and be ready to whip him out again. Or, take him back to your

I see, I may have to try and reintroduce him once the coral has established itself, he’s pretty small, think he should be alright in there for now. He most certainly did not like me putting coral in there, first thing he did was go knock them off the rocks. May or may not go and grab a 29g for him and try to do something cool with that tank as well. I don’t really wanna get rid of him, they are just so neat looking, and they really are characters. I got into this hobby off of fiery attitudes from mantis shrimp, so I like a little spice

 

[Jdale78]

Have a 30g tall rectangular tank i'm setting up as a reef tank. Fish already added: Green Canary Blenny, Watchman Goby, Royal Gramma, Clownfish, firefish. Saw a cool looking velvet damsel at the local fish store, couldn't resist those beautiful blue stripes. WORST IDEA EVER. So I am blessed to have gone to Cabrillo High School in CA, they have a huge aquarium there and long story short, I got a bunch of free coral and the clown fish from them. No SPS or LPS, but I did get some cool orange mushrooms, green mushrooms, purple mushrooms, zoas, and a toadstool leather. DAMSEL DESTROYED most of the mushrooms and a couple of the zoas he pulled off of the frags. Keep those dang things out of your reef, have since separated him into his own 10g. Its a win win for him ;Shifty what can you put with these fish? Id rather not have him all by himself, can you put anemones with them?

My damsel killed my expensive fish. Multiple. Put him with piranhas. It will fit in.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Damsels: A fish you quickly love, then hate
My #1 nightmare experiences involve damsels. One by itself not bad, more than one. . . like a poodle turned Pitbull !!

 

[jsvand5]

The problems people have with damsels are 100% related to the type of damsel they choose. There are plenty of good ones that are fine additions to a tank of appropriate size. Stick with chrysiptera (aside from Cyanea and Taupau) and get more than one of them. They are some of my favorite fish.

 

[90's reefer]

The problems people have with damsels are 100% related to the type of damsel they choose. There are plenty of good ones that are fine additions to a tank of appropriate size. Stick with chrysiptera (aside from Cyanea and Taupau) and get more than one of them. They are some of my favorite fish.

I have 6 green chromis in my 120 and they add alot of movement. So far so good.

 

[WIReefer]

Have a 30g tall rectangular tank i'm setting up as a reef tank. Fish already added: Green Canary Blenny, Watchman Goby, Royal Gramma, Clownfish, firefish. Saw a cool looking velvet damsel at the local fish store, couldn't resist those beautiful blue stripes. WORST IDEA EVER. So I am blessed to have gone to Cabrillo High School in CA, they have a huge aquarium there and long story short, I got a bunch of free coral and the clown fish from them. No SPS or LPS, but I did get some cool orange mushrooms, green mushrooms, purple mushrooms, zoas, and a toadstool leather. DAMSEL DESTROYED most of the mushrooms and a couple of the zoas he pulled off of the frags. Keep those dang things out of your reef, have since separated him into his own 10g. Its a win win for him ;Shifty what can you put with these fish? Id rather not have him all by himself, can you put anemones with them?

I made the same mistake as you my friend when I started out, but not with corals but other fish I will never own another one again! He was the devil of the tank.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I agree with @ShadowReef about the fish being half fish and half satan.

I must respectfully disagree with @ShadowReef , they are 100% satan with a fish face! I had a Blue Velvet Damsel that after killing three of my fish was put into the witness protection program and exiled to a friends aggressive FO tank. Other than a pair of clownfish, I'd never own another damsel!

 

[Katrina71]

Our blue velvet is a baby. He rubs my son's hand in the tank and watches him sleep. He's his favorite.